Science

Vision

At St John’s, our Science  curriculum will deliver a high-quality education where children attain high, achieve well and are inspired and enthused to explore and investigate the ever-changing world around them.  At St John’s we understand  the importance of Science in our every day lives and strive to provide the children  with memorable and though-provoking opportunities which question and challenge their understanding about the world in which we live. 

Our Science teaching at St John’s is committed to providing stimulating, engaging and challenging learning experiences , providing our children with  opportunities to develop their Scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding . We ensure that our children continually build on and develop their Working Scientifically skills ,

providing  them with the opportunity  to apply their knowledge of Science when conducting experiments  and using equipment, to enable them to explain Scientific concepts confidently.  At St John’s, Scientific knowledge is embedded through revisiting and developing topics throughout their time at Primary School. Prior knowledge for each unit is referred to and revisited in order to increase enthusiasm for the topics, whilst embedding knowledge into their long-term memory.

In Reception, Science is taught as part of the ‘The Natural World’ using the St John’s Progression Framework which outlines the knowledge and skills towards the Early Learning Goals. It is taught weekly through whole class, small group and 1:1 learning with a mixture of adult-led learning and some child-initiated learning with science learning facilitated within the continuous provision. Across the rest of the school, Science is taught discretely as a minimum of 1 hour per week.  This is a deliberate decision in response to the Stakeholder views as well as the high priority we place on deepening knowledge. In order for children to be excited and inspired, it is important to us that they are fully immersed in the learning and can make links to other knowledge acquired. 

Within each year group, the timetabling of Science is flexible, depending on the topic being covered and ensuring sufficient time to conduct experiments and report their findings.