Science

Our children are naturally curious and so our teaching of science must use this curiosity, to allow them to ask questions and develop the skills necessary to answer them.  Our curriculum allows the children to investigate natural phenomena along with the humanly constructed world around us.  In Fryent, we aim to teach our children the skills necessary to be able to work scientifically.  They need to be helped to ask questions and experience different types of scientific enquiries and practical science.  Our children need to be able to compare materials and living things in order to group and sort them.  They need to be helped to notice patterns, changes over time and any relationships.  Practically, they need to be able to take simple measurements, for example rulers to measure length of shadows cast and investigate what effect a light source has on the shadow when moved closer to an object.  Our teaching will allow them to record their results in various ways such as tables and graphs.  The children will able to use scientific vocabulary and devise ‘fair tests.’ 

The science curriculum covers, biology and gives the children opportunities to study both animals and plants.  Children will learn that animals grow and change over time and also have offspring.  They will develop an understanding of classifying both animals and plants and learn what life systems are similar or different, for example skeletal systems of vertebrates and invertebrates.    Physics is taught through the years starting with sorting materials and then investigating their properties using equipment such as magnets and hand-held magnifying glasses.   We will teach them how scientists explained the natural phenomenon of gravity and develop their ideas to create their own experiments. Chemistry progression is shown through the curriculum, first of all by simple sorting and then more complicated means, such as mixing and investigating changes of state and reversible and irreversible changes of state.

In Fryent, our science curriculum progresses naturally from developing curiosity in KS1, answering simple questions, recording findings and developing their scientific vocabulary.  In KS2 we aim to allow them to develop a deeper understanding of science and so we cover some of the same science objectives but develop their understanding further.  We will introduce them to more abstract ideas, such as change of state of water and how it evaporates, therefore water is not truly lost but can be wasted. It is taught to enable them to successfully integrate to KS3 science.

The Science Curriculum at Fryent

What do pupils say about science at Fryent?

Year 1 Pupil: " We went to Welsh Harp, learnt about insects and their habitats."

Year 2 pupil: "I really enjoyed the lesson on the lifecycle of a butterfly. We learnt about what happens in each stage, I found the Chrysalis stage interesting as this is where the butterfly transform to a butterfly. We call this metamorphosis. I remember learning about butterfly lifecycles in Nursery but now I understand it a lot better."

Year 2 pupil: " If I find something tricky in my science lesson, I use the science wall to help me. My teacher adds information on there to help me. Our knowledge organiser is also very good because I can read useful information on our topic."

Year 3 pupil: "I really enjoyed the lesson where my teacher brought in real plants for us to dissect in class. It was way better seeing the parts of a plant in real life, it helped me learn about plants better. We have learnt about plants before in Year 1 and 2. This year we have learnt more about their functions and why they have these parts which I didn’t know before. After this lesson, I took my dad to our garden because we have lots of beautiful plants growing there and shared with him what I had learnt. He was amazed!"