Intent:

At the Minster Nursery and Infants Academy, we believe that teaching and learning in Science should not only develop a sense of excitement and curiosity about natural phenomena but also inspire a joy of learning. Our approach, guided by the Kapow Scheme, is designed to instil an understanding of how the scientific community contributes to our past, present, and future. The Kapow Scheme provides first-hand experiences and support for children to develop enquiring minds, learning how to question and discuss Science through collaboration. In Nursery and Reception, the children have innovative and exciting independent opportunities to build their curiosity and questioning skills about the world.

We want pupils to develop a complex knowledge of biology, chemistry, and physics and to adopt a broad range of skills in working scientifically and beyond.  The scheme of work is inclusive and meaningful, so all pupils may experience the joy of Science and make associations between their science learning and their lives outside the classroom.  Studying Science not only allows children to appreciate how new knowledge and skills can be fundamental to solving arising global challenges but also empowers them to take responsibility for these challenges.  The curriculum encourages critical thinking and empowers pupils to question the hows and whys of the world around them.

At the Minster Nursery and Infants Academy, in conjunction with the aims of the National Curriculum, our Science teaching offers opportunities for children to:

• A strong focus on developing knowledge alongside scientific skills across Biology, Chemistry and Physics.
• Curiosity and excitement about familiar and unknown observations.
• Challenging misconceptions and demystifying truths.
• Continuous progression by building on practical and investigative skills across all units.
• Critical thinking, with the ability to ask perceptive questions and explain and analyse evidence.
• Development of scientific literacy using wide-ranging, specialist vocabulary.  Our teaching of Science enables pupils to meet the end of key stage attainment targets in the national curriculum, and the aims also align with those set out in the national curriculum.

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Implementation:

To meet the aims of the National Curriculum for Science and in response to the Ofsted Research review into Science, we have identified the following key strands:

Scientific knowledge and understanding of:

• Biology – living organisms and vital processes.
• Chemistry – matter and its properties.
• Physics – how the world we live in ‘works’.
• Working scientifically – processes and methods of science to answer questions about the world around us.
• Science in action – uses and implications of science in the past, present and for the future.

Our Science curriculum is a spiral curriculum, with essential knowledge and skills revisited with increasing complexity, allowing pupils to revise and build on their previous learning.  A range of engaging recall activities promotes frequent pupil reflection on prior learning, ensuring new learning is approached with confidence.  The Science in action strand is interwoven throughout the scheme to make the concepts and skills relevant to pupils and inspiring for future application.  Cross-curricular links are included throughout each unit, allowing children to make connections and apply their Science skills to other areas of learning.  Each unit is based upon one of the key science disciplines: Biology, Chemistry and Physics, and to show progression throughout the school, we have grouped the National curriculum content into six key areas of Science: Plants, Animals, including humans, Living things and habitats, Materials, Energy Forces, Earth and space.  Pupils explore knowledge and conceptual understanding through engaging activities and an introduction to relevant specialist vocabulary.  As suggested in Ofsted’s Science research review (April 2021), the ‘working scientifically’ skills are integrated with conceptual understanding rather than taught discretely.  This provides frequent but relevant opportunities for developing scientific enquiry skills.  The scheme utilises practical activities that aid in the progression of individual skills and also provide opportunities for full investigations.

Each year, the group has an exploratory ‘Making Connections’ unit that delves beyond the essential curriculum, assimilating prior knowledge and skills to evoke excitement and provide an additional method of assessing scientific attainment.  Lessons incorporate various teaching strategies, from independent tasks to paired and group work, including practical, creative, computer-based and collaborative tasks.  This variety means that lessons are engaging and appeal to those with different learning styles.  Guidance for adapting the learning is available for every lesson to ensure that all pupils can access learning, and opportunities to stretch pupils’ learning are available when required.  Knowledge organisers for each unit help to identify prior and future curriculum links to make the scheme as meaningful as possible and reinforce key technical terms.
Many of the topics in the early years vary according to the children’s interests. However, these include living things, materials, lifecycles, seasonal changes, recycling, light and dark, and simple forces. Strong subject knowledge is vital for staff to deliver a highly effective and robust Science curriculum.

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Impact:

The effective approach at Minster Nursery and Infants Academy results in a fun, engaging, high-quality science education that provides children with the foundations and knowledge for understanding the world around them and beyond. Every individual will be able to achieve their full potential by being determined and having the courage to progress in their understanding of science.

The impact of Kapow Primary’s Science scheme can be constantly monitored through both formative and summative assessment opportunities. Each lesson includes guidance to support teachers in assessing pupils against the learning objectives and any relevant scientific enquiry skills. Furthermore, each unit has a unit quiz and a knowledge and skills catcher, which can be used at the beginning and/or end of the unit to provide a summative assessment. Opportunities for children to communicate using scientific vocabulary will also form part of the assessment process in each unit.

After implementing Kapow Primary Science, pupils should leave school equipped with the requisite skills and knowledge to succeed in key stage 3 Science. They will have the necessary tools to confidently and meaningfully question and explore the world around them as well as critically and analytically experiencing and observing phenomena. Pupils will understand the significance and impact of Science on society.

The expected impact of following the Kapow Primary Science scheme of work is that children will:

• Develop a body of foundational knowledge for the Biology topics in the National Curriculum: Plants, Animals, Including Humans, Living Things and Their Habitats, Evolution and Inheritance.
• Develop a body of foundational knowledge for the Chemistry topics in the National Curriculum: Everyday materials, uses of everyday materials, properties and changes of materials, states of matter, and rocks.
• Develop a body of foundational knowledge for the Physics topics in the National Curriculum: Seasonal Changes, Forces and Magnets, Sound, Light, Electricity, Earth, and Space.
• Be able to evaluate and identify the methods that ‘real world’ scientists use to develop and answer scientific questions.
• Identify and use equipment effectively to accurately gather, measure, and record data.
• Be able to display and convey data in a variety of ways, including graphs.
• Analyse data in order to identify, classify, group, and find patterns.
• Use evidence to formulate explanations and conclusions.
• Demonstrate scientific literacy through presenting concepts and communicating ideas using scientific vocabulary.
• Understand the importance of resilience and a growth mindset, particularly in reference to scientific enquiry.
• Meet the end of key stage expectations outlined in the National Curriculum for Science.

By the end of EYFS, children should be able to:

• Ask questions about the world around them.
• Orally express simple observations and use drawing to show findings.
• Make simple predictions (using drawing to express them.)
• Foster a natural curiosity.
• Know some similarities and differences between the natural world around them and contrasting environments (drawing on own experiences and in class learning.)
• Understand some important processes and changes in the natural world around them (including the seasons and changing states of matter.)

Science Gallery

Please click on the thumbnails below for a larger view.