William Penn School
Science INTENT
At William Penn School, we follow the National Statutory Framework for EYFS and the National Curriculum for years one through six. We teach the knowledge, skills and understanding detailed in these documents. As children progress through the school they develop their scientific understanding and confidence when working scientifically. At William Penn Primary School we bring science to life with practical and engaging Science lessons. We study a wide range of units, using the National Curriculum Programme of Study as our guide. The National Curriculum states that pupils should experience and observe phenomena by looking closely at the natural and human world around them. The main focus is to develop scientific enquiry skills, which are taught throughout each of the contexts. This enables the children to develop their investigative skills of observing, questioning, fair testing, predicting, measuring, recording, analysing and drawing conclusions in a variety of situations.
The children are encouraged to recognise the significance of rational explanation and to develop a sense of excitement and curiosity about natural phenomena, as science is exciting. The pupils are encouraged to understand how science can be used to explain what happens in the world around us, predict how things will behave, and analyse the causes, with emphasis on the need for evidence.
Through our continuing emphasis on the importance of science, both in school and around the world, our children develop a clearer understanding of how science influences and changes their lives and how it is vital to the world’s future prosperity.
SEND Science Statement
When planning science, we will ensure that learning objectives for new content will be accessible to all by breaking these down into simpler parts for children to learn and practise. There will be opportunities for small group or whole class discussions and visual aids to support the access of all learners.
Each lesson will follow on from prior learning to ensure that key concepts are systematically developed and possible misconceptions identified that can therefore be addressed. New vocabulary and language can be pre-taught to those children who struggle with new concepts in whole class teaching environments. Word banks and writing templates will be readily available for those who need support in scaffolding when writing up methods and experiments. A copy of key words will be accessible so that children and adults can refer to throughout the lessons to help reinforce technical language.
Practical work and experiments will be practised beforehand so that step by step instructions are clear and more precise for those learners who need extra guidance.