Science

Intent

The National Curriculum for Science aims to ensure that all pupils:

Develop scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics.
Develop understanding of the nature, processes and methods of science through different types of scientific enquiries that help them to answer scientific questions about the world around them.
Are equipped with the scientific knowledge required to understand the uses and implications of science, today and for the future.

At Godolphin Junior Academy, these skills are embedded and developed consistently, through well sequenced and progressive Science lessons. Pupils are taught to work scientifically by asking relevant questions to seek information from multiple sources and to rely on scientific enquires to determine answers. This process provides a solid foundation for them to form independent opinions and make decisions, a skill that will serve them well throughout all facets of their life and academic pursuits.

Science is taught through progressive units, each introducing a scientific concept which is built upon as they progress through the school. At the beginning of each topic, Science Unit pages outline key objectives which support pupils to understand their progress throughout the topic. This is supported by knowledge organisers which outline the key learning of the unit. Pupils are encouraged to use the knowledge organisers through out the unit to support their understanding and learning of scientific knowledge.

Throughout Science lessons, teachers promote scientific vocabulary and enable pupils to gain a deep understanding of new scientific vocabulary. All pupils are encouraged to hypothesize, plan and conduct fair investigations. Every topic has an experiment for the students to conduct and report on. Teachers provide good models for pupils to understand the process and purpose of fair tests and collecting data.

Practical experiments and opportunities to explore including the outdoors are planned to allow pupils to understand science phenomena. Through skillful teacher questioning, pupils draw scientific conclusions from their experiments and evidence data they have collected. Children’s knowledge of key concepts and vocabulary is consistently assessed through low stake mini quizzes and end of unit assessments.

We have key concepts running through our science curriculum. Through these concepts we teach pupils the essential knowledge they need to know to be successful in their learning, and build upon this knowledge as they progress through each unit of science.

Our pupils are able to refer to our science concepts when making connections between science units and across the wider curriculum. We know that if pupils can make connections in their learning then they are more likely to embed this knowledge and remember it over time. This is because pupils have been given the opportunity to think deeply and recognise how knowledge is connected and related to their prior learning.

Science lessons at Godolphin Junior Academy facilitates opportunities for pupils to develop their understanding of scientific knowledge, its relevance to their lives and its capacity to apply these vital life-skills to everyday activities. These skills help the children to generate ideas, make observations, collect and record scientific data and use evidence to understand key issues across the curriculum.

GJA Science Concepts

Implementation

Science is taught in six-week units every half term.

Teachers apply the following approach to all Science lessons in order to have successful implementation:

Teachers reinforce an expectation that all children are capable of achieving high standards in Science regardless of starting points.
High quality Science resources (such as TigTag) and models are used to embed the understanding and application of scientific concepts.
Scientific vocabulary is essential to pupils’ understanding of topics. In each lesson teachers provide good models of vocabulary, which pupils are encouraged to use in their verbal and written explanations.
Deeper layers of questioning (using solo taxonomy) is used by teachers to assess children’s understanding and extend their knowledge of scientific concepts.