Science - Statement of Intent 

At Elmtree we believe that a high-quality science education provides the foundations for understanding the world through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics. Science has changed our lives and is vital to the world’s future prosperity, and all pupils should be taught essential aspects of the knowledge, methods, processes and uses of science. Through building up a body of key foundational knowledge, concepts and vocabulary, pupils should be encouraged to recognise the power of rational explanation and develop a sense of excitement and curiosity about natural phenomena. They should be encouraged to understand how science can be used to explain what is occurring, predict how things will behave, and analyse causes. 

We recognise the diverse backgrounds of the children that attend Elmtree and intend to provide all children regardless of ethnic origin, gender, social economic status, aptitude or disability, with a broad and balanced science curriculum. At Elmtree School, every teacher is a teacher of SEND. As such, inclusion is a thread that runs through every area of the school. Therefore, Science in our school is about developing children’s ideas and ways of working that enable them to make sense of the world in which they live through hands-on, real-life investigations, as well as using and applying process skills. The staff at Elmtree ensure that all children are absorbed in a high quality and engaging teaching and learning environment, with experiences that allow children to explore their outdoor environment and locality, thus developing their scientific enquiry and investigative skills and providing real-life hands-on experiences. They are immersed in a language rich environment through the use of scientific vocabulary, which aids children’s knowledge and understanding not only of the topic they are studying, but of the world around them.  

Implementation

In ensuring high standards of teaching and learning in science, we implement a curriculum that is progressive throughout the whole school. 

Planning for science is a process in which all teachers are involved to ensure that the school gives full coverage of, ‘The National Curriculum programmes of study for Science 2014’ and, ‘Understanding the World’ in the Early Years Foundation Stage (2020).  

Teaching Science at Elmtree involves adapting and extending the curriculum to match all pupils’ needs. Where possible, Science is linked to class topics e.g. Children will explore Jack and the Beanstalk in English and plant beans in Science. Science is taught as discrete units (once a week for up to two hours) and lessons where needed to ensure even coverage and hands on, real life learning. Lessons are sequenced using prior knowledge and are taught in a language rich environment where children are encouraged to share their scientific knowledge with each other and explain the reasoning behind their answers e.g. “I know it is Spring because there are buds on trees are beginning to bloom.” Teachers plan lessons to suit the pupils current needs, recent events, their own teaching style, the use of any support staff and the resources available.  

We ensure that all children are provided with rich learning experiences that aim to: 

• Prepare our children for life in an increasingly scientific and technological world today and in the future. 

• Help our children acquire a growing understanding of the nature, processes and methods of scientific ideas. 

• Help develop and extend our children’s scientific concept of their world. 

• Build on our children’s natural curiosity and developing a scientific approach to problems. 

• Encouraging open-mindedness, self-assessment, perseverance and developing the skills of 3 investigation – including: observing, measuring, predicting, hypothesising, experimenting, communicating, interpreting, explaining and evaluating. 

• Develop the use of scientific language, recording and techniques. 

• Develop the use of computing in investigating and recording. 

• Make links between science and other subjects. 

Impact

The impact and measure of this is to ensure children not only acquire the appropriate age-related knowledge linked to the science curriculum, but also skills which equip them to progress from their starting points, and within their everyday lives.  

The successful approach at Elmtree results in a fun, engaging, high-quality science education, that provides children with the foundations and knowledge for understanding the world. Our engagement with the local environment ensures that children learn through varied and first-hand experiences of the world around them. Frequent, continuous and progressive learning outside the classroom is embedded throughout the science curriculum. Through various workshops, trips and interactions with experts and local charities, children have the understanding that science has changed our lives and that it is vital to the world’s future prosperity. 

All children will have: 

• A wider variety of skills linked to both scientific knowledge and understanding, and scientific enquiry/investigative skills. 

• A richer vocabulary which will enable them to articulate their understanding of taught concepts. 

• High aspirations, which will see them through to further study, work and a successful adult life.