Science at Portsdown Primary School and Early Years

At Portsdown we aim to develop a love for science. We believe that a high quality Science education provides the foundations for understanding the world around them. We aim to develop children’s scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics. We will develop their understanding of the processes that scientists use to help them answer scientific questions. A good understanding of the basic principles and a desire to question and explore why things happen and how things work will give our pupils a good base from which to build upon in the next stage of their education and into their adult lives. Children will be encouraged to develop a sense of ‘awe’ and ‘wonder’ about the world around them, and to begin to understand how Science has changed our lives and continues to do so. Children will work collaboratively with adults and their peers to ask questions and answer them by carrying out a range of scientific enquiries. Using their growing knowledge, children will be able to predict what they might find out, explain what is occurring, and analyse their findings, making links to knowledge that they already have.

Key Stage 1 Science

The main focus of science teaching in key stage 1 is to enable pupils to experience and observe phenomena, looking more closely at the natural and humanly-constructed world around them. They should be encouraged to be curious and ask questions about what they notice. They should be helped to develop their understanding of scientific ideas by using different types of scientific enquiry to answer their own questions, including observing changes over a period of time, noticing patterns, grouping and classifying things, carrying out simple comparative tests, and finding things out using secondary sources of information. They should begin to use simple scientific language to talk about what they have found out. Most of the learning about science should be done through the use of first-hand practical experiences.

Key Stage 2 Science

The key focus of science teaching in key stage 2 is to enable pupils to broaden their scientific view of the world around them. They can achieve this by talking about, testing and developing ideas about everyday phenomena, exploring and by beginning to develop their ideas about functions, interactions and relationships. Children will be able to ask their own questions about what they observe and make decisions about the type of scientific enquiry that will give them the best answer. This includes observing changes over time, grouping and classifying things, noticing patterns and carrying out comparative and fair tests. They will be able to draw simple conclusions, using scientific language, talking and writing about what they have found out.