Science
Intent:
At Benton Dene School, it is our intention to encourage children to be naturally curious about the world around them whilst acquiring specific skills and knowledge to help them to think scientifically, to gain an understanding of scientific processes and also an understanding of Science, today and for the future. Our curriculum has been developed to ensure full coverage of the National Curriculum and to foster a sense of wonder about natural phenomena. Our curriculum allows children to build upon their prior knowledge and develop their enthusiasm for science. All children are encouraged to develop and use a range of skills including observations, planning and investigations, as well as being encouraged to question the world around them and become independent learners in exploring possible answers for their scientific based questions.
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Implementation:
To ensure high standards of teaching and learning in science at Benton Dene we have implement a curriculum that is progressive throughout the whole school. The planning for science is a process in which all teachers are involved by adapting and extending the curriculum to match pupils’ needs. Science is taught in discrete year groups. This ensures progression between year groups. At Benton Dene we aspire to promote children’s independence and for all our children to take responsibility in their own learning, therefore we have implemented knowledge organisers as an assessment challenge which are completed both at the beginning and end of each topic. Our teachers use these to adapt and extend the curriculum to match children’s interests and need. We include the use of technology, wherever appropriate, to aid teaching and learning. Through teacher modelling and planned questioning we want our children to wonder about and be amazed and surprised by the world around them as we recognise that our children sometimes lack experiences. Key scientific language is modelled throughout lessons enabling our children to be familiar with and use vocabulary accurately. Teachers are also encouraged to plan in trips and visitors to enhance our children’s learning experience.
Impact
The successful approach at Benton Dene School results in a fun, engaging, high-quality science education, that provides children with the foundations 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. So much of science lends itself to outdoor learning and so we provide children with opportunities to experience this. The impact and measure of this is to ensure children not only acquire the appropriate age related knowledge linked to the science curriculum, but also skills which equip them to progress from their starting points, and within their everyday lives.
