Science
At Mere Green we want our children to be leaving school inspired and curious about natural phenomena and scientific processes. We want our children to be leaving school with a strong bank of interconnected conceptual knowledge which enables them to understand the world in which they live, making links to what they already know.
To foster this awe and wonder, we prioritise high quality, first hand, practical scientific experiences that develop the children’s conceptual understanding. Enquiry is at the heart of our Science curriculum, with children learning how to use: identifying and classifying, observation over time, pattern seeking, comparative and fair testing and research to answer their scientific questions.
Our children learn what it means to be a scientist and the disciplinary skills that are essential when thinking and working scientifically. Alongside our units of study, children further develop their scientific capital by learning about a range of scientists who’ve made significant discoveries in their field, deepening their understanding further. Children learn how scientific knowledge has come about and understand that through ongoing enquiry, understanding and knowledge can change. Furthermore, our children leave school being active and global citizens; understanding global issues that are being addressed through the development of science and being eligible candidates for future careers within this sector, encouraged to follow their interests and future aspirations.
Our curriculum is both ambitious and sequenced cohesively to ensure that all children make strong progress as they work through the curriculum. Core knowledge, that we want children to be armed with, is identified, broken down into manageable chunks and sequenced so that it builds progressively. This learning is revisited, misconceptions addressed and knowledge built upon in subsequent lessons and units, thus reducing children’s cognitive load. Alongside the conceptual core knowledge, we ensure that children develop their ability to work scientifically, demonstrating a progressive range of skills. We also ensure that high quality texts are used to consolidate children’s understanding and that children are exposed to a range of scientific vocabulary that can be applied to their learning.
