Our Curriculum

Intent

At Springfield, 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.

Implementation

At Springfield, science is taught every half term. Teachers plan sequences of lessons across the unit that will build on and develop the children’s knowledge and skills. Each 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. Opportunities to learn outdoors and explore our natural environment are embedded throughout our science curriculum.

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

Impact

The impact of our science curriculum can clearly been seen in the children’s books. At the beginning of each unit, a detailed overview outlines the main learning objective alongside the skills that the children will build on and those which will follow. On completion of the unit of work, key assessment targets are identified and the children are able to self-assess against them. Class teachers then use the children’s class learning and assessments, along with observations of their skills when carrying out experiments and investigations, to make a judgement as to whether each child is working towards, at or above the expected level.

Year Group Overviews

Click here to see the science curriculum for each year group