Intention

Science at The Vine is very hands on, with a vast array of practical investigations taking place, from melting and freezing materials to creating slime, applying knowledge of forces to create and launch bottle rockets and thinking about the world around us by exploring habitats. Science is a subject that stimulates and excites pupils' curiosity about the world around them. Scientific investigation develops understanding through practical activity, and encourages critical and creative thought. An important aspect of Science at The Vine is for the children to learn and use scientific vocabulary in the correct context, both while in discussion during practical investigation and also when writing up their findings. Children are exposed to different ways of investigating and get the chance to develop their skills at predicting likely outcomes. Making predictions is a key skill used across the curriculum as it teaches children that making a mistake, or not getting something quite right is a natural part of learning.

The pupils need to understand that there are many cross curricular links within Science learning, ranging from creating tables, graphs and interpreting data, to discovering materials from different climates and countries. Pupils are encouraged to work in groups to carry out investigations, so they are constantly developing their co-operation and communication skills, which is key to working effectively as part of a team.

Implementation

At The Vine, teachers pride themselves on planning stimulating lessons that will challenges pupil’s ideas about Science and the world around them and to ensure they are always trying to make links with other areas of their learning.

Teachers will use the Science mastery document to check that children are challenged sufficiently to master the science curriculum and they are encouraged to push themselves to achieve their very best.

There is a clear progression in each unit and this can clearly be seen throughout the school in each year group so that children are extending their knowledge from learning in previous year groups.

Science links to the School Vision

We are lucky at The Vine to have teaching staff who are passionate about Science and are always exploring ways to look for new lines of scientific enquiry to challenge our pupils.

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

1. develop scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics

2. develop understanding of the nature, processes and methods of science through different types of science enquiries that help them to answer scientific questions about the world around them

3. are equipped with the scientific knowledge required to understand the uses and implications of science, today and for the future.