Science

At St James’ Junior School, we have a science curriculum that is systematic and progressive and has been written to provide the foundations of understanding the world. Our high quality Science education ensures that children investigate the wonders of the world through the specific scientific disciplines of Biology, Chemistry and Physics.

The topics have been sequenced to ensure the children know more and remember more by building on their knowledge of natural phenomena. We meet the needs of our disadvantaged children in our community by ensuring the topics are easily accessible and that they can relate new ideas to the real world around them. The curriculum has been written so that all children are given opportunities to continually build upon and develop their scientific understanding through repetition and rehearsal of skills to lead to automaticity.

Our teachers ensure that they are teaching the methods, processes and nature of Science by following our rigorous medium term plans. They encourage children to independent scientists through the skills of;

  • Communication
  • Making models (including diagrams)
  • Prediction
  • Measuring
  • Classification
  • Gathering Data
  • Compare/Contrast
  • Observation
  • Making independent conclusion

Working Scientifically

To experience the different scientific skills and encourage to recognise what skills they are asked to carry out

  1. Children must be given opportunities to think of their own investigation question related to scientific enquiry they should independently think of their own hypothesis/prediction
  2. Children must be encouraged and given opportunities to plan and conduct investigations/experiments and research based on their hypothesis
  3. Children must be given time to conclude, evaluate and scientifically articulate their findings.
  4. Children must be given autonomy to select their own equipment to support investigations and validate results.
  5. Children must be taught the knowledge, methods, processes and uses of science through scientific enquiry.
  6. Developing and fostering children’s cultural capital through outdoor activities, workshops, science week activities.

The aim of our science curriculum is to ensure that all pupils:

  • Become equipped with the scientific skills and knowledge to prepare them for the implications and uses of science for the future.
  • Develop understanding of the processes and methods of science through a range of scientific enquiry that supports and encourage our children to ask and answer questions about the world around them.
  • Develop scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding though topics related to biology, physics and chemistry.

Curriculum Plans