Science

At Sellindge Primary School we intend for children to be curious about the world in which they live and we strive for our science curriculum to be hands-on and fun.

Children are naturally inquisitive and we aspire to help them find their own answers to those 'why' questions.

The National Curriculum for Science for England explains that 'working scientifically, specifies the understanding of the nature, processes and methods of science ...'  We intend that scientific enquiry underpins our Science Curriculum and enables children to work scientifically to answer scientific questions.

What does this look like?

Early Years Foundation Stage

Science in covered through the ‘Understanding the World’ part of the EYFS where the children explore the natural world, make observations about plants and animals and notice changes in their natural world.  The children take part in a weekly ‘Woodland Wander’ where they are able to notice the changes in the school environment over the year and become excited and interested in the outside and nature. ‘Communication and language’ and ‘Personal, Social and Emotional Development’ are also other aspects of the EYFS that are covered in our Science Curriculum. 

We also have an Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum map which although subject to change due to children’s interests being a big part of what we do in Reception, sets out what we expect to teach across the year to ensure that children are ready to go into Year 1 with the relevant subject knowledge and skills.

KS1 and KS2

The science long term plan is planned on a yearly cycle for KS1, LKS2 and UKS2. Each topic has a unit of work and many topics are revisited each year or every other year. All topics begin with a Big Question and the key skills (scientific enquiry) and key knowledge (key concepts) for each unit of work are set out in the Whole School Curriculum Map for Science. The Big Question runs through each lesson of the unit of work. There are 5 content specific units each year.

We follow the Kent Scheme for Science, which ensures all content is covered, including scientific enquiry and gives the children the opportunity to build upon those concepts and skills as they progress through the school.