Curriculum - Science

Hernhill Church of England Primary School has universal ambitions for every child, whatever their background or circumstances. Teachers are knowledgeable of and incorporate the Mainstream Core Standards to ensure all children learn and thrive at Hernhill.

Science is a core subject in the National Curriculum. The school uses the National Curriculum for science as the basis of its curriculum planning. The units within science cover the broad headings of:

  • Scientific Enquiry / “Working Scientifically”. Working scientifically should be considered as disciplinary knowledge about how scientists work and learn. This knowledge contains the what, why, when, where and why of working scientifically.

The substantive knowledge (the core facts and concepts of the curriculum) are organised into three strands;

  • Life Processes and Living Things
  • Materials and their Properties
  • Physical Processes

 

investigating magnets

 

CURRICULUM APPROACH

Across the school, we deliver many of the curriculum areas using a thematic approach. We deliver the National Curriculum content with science, history or geography being the key drivers for a topic with the subjects of art, design technology, music, computing and PSHE added to enrich the topic. RE, PE, MFL and maths are taught as separate subjects.

We operate a two-year rolling programme of topics with some topics in Year A and some in Year B. This enables year groups and teachers to work together on a similar theme. Our school’s Christian values are interwoven into each topic. Every term, each class also have a "Big Question" to ponder on.

Teachers follow a clear planning structure for our theme-led curriculum. Curriculum guides are produced to ensure the correct National Curriculum coverage and to outline the key learning questions/enquiries for each term or half term.

Curriculum map

 

POLICY

Curriculum policy