Science Intent, Implementation and Impact

Intent

Our science curriculum follows the units outlined in the National Curriculum. It is our intention that through studying science, pupils become more expert as they progress through the curriculum, accumulating, connecting and making sense of the rich substantive and disciplinary knowledge.

1. Substantive knowledge 

This is the subject knowledge and explicit vocabulary used to learn about the content. Common misconceptions are explicitly revealed as ‘non-examples’ and positioned against known and accurate content. In our science curriculum, an extensive and connected knowledge base is constructed so that pupils can use these foundations and integrate it with what they already know. Misconceptions are challenged carefully and in the context of the substantive and disciplinary knowledge. We have taken the National Curriculum Primary Science headlines to define each domain:

• Biology is the study of living things (organisms), their structure and environments. In the Primary Curriculum it is the study of Animals, including humans, Plants, Living things and their habitats, Evolution and inheritance.
• Chemistry is the study of the composition, behaviour and properties of matter, and of the elements of the Earth and its atmosphere. In the Primary Curriculum it is the study of Everyday materials, Uses of everyday materials, Rocks, States of matter, Properties and changes of materials.
• Physics is the study of matter, forces and motion, sound, light and waves, electricity and magnetism and Earth in Space. In the Primary Curriculum it is the study of Seasonal changes, Light, Forces and magnets, Electricity, Sound, Forces and Earth in Space, Light.

1. Disciplinary knowledge

This is knowing how to collect, use, interpret, understand and evaluate the evidence from scientific processes. This is taught. It is not assumed that pupils will acquire these skills by luck or hope. Pupils construct understanding by applying substantive knowledge to questioning and planning, observing, performing a range of tests, accurately measuring, comparing through identifying and classifying, using observations and gathering data to help answer questions, explaining and reporting, predicting, concluding, improving, and seeking patterns. We call it ‘Working Scientifically.’ We map Working Scientifically coverage to check the balance of provision in KS1, Lower and Upper KS2.

In KS2 we introduce disciplinary scientific terms, including: variable, independent variable, dependent variable, controlled variable. These give structure to working and thinking scientifically tasks in relation to the substantive knowledge taught in that specific study. We have defined these terms:

• variable - the things that can change in a science experiment.
• independent variable - the variable that is changed by the scientist.
• dependent variables - are the things that the scientist watches closely for to see how they respond to the change made to the independent variable.
• controlled variables - the things that a scientist wants to remain the same and not change so they can see how the independent variable reacts

‘Thinking Scientifically’ is mapped throughout the curriculum:

• identifying and classifying

• pattern seeking

• research

• observing over time

• fair and comparative testing.

A guiding principle of our Science is that each study draws upon prior learning. For example, in the EYFS, pupils may learn about The Natural World through daily activities and exploring their locality and immediate environment. This is revisited and positioned so that new and potentially abstract content in Year 1, such as Animals, including humans, is related to what children already know. This makes it easier to cognitively process. This helps to accelerate new learning as children integrate prior understanding.

Science is organised into three distinct subject domains: biology, physics and chemistry. Where inter-disciplinary concepts are encountered, such as the particle model, these are taught explicitly and connected across science domains.

Our Science curriculum has sequenced the national curriculum into meaningful and connected ‘chunks’ of content to reduce the load on the working memory as well as creating coherent and strong long-term memories. The sequence of substantive and disciplinary knowledge enables pupils to become ‘more expert’ with each study and grow an ever broadening and coherent mental model of the subject. This guards against superficial, disconnected and fragmented scientific knowledge and weak disciplinary knowledge. High frequency, multiple meaning words (Tier 2) are taught explicitly and help make sense of subject specific words (Tier 3). Each learning module in science has a vocabulary module with teacher guidance, tasks and resources to enhance and deepen understanding.

Science is planned so that the retention of knowledge is much more than just ‘in the moment knowledge’. The cumulative nature of the curriculum is made memorable including retrieval and spaced retrieval practice, word building and deliberate practice tasks. This powerful interrelationship between structure and research-led practice is designed to increase substantive knowledge and accelerate learning within and between study modules. That means the foundational knowledge of the curriculum is positioned to ease the load on the working memory: new content is connected to prior learning. The effect of this cumulative model supports opportunities for children to associate and connect significant scientific concepts, over time, and with increasing expertise and knowledge.

Our Science curriculum deliberately pays attention and values the importance of subject content as well as the context it is taught in. Common scientific misconceptions are identified in all learning modules. These misconceptions are made explicit to pupils. Children draw upon substantive and disciplinary knowledge to reason and practise acquiring the conception, whilst repelling the misconceptions. Examples and non-examples are powerful ways of saying what something is and what something isn’t.

Implementation

We implement our intent using CUSP Science. A guiding principle of CUSP Science is that each study draws upon prior learning. For example, in the EYFS, pupils may learn about The Natural World through daily activities and exploring their locality and immediate environment. This is revisited and positioned so that new and potentially abstract content in Year 1, such as Animals, including humans, is related to what children already know. This makes it easier to cognitively process. This helps to accelerate new learning as children integrate prior understanding.

Learning Sequences

We organise intended learning into modules or units. These group the knowledge, skills and understanding that we want children to remember, do and use. Each module aims to activate and build upon prior learning, including from the early years, to ensure better cognition and retention. The skills required for working in a particular subject are outlined e.g. working scientifically. Close attention is paid to the tier 2 and tier 3 vocabulary to be taught to allow pupils to engage in the required vocabulary. They are deliberately spaced within and across years to introduce and revisit key concepts. This enables staff to deepen pupil understanding and embed learning. Each module is carefully sequenced to enable pupils to purposefully layer learning from previous sessions to facilitate the acquisition and retention of key knowledge.

Please see the Overall Curriculum Statements for more on our Intent, Implementation and Impact.