At Signhills Infant Academy we stimulate a natural curiosity in children about the world around them. We want children to understand that science is key in discovering more about how the world works. During their time in our school, children will revisit and further develop their understanding of different topics. This gives the children the opportunity to embed prior knowledge and build upon it. Following their weekly lessons, children will leave our school with a body of knowledge, vocabulary and conceptual understanding that will allow them to further immerse themselves in scientific learning as they enter Key Stage Two.

We foster a hands-on approach that enables the children to actively learn through exploration and practical investigation. Pupils use their scientific knowledge and skills in order to conduct experiments and explain their findings with confidence. As well as engaging in teacher directed investigations, we foster children’s natural intrigue by providing them with opportunities to explore answering their own scientific questions. Discussion of concepts and ideas is highly encouraged within our classrooms and children are able to share things they notice, give their opinions and make links to their previous learning. Specialist vocabulary for topics is taught and built up, and effective questioning to communicate ideas is encouraged.

At Signhills Infant Academy, we understand the importance of children being able to give explanations about things that happen in the world around them. Our curriculum provides opportunities for the critical evaluation of evidence and rational explanation of scientific phenomena as well as opportunity for pupils to apply their mathematical knowledge to their understanding of science, including collecting, presenting and analysing data.

We want children to leave our school being able to make predictions, analyse their findings and use appropriate scientific vocabulary. But most importantly by developing pupil’s enjoyment, interest and curiosity we are building science capital in our classrooms and creating the scientists of the future.

At Signhills Infants, our successful approach to delivering a fun, engaging and high-quality science curriculum, ensures that children leave our school with the foundations for understanding the world and with a thirst to learn more. Through discovering famous scientists in different fields, our children learn the possibilities for different scientific careers they could hold in the future. We use formative assessment as our main tool for assessing the impact of science at our school. It gives teachers the opportunities to quickly identify misconceptions and gaps in knowledge which allows us to ensure children go forward with secure scientific knowledge. Teachers assess whether pupils are able to answer questions about Big Ideas and make links to their prior learning. We find pupil voice is an excellent way to further enhance and develop the science curriculum. We question children about their views and attitudes towards science and explore how motivated children are and if they get enjoyment out of the subject.

At Signhills Infant Academy, children will:

• Demonstrate a love for science and an interest in discovering more.
• Enjoy lessons and be enthusiastic about their science learning.
• Confidently use and explain scientific vocabulary.
• Work collaboratively and practically to investigate and experiment.
• Ask questions about their science learning and reflect on their knowledge.