Rationale:

Our curriculum is underpinned by our five core values, supporting pupils' academic and personal development, making learning and knowledge gain meaningful, developing pupils’ character and preparing them to be successful Eskdalers now and into the future. We achieve this by introducing pupils to the idea of our ‘Think like a..’ approach to their learning.

Think like a…’, including talk, write and read like a Scientist is central to pupils learning and designed to develop pupil oracy and vocabulary skills to enable them to use scientific language meaningfully when talking about Science.

When reading like a Scientist, pupils have opportunities to read across the curriculum to support the knowledge and vocabulary to be gained in the subject of Science.

 Our Science curriculum provides the foundations for understanding the World through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics. Through Science our pupils will learn to be curious, consider evidence, think critically and understand the relationship between themselves, other people and the wider environment, understanding substantive concepts and knowledge by using what they know through disciplinary knowledge. Pupils should be able to describe associated processes and key characteristics in common language, but they should also be familiar with, and use, technical terminology-building an extended specialist vocabulary.

 To ensure that pupils are equipped with the knowledge and skills to make conscious connections and think hard, using what they know. Science is taught through the school’s process model:

• What do I need to know? (substantive knowledge) What steps do I need to take?
• Working Scientifically: ensuring that pupils construct understanding by applying substantive knowledge to questioning and planning, observing, performing a range of tests, accurately measuring, comparing through identifying and classifying, using observations and gathering data to help answer questions, explaining and reporting, predicting, concluding, improving, and seeking patterns.
• Thinking Scientifically: Scientific analysis-identifying and classifying, pattern seeking, research, observing over time and fair and comparative testing
• What is the answer to the question?

The teaching of Science is delivered through our method of teaching (pedagogy), which incorporates meta-cognitive strategies to enable all pupils to retain the learning of knowledge. This is typically applied by:

• Activating Prior Knowledge
• Small step teaching delivery
• Independent practice
• Feedback

How we adapt the Science Curriculum for SEND Pupils

As part of our quality first approach to teaching, we use a range of strategies to support SEND pupils to access the Science curriculum. The document below details examples of the adaptations that are made to support pupils in class.

• Adaptive Teaching - Science.pdf