Intake Primary School

Implementation

• At Intake, the Hamilton Trust Science scheme of work is used as a starting point for our planning to ensure progression of scientific skills and knowledge across each key stage. Teachers are encouraged to adapt planning as required to meet the needs of the children in their class and use a range of resources and planning tools including Developing Experts, Explorify and Plan Bee.
• Each topic uses hands-on investigative science activities to promote a deep understanding of scientific concepts and help children develop effective methods of scientific enquiry. We provide opportunities for children to meet the full range of scientific investigative approaches: pattern seeking, exploring, problem solving, fair testing, and analysing secondary sources.
• A 'hands on' approach to Science is encouraged, so that pupils can test their hypotheses and come to reasonable conclusions following investigations.
• Key vocabulary is pre-taught, revisited and extended as children progress through the year groups. This ensures scientific terminology is used accurately and precisely.
• Every year group builds upon the learning from prior year groups therefore developing depth of understanding and progression of skills.
• Children explore, question, predict, plan, carry out investigations and observations as well as conclude their findings.
• Children present their findings and learning in a variety of ways using science specific language, observations and diagrams.
• Children are given a knowledge organiser at the beginning of each topic which details some key science knowledge and vocabulary. This is not used as part of an assessment, but to support children with their acquisition of knowledge and are used as a reference document.
• At the start of each topic children will review previous learning and will have the opportunity to share what they already know about a current topic.
• In order to support children in their ability to ‘know more and remember more’ there are regular opportunities to review the learning from previous topics as well as previous lessons.
• Effective CPD and standardisation opportunities are available to staff to ensure high levels of confidence and knowledge are maintained.
• Effective use of education visits and visitors are planned, to enrich and enhance the pupils' learning experiences within the Science curriculum.
• Teachers use highly effective modelling and assessment for learning strategies in each lesson to ensure misconceptions are highlighted and addressed.
• Effective modelling by teachers ensures that children are able to achieve their learning intention.
• Teachers modify their teaching where appropriate to ensure that every pupil can access the Science curriculum.
• Pupils are regularly given the opportunity for self or peer assessment, which will then be used to inform planning, preparation, differentiation and address misconceptions within that lesson, or for the next lesson.
• Cross-curricular links are planned for, with other subjects such as Maths, English and Computing.
• Key end points are identified in each topic for each year group and children are assessed against these throughout each term using formative and summative assessment strategies.
• Our assessment system allows us to use data to inform future practice.

Impact

The successful approach at Intake Primary School results in a fun, engaging, high quality science education that provides children with the foundations and knowledge for understanding the world. Our engagement with the local environment ensures that children learn through varied and first-hand experiences of the world around them. Frequent, continuous and progressive learning outside the classroom is embedded throughout the science curriculum. Children at Intake Primary School enjoy science (found out through the use of pupil surveys) and this results in motivated learners with sound scientific understanding.

The impact of the work in Science is measured in a variety of ways. We use moderated materials provided by ASE alongside its knowledge and vocabulary progression map, to compare the work that the children are doing with key points on the map and the moderated examples. This allows the staff to assess where the children are, and check which elements are evident from the progression on the maps and also those elements that may need further work. This is done through pupil discussion, (when the children are asked about their work) the scrutiny of the work that children do (this is done by looking in the children's books), along with learning walks, looking at the work on display, a scrutiny of social media posts about Science as well as evaluating any internal or external assessment information we have from statutory tests and internal assessment checks. Any internal assessment information is used to back up what evidence is found from the classrooms and in the books of the children.