Science at Parochial
'Parochial Cares', our mission is to prepare children for the future by living, learning and growing together in God.
To live life... life in all its fullness (John 10:10)
Vision:
At Parochial, we aim to deliver a high-quality science education to provide the foundations for understanding the world through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics. Because science has changed our lives and is vital to the world’s future prosperity, we believe all pupils should be taught essential aspects of knowledge, methods, processes and uses of science. We will do this by building up a body of key foundational knowledge and concepts and encourage our pupils to recognise the power of rational explanation and develop a sense of excitement and curiosity about natural phenomena.
We aim to encourage our children to understand how science can be used to explain what is occurring, predict how things will behave, and analyse causes.
Implementation:
At Parochial we are:
Educating for Wisdom, knowledge and skills in Science through the development of a clear progression in skills and knowledge which builds upon strong foundations. Scientific enquiry begins in the Early Years, as children begin to learn and understand about the world around them. We develop this aspect by providing language rich conversation opportunities with adults and other children about what they have observed in the world around them.
In Key Stage 1, children begin to experience and observe phenomena through a range of exciting, purposeful experiments, scientific enquiry and comparative tests, such as, testing various materials, melting ice and observing plants grow in different environments. This in turn enables children to discuss how tests are carried out fairly, observe over time and seek patterns.
In Key Stage 2, children build on their prior knowledge from learning in KS1, they are taught more in depth concepts of scientific approaches to previously taught topics such as plants and animals including humans. Through a range of trips and investigations, for example, environmental walks and dissection of lambs hearts, the children will continue to study fair testing, draw on simple conclusions and make predictions while reporting on findings from enquiries, including presenting them orally, in written pieces of work and as data in a variety of ways.
We encourage our pupils to speak scientifically, introducing key vocabulary early on. At Parochial we have a consistent approach to experiments, our children will use the same method of data collection, recording and write up throughout the school this ensures progression of skills are clear and precise.
Educating for hope and aspiration through Science by learning about career paths which rely on scientific skills and knowledge. During Enterprise week, children learn about the work of scientists and inventors and a few examples of career choices that are linked to the subject such as, astronauts, conservationist and jobs in the healthcare sector. Throughout the Key Stages, children learn about famous scientists including Alexander Bell and Ole Kirk Christiansen, the inventor of Lego and Mary Anning during the study of rocks. We also look at explorers who are directly linked to science such as Tim Peake and more historically, Neil Armstrong in their missions to space.
Educating for community and living well together by learning about famous scientist and their achievements from our local area and looking at ways science helps our community. We encourage the children to see how science is able to improve the lives and health of the people in our community. The children explore certain jobs that are heavily reliant on science through topics such as vets and farmers in animals including humans and waste management in ‘save our planet’. We look at how, many medicines, created by science, help improve the lives of people in our community. Our whole school approach to charity events for places such as Willow Wood and specialised units in Tameside Hospital show how science is a vital in creating the medicine and machinery that is used to save lives. We also learn about our local area and go on nature walks to Stamford Park taking in the seasonal changes and local wildlife and the habitats in which they live.
Educating for dignity and respect by exploring environmental issues through the theme of ‘Under the Sea’, ‘Save the planet’ and ‘Rainforest’. Our children become researchers of how to protect the animals, the planet and each other through these subjects, we encourage the children to live by the new concepts they learn. They discover how to formally debate through the English curriculum and this skill is used to explore issues around conservation and sustainability in Science. Our children learn about cause and effect and how to be global citizens. They conduct studies about Evolution and animals in their habitats; they learn about relief programmes which support displaced communities as well as charity efforts to support and protect our planet and its people.
Impact:
Our comprehensive Science curriculum equips our children with the skills to think critically as a Scientist and to aspire to achieve in areas of learning they wouldn’t initially link to the subject of Science. Our children leave us ready for the secondary curriculum as they are able to recognise how abstract ideas help them to understand and predict how the world operates. They recognise that scientific ideas change and develop over time. Our children are taught to find the most appropriate ways of using different types of scientific enquiry. They are taught and encouraged to work and think scientifically, drawing on conclusions based on their data and observations and use this to justify their scientific knowledge and explain their findings.