Welcome to St John's Primary School

Science at St John’s

Through high-quality science teaching, we aim to help our pupils understand how major scientific ideas have played a vital role in society. Moreover, we aim to prepare our pupils for life in an increasingly scientific and technological world.  

INTENT

1. SELF - At St John’s, we increase the scientific capital of all pupils so that they feel that science is an option
for their future through direct learning experiences and enquiries.
2. OTHERS - We are proactive in exposing our pupils to people and companies in our local scientific
community and teach them about the contributions of scientists from all over the world and throughout
the ages.
3. WIDER WORLD - Pupils at St John’s are taught that science is a subject with truly global reach. Our aim

We believe that good science teaching should be:

• based on a secure knowledge of the subject
• engaging and creative
• a mixture of practical and written work
• have a strong real-life context
• inspired by the questions that children have
• be challenging

These principles of good science teaching were devised by the staff and were informed by the children of St John’s school, with help from the School Council.

IMPLEMENTATION

Planning

At Key Stage 1 and 2 teachers plan science lessons using the National Curriculum (2014).
• All science lessons have focussed learning objectives, clear differentiation and success criteria to
ensure that pupils make at least good progress.
• ‘Working scientifically’ is embedded throughout the areas of learning in key stage 1 and 2; this
focuses on the key aspects of scientific enquiry which enable pupils to investigate and answer
scientific questions.
• Areas of learning within key stage 1 and 2 ensure that statutory requirements are being covered
through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics (teachers may also refer to the
non-statutory guidance which provide additional support).
• The medium term Key Stage Plans map out the topics to be covered over the 2 year cycle in Key
Stage 1 and a 4 year cycle in Key Stage 2.
• The short term plans are completed by all teachers and outline when lessons will be delivered.
Science is a core subject of the National Curriculum and is taught every week.

Teaching

At St John’s School, teachers plan and deliver high-quality and engaging science lessons incorporating a range of teaching and learning styles. Teachers will provide opportunities for pupils to:

• Learn about science, where possible, through first-hand practical experiences;
•  Develop their research skills through the appropriate use of secondary sources;
•  Work collaboratively in pairs, groups and/or individually;
•  Plan and carry out investigations with an increasing systematic approach as they progress through the school;
•  Develop their questioning, predicting, observing, measuring and interpreting skills;
•  Record their work in a variety of ways e.g. writing, diagrams, graphs, tables;
• Read and spell scientific vocabulary appropriate for their age.
•  Be motivated and inspired by engaging and interactive science displays which include key vocabulary and relevant questions.
• Learn about science using the outdoor learning environment.
• Develop their Working Scientifically skills to enable them to ask their own questions about the world they live in; design investigations to find the answers and evaluate the limitations of their work.
• Be involved in a science themed week once a year where pupil’s work for the whole week will be based around real-world scientific context (supported by practical activities and visitors).
• Increase their scientific capital. Science capital can be defined as the sum of all the science-related knowledge, attitudes, experiences and resources that an individual builds up through their life.

Science enrichment at St John's

Alongside our strong and structured Science curriculum, pupils enjoy a range of enrichment activities to develop their science capital. Pupils have engaged in after school science clubs, lego club and collaborations with the wider school like our popular community gardening club. British Science Week is an annual event at St John's and includes a range of activities and visitors to smash stereotypes, inpsire our pupils and further develop their working scientifically skills. In recent years, we have had visits from Ryburn Valley High School, Hird and Partners Vets and virtual visits from the Sea Turtle Conservancy.