Welcome to Science at Lightmoor
Intent
At Lightmoor Village Primary School, all of our children are SCIENTISTS!
It is our intent that through our inspiring and practical Science curriculum, the children at Lightmoor are encouraged with an excitement and natural curiosity to communicate scientific concepts clearly and link their understanding to the world around them. Following our curriculum on ‘KAPOW’, all children are taught essential aspects of the knowledge, methods, processes and uses of science. We want pupils to be encouraged to understand how science can be used to explain what is occurring, predict how things will behave, and analyse causes. We want our children to love science and to develop a knowledge and understanding to confidently explain the world around them.
Implementation
At Lightmoor Village Primary School, science topics are taught within each year group in accordance with the KAPOW science curriculum. As a school, we have adapted our curriculum to maximise opportunities for outdoor learning, allowing children to demonstrate their skills outside of the classroom environment. Topics are blocked to allow children to focus on developing their knowledge and skills, studying each topic in depth. Every year group will build upon the learning from prior year groups, using ‘knowledge catchers’ and will then be assessed at the end of a unit using the ‘unit quiz’. As a result of this approach, children develop depth of understanding and learn skills that progress through the years, as well as providing teachers with opportunity to appropriately challenge and scaffold learning to suit each individual’s needs. Children explore, question, predict, plan, carry out investigations and observations as well as conclude their findings, all valuable, transferable skills for children to carry with them throughout their education.
Impact
At Lightmoor, our pupils receive a broad and balanced curriculum. There are opportunities in individual lessons and at the start and end of a unit of work to assess whether children know and remember more. The impact of this curriculum design will lead to outstanding progress over time, across key stages, relative to a child’s individual starting point and their progression of skills. Appropriate adaptations have been made to reflect and match our SEND learners to ensure all children make good progress. Through various workshops, trips and interactions with experts, our science curriculum will lead pupils to be enthusiastic science learners and understand that science has not only changed our lives but that it is vital to the world’s future prosperity. We want to empower our children, so they understand they have the capability to change the world through a wide range of scientific focused careers. This is evidenced in a range of ways, including pupil voice, their work, whole school science days and their overwhelming passion for science.
“Science is simply the word we use to describe a method of organising our curiosity” - Tim Minchin
Science Lead: Miss Bird