Please find below information on how we teach Science at Thorpe.

Intent

At Thorpe Primary School we want to spark imagination, fuel curiosity and nurture confident young scientists.  We believe that investigational and experiential science is central to developing young scientists and therefore we focus primarily on working scientifically skills. Our curriculum is designed to progressively develop knowledge and skills which empower children to ask and explore increasingly more complex questions. Thus, encouraging our children to recognise the importance of science in the world around them 

Implementation                                                                                                                                                          

At Thorpe Primary School, we use United Learning to help pupils in building both the knowledge and skills necessary to explore real-world scientific problems.  This includes the introduction of yearly whole-school Science Days focusing on relevant and engaging themes, e.g. Space.

Our Science curriculum incorporates physical, biological and environmental sciences e.g. the study of materials, habitats, food chains, our changing world, wildlife protection and growth etc.  Each unit of work recaps and then builds on prior learning so that all pupils are able to secure and embed their scientific knowledge and skills as they move up the school.  We are currently developing our use of cross-curricular links and our wider school environment (e.g. our forest school) to amplify the impact of this ethos.

• All year groups have one Science lesson per week centred on one unit of work per half term which, in turn, aligns with the National Curriculum.
• Each class conducts a minimum of one scientific investigation per half term, with an emphasis on the planning, carrying out and recording of each investigation.
• Scientific vocabulary is explicitly shared, clarified and modelled within each unit.  Pupils are then actively encouraged to use the vocabulary accurately in their verbal and written work.
• One member of each year group team takes responsibility for planning and overseeing the learning journey for each unit.  The rest of the year group team then meets together to adapt these plans to meet the specific needs of their children.
• Teachers ensure that pupils are able to develop the following scientific skills: asking questions, carrying out comparative and fair tests, gathering data and recording findings, classifying based on results and conducting research using secondary sources. 

Impact

We continue to judge this by the following criteria:

• Children are positive, confident and actively engaged in Science;
• Children will have developed the scientific knowledge and skills to help explore, navigate and understand the world around them and their place in it. 
• Teachers believe that our approach to Science is effective in meeting the needs of their pupils;
• Attainment and progress both continue to improve, with disadvantaged pupils making progress in line with their peers.

Please read the Science Curriculum Statement of Intent document below for further information.