VISION

Welford on Avon Primary School 'cares' about science.       

 Creating  Achieving  Respecting  Everyone  Safely

Our vision is to create an attitude of curiosity and exploration regarding the natural world.

We endeavour to support all children to reach their full potential through investigation, experiment and evaluation.

IMPLEMENTATION

We have developed our long-term plan using the Programme of Study for each year group.

At Welford, we recognise that we live inland, and far from the coast. We have addressed this by:

Year 1 and 2 educational visit to the seaside (linking in with the following topics…)

Year 1: Materials and States of Matter  / Seasonal Change

Year 2: Living Things and their Habitats

Year 5 and 6 residential visit to Kingswood, Norfolk (linking in with the following topics…)

Year 5: Materials and States of Matter / Living Things and their Habitats

Year 6: Living Things and their Habitats

AIMS:

• To inspire curiosity by making science exciting and allowing children to discover for themselves.
• To develop an enthusiasm and enjoyment of scientific learning and discovery.
• To equip children with the scientific knowledge required to understand the uses and implications of Science, today and for the future.
• To develop the essential scientific enquiry skills to deepen their scientific knowledge.
• To develop confidence and skills to ask questions, draw conclusions and raise further questions.
• To use relevant and current scientific developments to drive interest and critical thinking.
• To use a range of methods to communicate their scientific information and present it in a systematic, scientific manner, including I.C.T., diagrams, graphs and charts.
• To develop a respect for the materials and equipment they handle with regard to their own, and other children’s safety.

EARLY YEARS FOUNDATION STAGE

Early Years is important for the foundation of children’s inquisitive minds. The children regularly discuss what they see, investigate cause and effect, observe the world around them and predict what will happen. These are the fundamental building blocks of early science.

 KEY STAGE 1

As the children move into KS1, their science learning becomes more formal and structured, however they still experience hands-on and inspiring activities. Children explore and share their new-found knowledge, begin to apply their knowledge to familiar situations, and take their learning to a deeper and meaningful level.

KEY STAGE 2

Following on from KS1, the children start to refine their skills. They start to plan their own investigations and draw conclusions, predict what will happen using their prior knowledge and decide how to present what they have found out.

INCLUSION

Teachers set high expectations for all pupils. They use appropriate assessment to set ambitious targets and plan challenging work for all groups, including:

• More able pupils
• Pupils with low prior attainment
• Pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds
• Pupils with SEN
• Pupils with English as an additional language (EAL)

CULTURAL CAPITAL

Links are made to other areas of the curriculum and trips and visits are planned to enhance the curriculum delivery in Science. 

An example of this was our recent Mobile Planetarium visit. The children loved travelling through space, seeing the Earth and discovering the planets in our solar system.