Science
"The important thing is to never stop questioning."
- Albert Einstein.
"Scientists have become the bearers of the torch of discovery in our quest for knowledge."
- Steven Hawking
"Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now it is time to understand more, so that we may fear less."
- Marie Curie
Hello and welcome to Kingsley's science page.
Here you will be updated with everything science at Kingsley.
At Kingsley, our curriculum intent is to promote a curiosity and intrigue in all things science. To create passion and a desire to learn. Kingsley science looks to empower our children to become independent and resilient thinkers, create and conquer challenging, yet enjoyable, investigations - which constantly feeds their curious nature. But most importantly, to have fun whilst learning in a safe and encouraging environment.
Science National Curriculum
Science Policy
Kingsley Science Intent, Implementation and Impact
Curriculum Intent
At Kingsley, our science curriculum, along with creative planning and delivery, aims to promote a curiosity, a love and a desire for learning from Early Years through to Upper Key Stage Two. Kingsley science empowers our children to become independent and resilient – key skills we promote across all subjects.
Learning occurs at every opportunity at Kingsley and we understand that children are born ready, able and eager to learn. Therefore, we plant the seeds of curiosity and exploration in our Early Years setting. We encourage children to have a go, explore new concepts, to always try again and to enjoy their experiences whilst discovering new learning in the area of ‘Understanding the World’.
We want to equip our children with not only the minimum statutory requirements of the science National Curriculum but to prepare them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life. For example, we have a wonderful forest school which children from all year groups frequently visit. The children are encouraged to learn through play, through investigations and through discussions with their partners or groups. Our children engage with nature and learn to love and protect some of earth’s most vulnerable inhabitants.
At Kingsley, we aim to enrich their time in our school with memorable, unforgettable experiences and are keen to provide opportunities some of our students may never have had before. For example, Science Week 2019 was all about BUBBLES. Children across the school spent the week interacting, playing, creating, squeezing, popping, building and investigating all things bubbles! We also had the pleasure of welcoming ExplorerDome and Primarily Science into our school. Our children were enthralled with demonstrations, hands on practical science experiments and were constantly encouraged to further develop their working scientifically skills. In January and February 2020 Kingsley Community had the pleasure of welcoming Chester Zoo to our school. They taught us all about sustainable palm oil and the importance of learning where our ingredients come from and the impact humans can have upon nature both positively and negatively. EYFS invited ZooLab into school and we able to interact with a variety of creatures – an excellent example of ‘hands on’ learning. In 2021, we explored experiments further with the help of 'Sublime Science'. Children shot rockets into the air, watched fizzy juice explode and were covered in spinning toilet paper... yes, TOILET PAPER!
We firmly believe that science is not just about what happens in the classroom, it is about the added value we offer to really inspire our children to see different possible career paths for their futures.
Curriculum Implementation
Science at Kingsley has seen a two year redevelopment period. The science curriculum has been carefully built to coincide with other subjects to further promote cross curricular learning opportunities. New assessment milestones for each year group crafted to ensure progression and repetition in terms of embedding key learning, knowledge and skills. We have recently developed new cover sheets for each year group topic which include previous learning and future learning to ensure Kingsley is revisiting and reviewing our science objectives, past, present and future, constantly. For example, materials is taught to be revisited in each phase. In EYFS children are encouraged to interact and play with water as part of Understanding the World. In KS1, the children discover ‘Everyday Materials’ and explore which material would make the best rain coat. In lower KS2, Year 4 explore ‘States of Matter’ and learn how water can change state and in upper KS2, Year 5, the children face ‘Materials – Properties and Changes’ and demonstrate dissolving, mixing and look at which changes of state are reversible changes. Children will revisit and reexamine their learning objectives throughout their time at Kingsley. We have also added ‘Exploratory Units’ into some KS1 year groups. These exploratory units will visit challenge topics such as forces and electricity and encourages a hands on approach to learning. At Kingsley, we believe that ALL children are scientists and ALL children have a level of curiosity that must be tapped into and explored further.
The science curriculum is divided into two official strands: knowledge and working scientifically. At Kingsley, we also believe in a third strand: vocabulary. Vocabulary plays a vital role and feeds into all subjects at Kingsley. As a school with high levels of English as an Additional Language (EAL), we encourage our children as often as possible to explore new words and phrases to constantly improve their skills. Each year groups have vocabulary that is required to be taught, learnt and used correctly by the end of each academic year.
Science subject specific characteristics (working scientifically skills) which we encourage our children to demonstrate, have been developed and shared across year groups. These characteristics are vital skills which our children need in life as well as in school during science lesson.
These characteristics are:
EYFS:
- Having their own ideas, making links with their learning, choosing ways to do things, being involved and concentrating, keep trying, enjoying achieving what they set out to do, exploring and always being willing to ‘have a go’
KS1 and KS2
- The ability to think independently and raise questions about working scientifically.
- Confidence and competence in the full range of practical skills, planning and carrying out scientific investigations.
- Excellent scientific knowledge and understanding demonstrated in written and verbal explanations, solving challenging problems and reporting scientific findings.
- The ability to undertake practical work in a variety of contexts, including fieldwork.
- To generate an intrigue for science and its application in past, present and future technologies.
Staff are timetabled to teach a weekly two hour science lesson. This helps to ensure sufficient time is allocated to science and that scientific subject matter can be revisited frequently to avoid misconceptions and improve the potential for our children to retain what they have been taught.
Curriculum Impact
We use summative assessment sheets at the end of each topic; however, formative assessment occurs during lessons for quick, useful feedback to the teacher. At the beginning of each topic, we have designed cover sheets for books. These cover sheets highlight curriculum targets, working scientifically skills and allows the teacher immediate feedback from a lesson. Teachers are encouraged to highlight when they believe a child has met the objective from a lesson. The curriculum milestones and working scientifically skills for each phase have been carefully mapped out and further broken down for each year group. This means that skills in science are progressive and build year on year.
Our staff use science summative assessment grids to systematically assess what the children know as the topic progresses and inform their future planning. Staff use this information to inform their short-term planning and short-term interventions. This helps us provide the best possible support for all of our pupils, including the more able.
The next step for science, is to implement our new assessment programme across KS1-KS2 and begin to analyse our results as part of our monitoring cycle. We hope this will provide an accurate and comprehensive understanding of the quality of education in science across Kingsley.