Bedford Primary School

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Science

'A scientist is not a person who gives the right answers, he’s one who asks the right questions!'  

 

Claude Levi-Strauss

 

Our vision for Science:

 

At Bedford Primary, we believe that Science is a crucial subject to expand curious minds and provides the foundations for understanding the world.  Science has changed our lives and is vital to the world's future prosperity.  Our primary science curriculum provides a complete structure for teachers in planning and developing science lessons and pupil's are taught essential knowledge and concepts. 

 

Lessons are organised into topic areas and year groups and include opportunities for children to work scientifically.  Our science curriculum builds on knowledge and skills so that learning shows clear progress as our children grow.   

What skills does a Bedford Scientist show:

 

  • Thinking
  • Understanding and using scientific language 
  • Taking risks 
  • Asking questions 
  • Hypothesising
  • Using senses (look, listen, smell, taste, touch) to observe
  • Exploring 
  • Using tools 
  • Collecting data 
  • Taking pictures 
  • Drawing scientific diagrams 
  • Communicating explanations 
  • Explaining 
  • Researching 
  • Recording learning in different ways
  • Working together and showing effective collaboration

Throughout the subject of science, our pupils will also demonstrate additional traits from our Bedford Learner Profile including creativity, effective teamwork, an understanding of the importance of looking after their bodies and the environment and world around them.

Our Science Curriculum:

 

The three main aims of the science National Curriculum are for all pupils to:  

 

  • develop scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding through the three specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics
  • develop understanding of the nature, processes and methods of science through participation in 5 different types of scientific enquiries, enquiries that help them to ask and answer questions relating to the world around them.
  • be equipped with the scientific knowledge required to understand the importance, use and implications of science, today and for the future.

 

We use the PLAN primary science resources from the Association for Science Education (ASE) to ensure effective planning and assessment of the National curriculum.  Teachers ensure they build on previous learning and teaching the substantive knowledge required. 

 

At Bedford, science lessons in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and Key Stage 1 are predominantly first-hand, practical experiences that promote curiosity, thinking and questioning and provide opportunities for children to discuss, draw and write simple evaluations about their discoveries.  Our youngest children are taught and encouraged to use the correct scientific terminology during lessons in order to develop their vocabulary in an engaging and meaningful way. 

 

As our children progress to Key Stage 2, the learning journey continues and the lines of enquiry, knowledge and skills deepen. Pupils evidence their observations, experiences, investigations and further develop their ability to discuss, argue, feedback and collaborate with their peers.  Although practical activities continue to play a dominant role, older pupils are able to present and provide evidence of their learning and scientific thinking in a variety and increasing number of ways - selecting the one most appropriate to the task in hand.

 

Scientific Enquiry:

 

Children are encouraged to develop their scientific skills through the five types of scientific enquiry:

 

Pupils use a range of secondary sources to gather evidence to answer questions, look for patterns and evaluate the reliability and trustworthiness when drawing conclusions

 

 

Pupils identify the effect of changing one variable on another whilst attempting to keep other variables constant. 

 

 

Pupils identify and measure events and changes in living things, materials and physical processes or events.

 

 

Pupils seek to identify patterns in measurements they collect which may lead to other investigations in an effort to try and explain why a particular pattern occurred. 

 

 

Identification is the process of using observable differences to name something 

classification is organising things into groups based on observations, features and characteristics. 

 
Working scientifically helps our children practise and develop the skills needed to become a good scientist. We encourage the children to explore, question and problem solve in order to develop curiosity and carry out independent investigations to gain a deeper understanding of their world.
 
Additionally, as part of our science lessons, each year group will complete a lesson or a series of lessons focussed on a scientist each term.  This will ensure our pupils have a wide breadth of study and knowledge of scientists when they complete their Bedford journey. 
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