Science Curriculum Intent

"The important thing is not to stop questioning."

(Albert Einstein)

At Abbey Primary School, the science curriculum invites and enables pupils to question and understand the world in which they live by capitalising on their innate curiosity. Through first-hand experiences, questioning and observation, children are enthused to make sense of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world.

Throughout history, human progress has largely rested on advances in science, and it is our responsibility to empower and inspire our pupils to be scientists of the future. With this in mind, science is prioritised as a core curriculum subject, delivered via a progressive model, and further strengthened by extra-curricular opportunities. The curriculum’s design ensures that pupils acquire substantive and disciplinary knowledge symbiotically, with an understanding of the link between the two. Through explicit and carefully planned learning, pupils are fully equipped with the necessary vocabulary, mathematical skills and knowledge to undertake and record their enquiries effectively. Pupils revisit key substantive concepts in increasing depth throughout their primary education with integral opportunities to practise, consolidate and assess their learning. Over time, pupils, learn to suggest, facilitate and follow their own lines of scientific enquiry with increasing independence, therefore equipping them to meet the further challenges of the secondary curriculum and beyond.

Throughout the units of Science learning, pupils revisit the carefully chosen substantive concepts of:

Living things – Energy – Materials – Forces - Earth and Space

Our Science curriculum develops pupils who:

• Feel inspired and empowered to become scientists of the future
• 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 science 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.