Kaizen Primary School

Intent

Children attending Kaizen Primary School often have very few experiences of life outside of their local area due to being located in an area of high deprivation meaning that families are not able to visit areas outside of the local area and high mobility rates (23% for 2021-22, nearly ¼ of our whole school cohort were new last year). At Kaizen, we believe children should be inquisitive throughout their time at the school and beyond. The Science curriculum fosters a healthy curiosity in children about our universe and promotes respect for the living and non-living. We believe science encompasses the acquisition of knowledge, concepts, skills and positive attitudes.

The Science curriculum is delivered to make sure that it is accessible to the children at Kaizen who come from a variety of socioeconomic, ethnic, and neurodiverse backgrounds.

Children are able to know more and retain more when the pedagogical methods of review, teach, practise, and apply lesson structure are used in delivering the knowledge. With opportunities to catch up provided at the beginning of the class if required, this method guarantees that kids can keep up.

The key knowledge that has been recognised within each unit and across each year group, as well as the application of scientific abilities, will be acquired and developed by the students throughout the study programmes. In order for children to apply their knowledge of science when using tools, conducting experiments, building arguments, and explaining concepts confidently, as well as to continue to ask questions and be observant of their surroundings, we make sure that the ‘Working Scientifically’ skills are built upon and developed throughout their time at the school.

Vocabulary development is vital in the Science curriculum as a result of the high proportion of children who start Kaizen Primary School with lower levels of vocabulary than is typical for their age. Through explicit teaching of vocabulary, we hope to increase the cultural capital of our children by encouraging them to talk about their learning and be confident in using scientific vocabulary. For example, in the EYFS stage they  learn; soft, hard, brick, hard, stretchy, soft, then in KS1 bendy, rough, smooth, twisting, stretching. By the end of KS2; solid, liquid, gas, transparent, opaque, translucent, magnetic, filter, evaporation and dissolving,

In order to make learning relevant, topics are planned to incorporate learning about a diverse range of key scientists throughout history and how their discoveries shaped the understanding we have today. Furthermore, through our ‘Future me’ initiative by exposing our learners to careers that link to their learning we hope to inspire them to strive for ambitious careers in the future. Our aim is for learners to leave our school as confident, knowledgeable, excited scientists.

The Science curriculum ensures that by the time the children leave in Year 6, they will have:

• developed scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding through the specific disciplines of biology (plants, animals including humans, living things and their habitat and evolution and inheritance), chemistry (rocks and properties of changes of materials and physics (everyday materials, light, forces and magnet, states of matter, sound, electricity, earth and space and forces ).
• develop understanding of the nature, processes and methods of science through different types of science enquiries that help them to answer scientific questions about the world around them
• are equipped with the scientific knowledge required to understand the uses and implications of science, today and for the future

By the end of KS1, children would have developed their ‘Working Scientifically’ by:

• asking simple questions and recognising that they can be answered in different ways (which parts of the body are associated with which sense?)
• observing closely, using simple equipment (What animals can we find in our Forest school?)
• performing simple tests ( What do seeds need to grow?)
• identifying and classifying ( Do all animals stay the same?)
• using their observations and ideas to suggest answers to questions (Which material will be the most suitable for a raincoat? )
• gathering and recording data to help in answering questions (What impact does exercise have on our body?)

 By the end of Y6, children would have developed their ‘Working Scientifically’ by:

• planning different types of scientific enquiries to answer questions, including recognising and controlling variables where necessary (Does the shape of shadows change?)
• taking measurements, using a range of scientific equipment, with increasing accuracy and precision, taking repeat readings when appropriate (ow could you stop a snowman from melting?)
• recording data and results of increasing complexity using scientific diagrams and labels, classification keys, tables, scatter graphs, bar and line graphs (branching key to classify vertebrates)
• using test results to make predictions to set up further comparative and fair tests (What impact do foods and drinks have on our teeth?)
• reporting and presenting findings from enquiries, including conclusions, causal relationships and explanations of and a degree of trust in results, in oral and written forms such as displays and other presentations (adaptation may lead to natural selection and evolution.)
• identifying scientific evidence that has been used to support or refute ideas or arguments(

When students start their educational journey in the Early Years, the Science curriculum begins, we encourage children to investigate the world and engage in scientific inquiry within their settings by connecting to science-related topics and content in the EYFS curriculum's "Understanding of the World" strand. Utilising children's natural curiosity in the Early Years Foundation Stage, fostering respect for living things and the environment, and ensuring that our kids learn science, are able to remember what they've learned in subsequent year groups will help them become more informed and independent learners as they progress through the key stages.

Implementation

Teachers create a positive attitude to science learning within their classrooms and reinforce an expectation that all children are capable of achieving high standards in science. Our whole school approach to the teaching and learning of science involves the following:

• Science will be taught weekly by the class teacher, making links to other subjects where appropriate. This is a strategy to enable the achievement of a greater depth of knowledge.
• Through our planning, we involve problem solving opportunities that allow children to find out for themselves. Children are encouraged to ask their own questions and be given opportunities to use their scientific skills and research to discover the answers. This curiosity is celebrated within the classroom. Planning involves teachers creating engaging lessons, often involving high-quality resources to aid understanding of conceptual knowledge. Teachers use precise questioning in class to test conceptual knowledge and skills. End of term assessments of current and past knowledge learning take place to ensure we are continually checking prior knowledge learning.
• We build upon the learning and skill development of the previous years. As the children’s knowledge and understanding increases, and they become more proficient in selecting, using scientific equipment, collating and interpreting results, they become increasingly confident in their growing ability to come to conclusions based on real evidence.
• Working scientifically skills are embedded into lessons to ensure these skills are being developed throughout the children’s school career and new vocabulary and challenging concepts are introduced through direct teaching. This is developed through the years, in-keeping with the topics.
• Teachers demonstrate how to use scientific equipment, and the various working scientifically skills in order to embed scientific understanding. Teachers find opportunities to develop children’s understanding of their surroundings by accessing outdoor learning and workshops with experts.
• Children are offered a wide range of extra-curricular activities, educational visits and visitors to complement and broaden the curriculum. These are purposeful and link with the knowledge being taught in class.
• Regular events, such as Science Week, to provide broader provision and the acquisition and application of knowledge and skills. These events often involve families and the wider community.

Impact

The successful approach at Kaizen 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, especially through Forest School provision. Through various workshops, educational visits and interactions with experts and local charities, children have the understanding that science has changed our lives and that it is vital to the world’s future prosperity.

The impact of our Science curriculum at Kaizen ensures that children learn the possibilities for careers in science, ensuring that children have access to positive role models within the field of science and from historical pioneering figures. From this exposure to a range of different scientists from various backgrounds, all children feel they are scientists and capable of achieving. Children at Kaizen are equipped with scientific skills and working scientifically that will enable them to be ready to continue their learning journey in KS3 and for life as an adult in the wider world. Children will be clear about the careers available to them as part of our ‘Future Me’ aspect of the curriculum and continue to explore opportunities available to them.

Science overview

Science Progression Skills

Science Knowledge Skills

Scientific Skills Progression

Science at Kaizen

Future Me