At Birch Hill we believe Science should be accessible for all ages and abilities. It is particularly important for children to participate in scientific activity and experience discovery first hand. This is not only applicable to classroom teaching, but encouraged through partnering with company initiatives and projects such as 3M and ‘Edible Gardens’. This immersive experience promotes engagement and enjoyment of Science and allows children to foster and develop fundamental skills including questioning, exploration, testing, comparison and discussion.

National Curriculum Aims

The national curriculum for science aims to ensure that all pupils:

• Develop scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics
• Develop understanding of the nature, processes and methods of science through different types of science enquiries that help them to answer scientific questions about the world around them
• Are equipped with the scientific knowledge required to understand the uses and implications of science, today and for the future.           

Science is a core subject of the National Curriculum for Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. It covers the following strands:

• Life and Living Processes
• Materials and their properties
• Physical Processes

Delivery

Our curriculum is centred round a questioning and enquiry approach, which encourages children to develop an interest in and an inquisitiveness of the world around them. Science lessons are planned for and delivered where children’s hypothesis’ are valued and they are given opportunity to investigate these accordingly. Science, where possible, is interlinked with other subjects across the curriculum to contextualise and consolidate scientific learning.