Wallands Community Primary Science
A high-quality science education provides the foundations for understanding the world. Science has changed our lives and is vital to the world’s future prosperity. Here at Wallands, a broad and balanced view of science is essential for children to make progress in the modern world and to equip them with the confidence to ask challenging questions.
We aim to:
- build on children’s natural curiosity and develop a scientific approach to problems
- encourage open-mindedness, self-criticism, perseverance, tolerance and responsibility
- prepare children for life in an fast changing and increasingly scientific and technological world
- foster concern about, and appreciation of, the local and world environment
- build children’s self-confidence to enable them to work independently and develop social skills for co-operative work
- help children to acquire an understanding of scientific ideas and processes
- help children to acquire practical scientific skills
- provide the children with enjoyable experiences so they remain curious and, if possible, maintain a lasting interest in scientific developments
- ensure that we acknowledge, in our planning and teaching, the contributions to the development of science that have been made by countries and cultures other than Britain.
- ensure that we make reference to the role that both male and female scientists have played in the origin and development of ideas.
The science curriculum covers these areas of knowledge:
- Life and living processes – living things; plants, animals (including humans) and their habitats
- Materials and their physical properties – everyday materials, changes, rocks
- Light, sound, electricity, forces and magnets
- Earth and space – seasonal change
- Evolution and inheritance and the skills of working scientifically - experimental and investigative science
At Wallands, Science is taught in a variety of ways including whole class teaching, demonstration and discussion, the use of small, mixed ability or ability groups.
Appropriate scientific vocabulary is introduced and developed at every stage enabling children to accurately communicate with others, while broadening and deepening their scientific understanding. By the time they leave Wallands all children will have had experiences of both formal and informal recording as part of their progress through the curriculum framework.
Science teaching is linked to topic work where relevant. Otherwise, it is taught as separate units. There is an agreed pattern of topics throughout the school, (three to six topics per year in most year groups). Here at Wallands we use our amazing school grounds to enhance teaching and learning including; the trees and woodland, grasses and wild flowers, animals and insects.
