Science: Vision

(ACTING) SCIENCE LEADER

  Mr Denton

'ALWAYS START WITH WHY'

What is Science?

How do scientists learn and work?

We have set out in these two website pages how we consider these questions with our children by mapping out and delivering a clear, consistent and challenging curriculum for our children to meet their needs. You can download copies of every central document at the base of the relevant pages (VISION or CURRICULUM OVERVIEW) in PDF format. The subject guide and policy itself can be found at the base of this page.

To take a look at our curriculum overview page CLICK HERE.

Our Vision For Science

At Mayfield, we value science as a subject, which stimulates awe, and wonder in our everyday lives. We believe science can have a transformative effect on children, helping them to become curious and inspired by the world around them. We believe that a high-quality science education should engage, stimulate and challenge pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to better understand their life and their planet. We encourage children to learn from, be inspired by the work of great scientists, and understand the contribution science has made to society, both past and present. As pupils progress, we support them to be able to pose increasingly complex scientific questions and carry out experiments to work accurately and analytically.

How We Plan For, And Teach, Science

At Mayfield, science is taught every half term. Teachers plan sequences of lessons across the unit/project that will build on and develop the children’s knowledge and skills. Each project/unit of learning has a strong foundation in new knowledge – linked to prior knowledge – that will support the children to understand increasingly complex scientific phenomena and processes. Scientific vocabulary is mapped and taught rigorously to ensure that children can both recognise, understand and use scientific terminology accurately and confidently.  Carefully selected skills are planned to best match each unit of knowledge and progress year on year. Opportunities to practise and embed skills are planned for so that they are revisited and refined over time. The knowledge and skills that children will develop throughout each science topic are mapped across each year group and across the school to ensure progression. The Mayfield ‘I Dream Of Being…’ scheme of work is designed around ten broader ‘scientific enquiry’ disciplinary concepts. From early years onwards, children visit knowledge and skills in three key substantive areas: starting point biology; starting point chemistry: starting point physics. The route through the curriculum ensures that prior knowledge and skills are revisited to ensure retention in long-term memory and built upon to develop increasingly sophisticated understanding in a meaningful context.  We break down these substantive areas into termly or half-termly projects e.g. our bodies; states of matter; teeth and digestion that run across the seven year journey. Science’s presence is maintained through the position of Science Stations in each classroom, whilst the profile of scientific reward, achievement and celebration throughout the school year is maintained via the role of Student Subject Champions, Subject Celebrations and Subject Achievement Displays. Rewards always have a specific eye upon personal progress rather than summative attainment. Science continues via our enrichment, wider curriculum opportunity: Formula One STEM Club which runs during the year.

 

How We Assess Science Learning

Teachers continually evaluate children’s learning through both formative and summative assessment opportunities. In each lesson, teachers ensure children are assessed against the learning objectives and subsequent planning and lesson adaptation is responsive to gaps and misconceptions. Big Questions are prompted and carefully positioned to aide teachers with this. Each unit/project have quizzing and self-quizzing opportunities to assess the retention of new knowledge and vocabulary. Children have the opportunity to self-assess their progress using these methods as well as peer assessment with partners and group members.                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Summative judgements are also made using the Key Milestones Document. At the end of the year, class teachers then use the children’s recorded work and ongoing assessments to make a judgement as to whether each child is working at the expected standard. The most frequently used strategy is Brain Gym which has been devised to hold some of the activities highlighted above but above all else as a planned opportunity for daily review of prior learning - a form of recap. This aims to strengthen the connections between what the children learn - such recall then frees that working memory for the new learning to come.

 

How We Adapt Learning, And Record Outcomes, In Science

Ways of demonstrating progress and outcomes must be adaptable to suit the needs of learners and the requirements of the subject. Therefore each subject has its own bespoke way of gathering evidence from learners. Otherwise recording work becomes a barrier to learning rather than a chance to celebrate children’s achievements and specialist skills and knowledge in areas where they may otherwise excel.

In Science, children’s work is gathered in: 

Individual Exercise Books

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A Science Vocabulary

A core set of science vocabulary has been created for the children across school. The vocabulary is progressive from EYFS onwards and at all times  retains vocabulary previously introduced. We have chosen this language based upon the perspective of being a scientist considering the broader concepts and skills and also ‘project specific terms’. The vocabulary is present around the Science Stations in the learning spaces.

The vocabulary selected by the teacher is taken from our core list and will include the scientist’s enquiry words and those specific to the current project. We should see these words recurring many times across projects and year groups. The idea is repeatedly expose to language and then develop a greater understanding and use of this terminology. Familiarity leads to confidence which leads to deployment of this new vocabulary.

                                                                Here are examples of the two kinds of vocabulary we have identified.                                                                                             Scientist Vocabulary: Observe; Measure; Question          Project Vocabulary: Light; Reflect; Switch; Battery                                                                                           

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Science Enrichment Opportunity:

Formula One (Science & Tech) as part of our beyond hours offer.

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The latest work of the science leader.....

* reviewing the short term planning and supporting the implementation of this in the classroom.

* monitoring the range of opportunities for working scientifically within the medium term planning and ensuring the purposeful opportunities are a central part of the children's work.

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