Intent 

Science at Springfield is centred around children’s curiosity about the world around them. It offers them the opportunity to discover, prove and disprove the answers to their scientific questions. Science is fun and practical giving children stimulating and challenging experiences, which help them secure and extend their scientific knowledge and vocabulary. We encourage the children to lead their own learning which in turn builds their confidence and enjoyment in this subject. We believe that these opportunities will ensure that our children are confident, life-long learners who will explore the world around them.

Implementation

​Science is planned and assessed across the school with the children’s progression at the heart of what we teach. Progression and links between topics and year groups can be seen in the science content grid. Teachers use PLAN assessment resources produced by the ASE (Association of Science Education) to support them with planning and formative assessment. We also use TAPS (Teacher Assessment in Primary Science) resources, which provide support for selecting a skill to focus on within an enquiry. 

Working scientifically 

 ​Although the ‘Working scientifically skills’ are described separately in our curriculum content, they are always taught through the different knowledge topics and concepts in each year group. Teachers use a range of enquiry types to do this - research using secondary sources, fair testing, observing over time, pattern seeking and identifying, classifying and grouping.  

Promoting science talk and use of scientific vocabulary 

At Springfield, we use a range of activities to help develop children’s thinking and oracy skills. These can be used for the retrieval practice of knowledge from a previous lesson, to introduce new learning or lead to further enquiries. Children are encouraged to use scientific vocabulary they have learnt when discussing their ideas with peers. Activities include: odd one out, true or false, meet the expert and what if? 

I already know that… but I would like to find out about…

​Children are always encouraged to ask and answer their own questions at Springfield. We think it is important that the children know they are scientists and leading their own learning. Before teachers plan new learning experiences, a classroom assessment is used to identify prior knowledge and possible misconceptions. Teachers use the Primary Science Teaching Trust resource ‘Explore, Extend, Engage’. This involves engaging practical activities with questions based on observing, describing, sorting, comparing and explaining observations. 

Impact

The successful approach to the teaching of science at Springfield will result in a fun, engaging and high-quality science education, that provides children with the foundations for understanding the world.
Assessment at Springfield is teacher and formative based. We use concept cartoons, mind maps, verbal/written outcomes, reflection tasks and presentations.
Children at Springfield Junior School will:
  • demonstrate a love of science work and an interest in further study and work in this field.
  • retain knowledge that is pertinent to science with a real-life context.
  • be able to question ideas and reflect on knowledge.
  • be able to articulate their understanding of scientific concepts and be able to reason scientifically using the correct scientific vocabulary.
  • work collaboratively and practically to investigate and experiment.
  • achieve age related expectations in science at the end of their cohort year.

Year 6 using Data Loggers

Year 3
Year 3 learn about the following topics across the year: 
- Forces and magnets
- Light
- Rocks
- Animals, including humans 
- Plants

Year 3 - Unit of Learning: Introduce Rocks

Year 3 have been working with different types of rocks and exploring their features, including performing an experiment on sedimentary rocks to identify chalk and limestone. This unit of learning allows children to also explore soil and fossils.
Year 3's first lesson answering the learning question, 'How are rocks formed?' During this lesson, children explored the 'hardness' of rocks with the particular focus on igneous rocks, formed from cooled molten rock.

Year 4

Year 4 learn about the following topics across the year: 
- Electricity
- Living things and their habitats 
- Animals, including humans 
- Sound 
​- Properties of materials 

Year 4 - Unit of Learning: Introduce Living Things
​and their Habitats

Display of children's learning, showing the progression through the unit including classification of vertebrates and invertebrates.
Children exploring 'What animals are invertebrates?' using their knowledge of the features of invertebrates with a particular focus on slugs and snails (molluscs), worms (annelids), spiders ( arachnids) and insects.

Year 5

Year 5 learn about the following topics across the year: 
- Living things and their habitats
- Earth and Space
- Forces
- Animals, including humans 
- Materials 

Year 5 - Unit of Learning: Introduce Forces

Year 5 children have been investigating forces and levers, including learning about key concepts such as friction, air and water resistance.
Science encourages children to explore and understand the world around them. In this year 5 lesson, children are thinking about 'How do levers help us?'

Year 6

Year 6 learn about the following topics across the year: 
- Living things and their habitats
- Evolution and Inheritance 
- Light 
- Electricity 
- Animals, including humans (also taught through PSHE)

Year 6 - Unit of Learning: Animals, including Humans
Circulatory System
Year 6's learning cycle about the human circulatory system including the heart and blood.
In this lesson, year 6 examined 'What is our heart like inside?' and 'How does it work?' This knowledge was then applied to the 'real world' by asking children to think about performing CPR and the use of a defibrillator.