At Alfred Street Junior School, we strive to build bright futures, enabling all children to reach their full potential academically. Our curriculum vision underpins the teaching of Science. We believe Science should be practical, with first-hand, real-life opportunities for all children to experience a broad range of scientific activities in school and beyond, to develop curiosity and enquiring minds. We will encourage our children to be curious about natural phenomena and be excited by the process of understanding the world around them. Key scientific terminology and concepts will be in introduced and built upon across the school. Pupils will be encouraged to work scientifically and will be able to carry out simple tests and experiments using equipment to gather and record data. Children will learn about plants, animals including humans, materials, habitats, rocks and soils, light, forces, states of matter, sounds, electricity, earth and space and evolution and inheritance. Visits such as the Planetarium and Bugtopia and dedicated science days will enhance the delivery of our curriculum. We follow the National Curriculum Programme of Study looking at all aspects of science including working scientifically, biology, chemistry, and physics. It is taught as an independent lesson, however we aim to make cross curricular links and theme links where possible.

Each year, as Scientists the children building upon their prior knowledge and understanding and become more skilled in these key concepts.

As biologists we learn to:

• Understand plants – by becoming familiar with types of plants, their structure and reproduction
• Understand animals and humans – by becoming familiar with different types of animals, humans, and the life processes they share
• Investigate living things – by becoming familiar with a wider range of living things including insects and understanding life processes
• Understand Evolution and inheritance – by understanding that organisms come into existence, adapt, change, and evolve and become extinct.

As chemists we learn to:

• Investigate materials – by becoming familiar with a range of materials, their properties, uses and how they may be altered or changed.

As physicist we learn to:

• Understand movement, forces, and magnets – by understanding what causes motion
• Understanding light and seeing– by understanding how light and reflection affect sight
• Investigate sound and hearing – by understanding how sound is produced, how it travels and how it is heard
• Understand electrical circuits – by understanding circuits and the role of different components in electrical appliances
• Understand the Earth’s movement in space- by understanding what causes seasonal changes and day and night

Our intention for Science is that when they leave in Year 6, our children are able to ask questions about the world around them, be able to investigate why things might happen and observe changes and explain their findings using their knowledge and scientific vocabulary. Through doing this, children will develop their curiosity and problem-solving skills.