Intent

At Slinfold Primary School we bring science to life with practical and engaging Science lessons.  We study a wide range of units, using the National Curriculum Programme of Study as our guide.  The National Curriculum states that pupils should experience and observe phenomena by looking closely at the natural and human world around them.

We believe that scientific investigation is one of the most powerful ways to learn; developing curiosity, inquiry and perseverance.  We aim to ensure our science lessons ink to real life context and give meaning to children’s learning.  Their lessons will be practical in nature allowing children to use a wide range of resources and allows them to make their own discoveries about the world around them.  This will enable them to develop their skills in scientific enquiry, be able to generate their own questions and develop teamwork.  Children will have the independence to us their knowledge and use their findings to inform what they want to discover next.  Through this, children develop their scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding as well as a sense of ownership of their scientific work and how they record and present that work.

SEND

When planning science we will ensure that learning objectives for new content will be accessible to all by breaking these down into simpler parts for children to learn and practise.  There will be opportunities for small group or whole class discussions and visual aids to support the access of all learners.  

Each lesson will follow on from prior learning to ensure that key concepts are systematically developed and possible misconceptions identified over time and can therefore be addressed and pre-empted.  New vocabulary and language can be pre-taught to those children who struggle with new concepts in whole class teaching environments.  Word banks and writing templates will be readily available for those who need support in scaffolding when writing up methods and experiments.  A copy of key words will be accessible so that children and adults can refer to throughout the lessons to help reinforce technical language.

Practical work and experiments will be practised beforehand so that step by step instructions are clear and more precise for those learners who need extra guidance.

As the nature of science lessons vary we will prepare learners in advance by explaining how the lesson will run and use visuals to support those that find difficulty in managing change and transition in the classroom.   Children can be pre-exposed to the equipment and nature of the lesson.