Intent
At Village Infants School we value curiosity, kindness, perseverance and resilience and these core values are woven throughout our inclusive science curriculum. We aim to nurture and develop children who:
- Show curiosity about the world around them
- Show resilience when their ideas are tested and challenged
- Show kindness and respect to animals, other people, and the world around them
- Show perseverance when things do not go as they expected
Through our broad and rich curriculum we aim to spark the children’s enthusiasm, thirst for knowledge and love of challenge. We believe that the experiences, skills and knowledge that our curriculum embeds, will provide the foundations to ensure that the children are confident, and keen to explore and engage with science around them throughout their lives.
Implementation
At Village Infant School, our science curriculum is embedded through appropriate cross-curricular links, or through quality key texts to provide context and meaning. For example in Key Stage One the children develop their knowledge of animals and humans by studying Croc and Bird by Alexis Deacon, or Grandad’s Island by Benji Davies. Cross-curricular links allow the children to apply their knowledge, develop a deeper understanding and embed their knowledge. For example, the children apply their science knowledge and skills when describing historical artefacts, or homes in the past. Our science lessons have been designed to be progressive from Nursery through to Year 2 and beyond. We recognise that it is important to develop the children’s scientific vocabulary, therefore at all ages and stages we encourage the children to develop their vocabulary whether through first-hand experiences, book talk, or explicit teaching. We then encourage them to apply the vocabulary during lessons, including investigations and experiments. We have included the study of scientists such as David Attenborough in order to inspire and engage the children. We encourage the children to ‘be scientists’ in every science lesson, whether in the classroom, in the school grounds or whilst visiting the local area and we emphasise the importance of using the correct vocabulary, equipment and scientific skills.
Impact
Pupils are active learners, excited and engaged in Science lessons. They are curious, challenged and asking questions, eager to find out more and make sense of the world around them. As a result, they develop a growth mindset, respect and kindness for others and the world around them. Pupils are regularly assessed through questioning, class discussions, pupil questionnaires and quizzes throughout the unit of work. This assessment is used to address misconceptions, evaluate the effectiveness of our curriculum, and to inform future planning. The percentage of children reaching the expected standard at the end of Key Stage One in Science are above local authority and national averages.
