Throckley Primary School
Science – Intent, Implementation and Impact Intent
At Throckley Primary School, we know that a high-quality science education is the key to understanding the world around us via the disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics. Thanks to science, our lives change for the better every day. Our children are taught to use science to explain how the world works, predict how things will behave and analyse causes- essential skills if they are to discover truth within an age of information. Science at Throckley allows children simultaneously to interpret their present and to create their own future. In this way, the science curriculum not only enables but informs our curriculum drivers:
Understanding our place in the world
Science has changed lives throughout human history and all pupils should be taught essential aspects of the knowledge, methods, processes and uses of science. This ensures children comprehend entirely the way all of our lives are interconnected and how we can exist and thrive on this planet.
Aspiring to achieve
Science is vital to the world’s prosperity; at Throckley, we promise our children a brighter future. Through building up a body of key foundational knowledge and concepts, pupils recognise the power of rational explanation and demand more of their lives with the tools to turn dreams into reality.
Broadening horizons
Science compels our children to develop a sense of excitement and curiosity about natural phenomena By truly appreciating the nature of our existence, we can look to surpass what once seemed to be boundaries. Every enquiry, investigation and moment of discovery sows the seeds for ambition in the next generation.
Throughout the children’s primary school career, the science curriculum ensures progression by developing a secure understanding of each key block of knowledge and concepts at the relevant stage. Insecure, superficial understanding prevents genuine progression: pupils may struggle at key stage transitions, amass damaging misconceptions, or have significant difficulties in understanding higher-order content.
To this end, the science curriculum at Throckley is designed to simultaneously deliver substantive knowledge (“what we learn”) alongside procedural knowledge (“how we learn”). The sequence of learning dictates what should be taught, when it should be taught and how it should be taught, anticipating common misconceptions and providing a rich background of detailed subject knowledge for teachers in order that all children can reach beyond core concepts. Understanding of each key block of substantive knowledge is revisited across the years to ensure genuine
progression, while the curriculum details the specialist vocabulary children should be able to use accurately and precisely at each stage.
Procedural knowledge employed in class is chosen for relevance to the substantive knowledge and shared with the children as “working as a scientist”. These types of scientific enquiry include: observing over time; pattern seeking; identifying, classifying and grouping; comparative and fair testing (controlled investigations); researching using secondary sources; and applying their mathematical knowledge to their understanding of science, including collecting, presenting and analysing data.
Procedural/ disciplinary concepts are simplified in Key Stage 1, developing in complexity according to the statements and descriptions in the National Curriculum in Key Stage 2. In turn, activities in class develop the relevant procedural knowledge alongside the substantive. Practical tasks are carefully considered to ensure that they promote the children’s best work; are relevant to the unit studied; and make the learning journey assured.
Implementation
The science curriculum includes dedicated time for revisiting key knowledge at strategic points within each unit of study. Class teachers’ planning incorporates time to recap previous learning in order to build on knowledge and understanding in new, related areas of study. Purposeful links are made across the curriculum, meaning that knowledge and understanding is consolidated. The skills and knowledge imparted in each unit are derived from the National Curriculum and expanded upon to ensure that all children meet a high standard and minimum requirement, from which class teachers can augment knowledge and conceptual understanding based on the individuals within their cohort.
‘Working scientifically’ is not taught as a separate strand but is interwoven with learning objectives and across year groups: KS1, LKS2 and UKS2. The notes and guidance give examples of how ‘working scientifically’ might be embedded within the content of biology, chemistry and physics, focusing on the key headings of scientific enquiry. These include: observing over time; pattern seeking; identifying, classifying and grouping; comparative and fair testing (controlled investigations); and
researching using secondary sources. Pupils seek answers to questions by collecting, analysing and presenting data applying their mathematical knowledge.
High quality questioning and quality talk in the classroom have led to a talk-rich learning environment The National Curriculum for science reflects the importance of spoken language in pupils’ development across the whole curriculum- cognitively, socially and linguistically. Children are able to describe associated processes and key characteristics in common language, and are also able to understand and apply technical, higher order terminology accurately and precisely. They are guided in making their thinking clear, to both themselves and others, by teachers articulating scientific concepts clearly and precisely. Secure foundations are built by using discussion to probe and remedy children’s’ misconceptions.
What will I see if I visit a science lesson in Throckley Primary School?
Evidence-informed lesson routines
Lesson routines at Throckley Primary School support staff in the implementation of Rosenshine’s principles of instruction. They ensure that what we know and understand about how best pupils learn, is then reflected in how we teach. The ‘teach – task – teach – task’ model allows ample time for misconceptions to be addressed. Lesson time is given to connecting to previous (and relevant) taught content; concise explanation; clear examples; time for practice before application; and challenge for all.
Creative, dynamic and passionate teachers: individual class teachers decide which investigations, activities and tasks will best engage children and secure learning. Subject documentation contains a wealth of tried and tested ideas.
Clear, detailed explanations and modelling: teaching is explicitly clear, and tailored to individual need. Teacher modelling means that expectation is clear and children are scaffolded during independent practice. Children across school are taught to analyse shared examples in order to identify key ingredients for success. Support is layered; class teachers’ keen understanding of assessment allows them to know each child as an individual and know when the time is right to remove support, guiding the child to independence at the pace which is right for them.
Credit: Alex Bedford ‘Pupil Book Study Handbook’
Quality talk: classroom talk is explicitly taught and age-appropriate prompts in the classroom support children in dialogic talk by scaffolding and extending responses. Talk ‘norms’ are embedded with differentiated sentence stems displayed which support children in reciprocal talk. Children are taught talk moves, including how to agree, disagree, support, challenge, clarify and summarise.
Skilful teacher questioning: a commitment to staff training in this area has led to a teaching team that is skilled in using questioning to support learners in reaching their potential. A mix of strategies allow class teachers to direct questions to individuals where necessary, or use a ‘no hands up approach’ to allow children to contribute freely. To stretch children to the appropriate cognitive level, class teachers use prompts and cues to extend thinking. To develop this further, class teachers probe for reasoning and clarification, and, as pupils move further up the school, they are taught to give full, detailed and reasoned responses
Spaced retrieval of key learning: teachers employ a range of strategies (embedded across school), which support children in the recall and retention of key knowledge. These are drawn upon during low-stakes assessments and prior to the teaching of new, related content.
Clear learning intentions and tasks, which are appropriately challenging: all science lessons incorporated the requisite knowledge and relevant skills objective derived from the progression of skills and knowledge document. This guarantees the grasp of factual, conceptual, procedural and metacognitive knowledge, resulting in fuller understanding and greater depth. Children remember key knowledge, but also develop a full understanding of it in order to then apply this in context, creating authentic outcomes, which draw on their learning experience over time.
Authentic experience: all activities within and without school are fundamentally learning experiences chosen for the knowledge they secure in children. The “wonder” of the experience is in the learning and not the novelty of the event. Trips, excursions and in-school events across school are carefully planned as such, supporting our key driver of ‘Broadening Horizons’ by ensuring a balance of coastal, urban and rural experiences: planetarium visits, chemical combustion, ox heart dissection, allotment tending, farm visits, etc.
Resilient, independent learners: children are taught metacognitive strategies, including how to plan, monitor and evaluate their own learning. Shared success criteria allow children to have ownership of their learning and support them to be able to monitor their progress. Shared and verbalised class teacher thinking also models the thinking process for children and this is evident across school.
Our Wonderful Learners (OWLs) have been created to support children’s metacognitive development. Our OWLs encapsulate six learning behaviours, which we believe are integral to success both in school and beyond
Classroom scaffolds and displays allow children to see what each behaviour looks like in practice. As children move up the school, they are taught to independently identify the learning behaviour needed for a given task. OWLs support children’s self-regulation and also provide scaffolds for group and paired work.
Beautiful Work: driven by our value of ‘pride’, we teach children the importance of well-presented, carefully planned work. Children are proud to display their outcomes;
resilience, effort and progress are praised. Displays across school (such as STEAM Week) celebrate this success for the whole school community: children, families, practitioners and other stakeholders.
Impact
The success of science teaching at Throckley Primary School can be measured by the fascination our children have in the world around them: a wonder for the rich and extensive knowledge they have acquired, underpinned by deep and comprehensive conceptual understanding that will encourage their further enquiry and nurture their inquisitiveness for the rest of their lives. Their engagement with their environment ensures that children learn through varied and first-hand experiences of their world, while their deeply embedded learning guarantees their understanding that science has changed our lives and that it is vital to the world’s future prosperity.
Class teachers regularly assess children formatively against each curriculum statement using the progression documentation and knowledge organisers for each unit of study. Teachers have progression statements to aid in assessing in detail what each standard looks like for each year group and objective. Progress and outcomes are decided upon using a combination of summative assessments, formative evaluation and evidence over time in children’s books.
Children’s progress against statutory knowledge and skills objectives is closely tracked by teachers using SIMs assessment grids. Crucially, pupil-book study, founded on the delicately structured evocation of the children’s learning in their own terms, forms the lynchpin of monitoring science learning from EYFS to Year 6. This ensures that the subject leader is confident of the success of the curriculum through the lens of those for whom it must be crafted.
Our children realise the opportunities for each and every one of them to pursue a career in science, as a result of our community links and STEAM Weeks and use of the real-world context in our learning. They learn from and work with professionals, ensuring access to positive role models within the many fields of science and from the immediate and wider local community. From this exposure to a range of different scientists from various backgrounds, all children understand that they are scientists and capable of achieving. They know that science is the magic in their lives today and the endless possibilities for their future.
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