Science at St. Peter’s

At St. Peter’s, our aims, vision and values are at the core of everything we do.

We are guided by the key message of our Mission Statement,

'If we follow Jesus, the world will follow us.'

They define our teaching and learning, and provide an environment which prepares our pupils as confident, capable, resilient and responsible citizens able to enjoy a healthy life to the full.

Our inclusive school community works in partnership to meet the responsibility of developing each child in every way – spiritually, emotionally, academically, physically and socially because each child who is a unique creation of God and loved by God, deserves this.

We deliver the Science curriculum through the unique approach of the St. Peter’s Family.

Why is Science important at St. Peter’s?

• A high-quality science education provides the foundations for understanding the world through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics.
• Science has changed our lives and is vital to the world’s future prosperity, and all pupils should be taught essential aspects of the knowledge, methods, processes and uses of science.
• Through building up a body of key foundational knowledge and concepts, pupils should be encouraged to recognise the power of rational explanation and develop a sense of excitement and curiosity about natural phenomena.
• Through our Science curriculum, children glean skills to enable them to become life-long learners.

What are the key knowledge concepts in Science at St. Peter’s?

What are the key Science subject discipline skills?

• Being curious and ask questions about what they notice.
• Developing their understanding of scientific ideas · using different types of scientific enquiry to answer their own questions
• Observing changes over a period of time, noticing patterns, grouping and classifying things, carrying out simple comparative tests, and finding things out using secondary sources of information
• Using simple scientific language to talk about what they have found out and communicate their ideas to a range of audiences in a variety of ways
• Using scientific equipment and resources in a safe and knowledgeable way
• Understanding resilience in Science.

How does St. Peter’s ensure progression in our key knowledge and concepts in Science?

• Knowledge taught becomes more in depth
• Increasing complexity of language and precision expected
• Pupils demonstrate their knowledge and understanding as a scientist through a TASC project
• Pre and post diagnostic assessments are used at the start of end of each unit
• Whole school progression document for working scientifically and subject fluency to ensure knowledge and skills are built on. 

How do we know our children have made progress?

End points

FS children can:

• Children know about similarities and differences in relation to places, objects, materials and living things.
• They talk about the features of their own immediate environment and how environments might vary from one to another.
• They make observations of animals and plants and explain why some things occur, and talk about changes.
• They know about similarities and differences between themselves and others and among families, communities and traditions.
• Children recognise that a range of technology is used in places such as homes and schools. They select and use technology for particular purposes. 

End points

KS1 children can:

• name and locate parts of the human body, including those related to the senses (year 1), and

describe the importance of exercise, a balanced diet and hygiene for humans (year 2)

• describe the basic needs of animals for survival and the main changes as young animals, including

humans, grow into adults (year 2)

• describe the basic needs of plants for survival and the impact of changing these and the main

changes as seeds and bulbs grow into mature plants (year 2)

• identify whether things are alive, dead or have never lived (year 2)

• describe and compare the observable features of animals from a range of groups (year 1)

• group animals according to what they eat (year 1), describe how animals get their food from other

animals and/or from plants, and use simple food chains to describe these relationships (year 2)

• describe seasonal changes (year 1)

• name different plants and animals and describe how they are suited to different habitats (year 2)

• distinguish objects from materials, describe their properties, identify and group everyday

materials (year 1) and compare their suitability for different uses (year 2)

Working scientifically

The pupil can, using appropriate scientific language from the national curriculum:

• ask their own questions about what they notice

• use different types of scientific enquiry to gather and record data, using simple equipment where

appropriate, to answer questions: observing changes over time, noticing patterns, grouping and classifying things, carrying out simple comparative tests, finding things out using secondary sources of information

• communicate their ideas, what they do and what they find out in a variety of ways

Science content

End points

Year 6 Children can:

• name and describe the functions of the main parts of the digestive (year 4), musculoskeletal

(year 3) and circulatory systems (year 6); and describe and compare different reproductive

processes and life cycles in animals (year 5)

• describe the effects of diet, exercise, drugs and lifestyle on how the body functions (year 6)

• name, locate and describe the functions of the main parts of plants, including those involved in

reproduction (year 5) and transporting water and nutrients (year 3)

• use the observable features of plants, animals and microorganisms to group, classify and identify

them into broad groups, using keys or other methods (year 6)

• construct and interpret food chains (year 4)

• describe the requirements of plants for life and growth (year 3); and explain how environmental

changes may have an impact on living things (year 4)

• use the basic ideas of inheritance, variation and adaptation to describe how living things have

changed over time and evolved (year 6); and describe how fossils are formed (year 3) and provide

evidence for evolution (year 6)

• group and identify materials (year 5), including rocks (year 3), in different ways according to their

properties, based on first-hand observation; and justify the use of different everyday materials for

different uses, based on their properties (year 5)

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Science content (continued)

• describe the characteristics of different states of matter and group materials on this basis; and

describe how materials change state at different temperatures, using this to explain everyday

phenomena, including the water cycle (year 4)

• identify and describe what happens when dissolving occurs in everyday situations; and describe

how to separate mixtures and solutions into their components (year 5)

• identify, with reasons, whether changes in materials are reversible or not (year 5)

• use the idea that light from light sources, or reflected light, travels in straight lines and enters our

Eyes to explain how we see objects (year 6), and the formation (year 3), shape (year 6) and size of

shadows (year 3)

• use the idea that sounds are associated with vibrations, and that they require a medium to travel

through, to explain how sounds are made and heard (year 4)

• describe the relationship between the pitch of a sound and the features of its source; and between

the volume of a sound, the strength of the vibrations and the distance from its source (year 4)

• describe the effects of simple forces that involve contact (air and water resistance, friction) (year 5),

that act at a distance (magnetic forces, including those between like and unlike magnetic poles)

(year 3), and gravity (year 5)

• identify simple mechanisms, including levers, gears and pulleys, that increase the effect of a

force (year 5)

• use simple apparatus to construct and control a series circuit, and describe how the circuit may

be affected when changes are made to it; and use recognised symbols to represent simple series

circuit diagrams (year 6)

• describe the shapes and relative movements of the Sun, Moon, Earth and other planets in the

solar system; and explain the apparent movement of the sun across the sky in terms of the Earth’s

rotation and that this results in day and night (year 5).

Working scientifically

The pupil can, using appropriate scientific language from the national curriculum:

• describe and evaluate their own and others’ scientific ideas related to topics in the national

curriculum (including ideas that have changed over time), using evidence from a range of sources

• ask their own questions about the scientific phenomena that they are studying, and select the

most appropriate ways to answer these questions, recognising and controlling variables where

necessary (i.e. observing changes over different periods of time, noticing patterns, grouping and

classifying things, carrying out comparative and fair tests, and finding things out using a wide

range of secondary sources)

• use a range of scientific equipment to take accurate and precise measurements or readings, with

repeat readings where appropriate

• record data and results using scientific diagrams and labels, classification keys, tables, scatter

graphs, bar and line graphs

• draw conclusions, explain and evaluate their methods and findings, communicating these in a

variety of ways

• raise further questions that could be investigated, based on their data and observations.

In Science lessons, as in all aspects of the curriculum, children are true to their faith. This can be summarised through one line taken from our Mission Statement: ‘We are happy when we do our best in our work and play’.

Science Learning Walk

November 2018

Mrs Finan and Mr O'Connor joined children from Reception - Year 6 for their Science learning.

The images below capture some of the excellent work from across the school.