Science at Phoenix Community Primary School

Intent

At Phoenix we want the pupils to be inquisitive learners who have the opportunities to follow their own lines of questioning. We will enable our pupils with regular opportunities to engage with all types of scientific enquiry. We will make links for our pupils to explore the world around them and have first hand, practical experiences wherever possible, embracing the school’s facilities and what they have to offer.

Our curriculum prioritises:

• Early and secure literacy skills centred around rich language development, oracy (expression through speech)
• Reading, because this is what our pupils
• Pupils at all stages are given the opportunity and are expected, to present their learning in front of other pupils
• The use of subject specific vocabulary to embed understanding and

At Phoenix, we will make links across all STEM subjects so as to ground children’s learning and provide a meaningful and purposeful outcome for their knowledge and skills. We will continue to engage with Primary Engineer projects across the school thus promoting our school values, as well as giving pupils the opportunity to develop a greater appreciation of the world of engineering and how curriculum subjects feed into it.

Implementation

We follow the Kent Scheme of Work for science ensuring full curriculum coverage is delivered throughout the school, and that pupils have a balance of knowledge and skills across units taught. Where units are revisited, for example ‘Animals including Humans’ knowledge and skills are built on to ensure progression. Progression through key stage phases will be shown by the depth of questioning; accuracy of measurements and observations and a range of recording and reporting of findings. Where possible links are made with other curriculum areas, for example, Physical Education, Maths and English.

At Phoenix, wider opportunities are offered for pupils to develop the knowledge and skills learnt through this curriculum, primarily through the implementation of Primary Engineer projects and STEM enrichment activities. The Primary Engineer projects run across a Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 class enabling progression to be shown from the Apprentice Level to Engineer Level, where a greater range of skills is needed to be applied in order to meet the programme’s criteria. Projects enable a meaningful cross-curricular approach to be taken, highlighting to pupils how their learning in Maths and Design and Technology can assist them with a Science and Engineering context, as well as utilising their literacy skills to document their project journey and orally present it to others in their class or to engineers at regional competitions.

Impact

At the beginning of every unit there is an elicitation task (KWL grid or mind map) to ascertain pupil’s prior knowledge, misconceptions and key questions that they may have. These tasks are revisited at the end of the unit with pupils using a green pen to show new knowledge. The use of the media app Seesaw is used to gather examples of pupil’s learning, particularly the skills they are developing. We use oracy skills to share pupil’s knowledge. Each teacher uses an assessment tracker, which identifies pupils exceeding the curriculum and enables identification of emergent learners. Parent, pupil and staff voice are used to assess the impact of the science curriculum and STEM opportunities on pupil attitudes to pupil learning and progress.

Currently, as part of the Enthuse Project, the attitudes, attainment and progress of Pupil Premium pupils are being closely monitored and reported. Key Stage 2 pupils in this group have been introduced to wider STEM opportunities at Discovery Park in Sandwich in order to broaden their knowledge of Science in the real world and encourage their own critical thinking. Although in the early stages of the project, pupil voice has been wholly positive in terms of raising engagement for the subject, especially amongst girls.