Teaching Science at Sherbrook

At Sherbrook Primary School we want to spark in our pupils a life-long curiosity and interest in the world around them, developing an enjoyment and enthusiasm of scientific learning and discovery. This is delivered with our childrens individual needs, skills and understanding as the driving force for how we teach the subject to enable every single child to access science at their appropriate level. We use practical sensory exploration, child and adult led investigations and experiments to cover the key areas of scientific enquiry, linking where possible with theme topics and other curriculum areas to provide creative schemes of work.

The Scientific area of learning is concerned with increasing pupils’ knowledge and understanding of our world, and with developing skills associated with Science as a process of enquiry. It will develop the natural curiosity of the child, encourage respect for living organisms and the physical environment and provide opportunities for pupils to develop enquiry skills at their appropriate level. The National Curriculum will provide a structure and skill development for the science curriculum being taught throughout the school.

Pupils are taught enquiry skills in all Explorers, Adventurers and Discoverers; developing questioning and investigation skills by exploring sensory materials and activities, problem solving questions for practical applications and real life problems and conducting formal experiments.

Science is taught in a thematic way to ensure links with other subjects including English and Maths. Scientific skills are used in other subject areas to enable learning in different contexts and to consolidate skills. Links with stories, data gathering, ICT, art, D & T, PE and Geography and integrated in planning to ensure a holistic approach to the subject.

The school has strong links with learning outside the classroom and we use our school ground, local area and off site visits to scientific sites to their full potential to make science varied and engaging. We teach lessons both inside and outside, using the resources on site such as the fire pit, vegetable garden, playgrounds and sensory garden to bring learning to life.

Scientific knowledge and understanding is taught based on the National Curriculum and delivered using a creative adapted curriculum. We cover the main areas of Biology, Chemistry and Physics to enable pupils to better understand the world around them and develop vocabulary and knowledge about physical and natural processes and environments.