Lyndhurst Curriculum
At Lyndhurst Community Primary School, we recognise our school context and have designed our Science curriculum with the intent that pupils build the secure foundations required to become successful and aspirational scientists.
The school vision ‘Support, Challenge, Inspire’ is interwoven within our Science curriculum intent and design. The breadth of our curriculum is designed with three goals in mind:
Inspire
In Science we want to inspire our children to be scientists by providing them with inspirational scientific visits and visitors. By linking our lessons to future careers and providing examples of great scientists: locally, nationally and globally both modern and historic.
Challenge
In Science we challenge our children to engage in the world of wonder by answering scientific questions set by others and themselves. We ensure children make predictions and use well-resourced scientific investigations to test those predictions and discover the answers to their questions themselves. Through careful guidance we develop children’s skills in developing their own investigations, recognising their mistakes and improving their knowledge and skills.
Support
In Science we encourage children to understand that Science is about building on prior knowledge of both themselves and the great scientists who have gone before them. We make children understand that science is about having ideas and testing them out and that very frequently those predictions will be wrong. We ensure that children are provided with appropriate background knowledge and vocabulary to make sensible decisions. We encourage children to work together to find solutions and provide the correct level of support to ensure that the answer is discovered. Children are shown good examples and encouraged to record their ideas in their preferred manner and that they are given the appropriate scaffolding to achieve this. Where possible we make direct links with other areas of the curriculum supporting children in their ability to retain skills and knowledge.
Science Curriculum Aims
In science we aim to provide a coherent, structured, curriculum, which is knowledge rich and skills driven, that will lead to sustained mastery for all with unlimited aspiration. Our Science curriculum is based around The National Curriculum through the Pzaz scheme with the aim of our children seeing themselves as Scientists
Our curriculum sets out:
- A clear curriculum map of the breadth of topics to be covered for each year group. This ensures each teacher has clarity about what to cover. As well as providing the key knowledge within the subjects it also develops pupils’ cultural capital.
- The key Scientific concepts that will be taught through each subject area. These are the key skills that are developed within subject, which are then revisited within the teaching of a range of topics and a range of contexts. This enables children to make links within learning.
- Progression within the skills are identified within each year group and across key stages
Sustained Mastery
To provide sustained mastery, children are provided with deeper learning opportunities that promote enquiry, questioning and problem-solving skills, building upon previously acquired concepts and skills. In order to develop understanding, pupils connect new knowledge with existing knowledge. Pupils also develop fluency and unconsciously apply their knowledge as skills. Learning is assessed and repeated over time to ensure it is embedded within long-term memory.