Quick Links

Useful Links

Clophill St Marys CofE lower school

Science

Intent:

At St. Mary's, we want children to:

  • Develop an understanding of “what science is”, combining the foundational understanding of biology, chemistry and physics, at a level appropriate and relevant to them
  • Develop an understanding of the disciplinary knowledge required to 'work scientifically', exploring the nature, processes and methods of science through the five different types of scientific enquiry and to help them answer scientific questions about the world around them 
  • Be equipped with the scientific knowledge and literacy required to understand the uses and implications of science, today and for the future
  • Think “Science is for me”.

Our Science Principles are:

(please click to enlarge)

Implementation:

Miss Clements is our Science Co-ordinator.

At St. Mary's, within the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) in Acorn and Chestnut (Nursery and Reception), Science is taught through "Communication and Language", "Personal, Social and Emotional Development" and "Understanding the World":

Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage

In Birch to Oak (Years 1-4), we teach the Science National Curriculum:

Science Programmes of Study Key Stages 1 and 2

In Birch to Oak (Years 1-4), we use the  PZAZ scheme of work to deliver our Science lessons.  This excellent resource enables us to teach inspiring lessons, ensuring all children access all National Curriculum objectives for Science; developing a love of Science and a love of studying the world around them, that will stay with them beyond their lower school education.  

PZAZ also enables children to gain real competence in the Science skills of planning investigations, gathering, presenting and analysing results, and critical evaluation of their experiments.  

The following table shows which Science topics are taught throughout the school:

Autumn Term Spring Term Summer Term

Acorn

(Nursery)

Ourselves - Physical care

Seasonal Changes

Ourselves - Healthy Eating

Lifecycles: frog and sunflower

Materials 

Seasonal Changes

Ourselves - exercise

Animals

Lifecycles: ladybird and vegetables

Seasonal Changes

Chestnut

(Reception)

Ourselves - Parts of the body

Seasonal Changes

Ourselves - Healthy eating

Growing cress

Materials

Lifecycles: chick

Seasonal Changes

Ourselves - exercise

Growing carrots

Animals

Lifecycles: butterfly

Seasonal Changes

Birch

(Year 1)

Everyday Materials 

Seasonal Changes

Animals, including Humans

Seasonal Changes

Plants

Seasonal Changes

Hazel

(Year 2)

Plants

Uses of Everyday Materials

Animals, including Humans Living Things and their Habitats

Rowan:

(Year 3)

Rocks

Animals, including Humans

Light

Plants

Forces and Magnets

 

Oak:

(Year 4)

Living Things and their Habitats

Animals, including Humans

Sound

Electricity

States of Matter

Working Scientifically is taught throughout the year and is embedded within all topics.  This allows for children to continue to build on their Science-based skills, their ability to work scientifically and think scientifically, developing their use and understanding of the different types of scientific enquiry.  

Linked to each topic area, for children in Years 1 to 4, we also learn about a broad and diverse range of Significant Individuals, spanning across all areas within Science:

Autumn Term Spring Term Summer Term

Birch

(Year 1)

Everyday Materials:

Ole Kirk Christiansen

 

Seasonal Changes:

Christopher Wren, Robert Hooke, Richard Towneley and George James Symons

Animals, including Humans:

Linda Brown Buck

Plants:

Jane Colden

 

Additional  scientist/inventor:

Mae Jemison

Hazel

(Year 2)

Plants:

Tim Smit and Nicholas Grimshaw

 

Uses of Everyday Materials:

Charles Macintosh

Animals, including Humans:

Louis Pasteur

Living Things and Their Habitats:

Rachel Carson

 

Additional  scientist/inventor:

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson

Rowan

(Year 3)

Rocks:

Mary Anning

 

Animals, including Humans:

Marie Curie

Light:

Thomas Edison and Lewis Howard Latimer

 

Plants:

Sir Joseph Banks, Jeanne Baret, David Douglas and Tom Hart Dyke

Forces and Magnets:

William Gilbert

 

 

Oak 

(Year 4)

Living Things and Their Habitiats:

Gerald Durrell

 

Animals, including Humans:

Washington Sheffield

Sound:

Alexander Graham Bell

 

Electricity:

Nikola Tesla

Thomas Edison (building on knowledge from Year 3)

States of Matter:

Lord Kelvin

 

Additional  scientist/inventor:

Maria Telkes

 

We are also developing and nuturing children's 'Science Capital' - providing them with an understanding of how the Science we teach in school links to the wider world and why it is relevant to them, including careers in the future, e.g. knowledge about animals can support someone to be a vet or a zoologist when they are older and how an undertanding of materials could support someone to become a builder or architect.  

Impact:

All children are assessed in Science, by their teachers, on a termly basis.  Miss Clements then analyses the attainment and progress of the whole school in this area.  This information informs future teaching and learning in Science.

Children are also teacher assessed in Science at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2) as part of the end of Key Stage 1 SATs process.

The school was accredited with the Primary Science Quality Mark (PSQM) in September 2021, in recognition of our, "effective, confident science leadership," resulting in, "whole school impact on science teaching and learning" with "examples of cross-curricular learning."