Why we teach science

At St. Anne’s Infants’ School, we are passionate about science and through our engaging, practical curriculum we equip our children with the knowledge and skills they need to become super scientists!  We recognise the importance that science has in our day to day lives and by encouraging children’s natural curiosity and developing their scientific language, we encourage them to begin to make sense of our ever-changing world, with a better understanding of how things work within it.

We aim is to instil a life-long quest for knowledge within our children, inciting their desire to find out more for themselves and to discover why science matters.  New scientific knowledge improves the quality of all our lives and through thought provoking, exciting experiences we hope to nurture the next generation of scientists who will respond to the world’s needs and global challenges. Our children are able to work collaboratively as team players and suggest answers to questions by working as part of a team with a shared goal.

The knowledge, skills and understanding children develop

Through a scientifically rich curriculum, our adventurous scientists develop the skills to critically observe, analyse and make evaluations.  They are equipped with the strategies required to become accurate, careful, confident and practical scientists.  Opportunities within in our curriculum enable our curious learners to work collaboratively to make predictions, observe and find answers to big questions.  Through investigative experiences, children are encouraged to take risks, be resilient and learn from their mistakes and they begin to understand that there may be more than one solution to a problem. They learn to be systematic in their approach to experiments and begin to draw accurate conclusions from what they have learnt. Our inquisitive learners identify, classify and describe patterns that maybe found in the naturally and humanly constructed world around them to become successful scientists.  

The learning experience

At St Anne’s we celebrate and value diversity, and strongly believe every child is entitled to an opinion and a voice. Discussion and good oracy skills are embedded within our science curriculum and children are equipped with scientific vocabulary and many opportunities to share their scientific findings with a range of audiences. From their start in EYFS, children develop and deepen their understanding of science through exciting, practical and rich scientific experiences. Through explorative play and opportunities to talk about their learning, children develop a knowledge and an appreciation of our wonderful planet.

Our young scientists explore creatures, places and plants within their natural environment. They identify similarities and differences and learn about their bodies and senses which help them gain an understanding of themselves and their surroundings. Children have the freedom to lead the learning, ask questions and find answers. Working scientifically continues into Key Stage 1 where the key skills are embedded and developed further with children carrying out simple tests, recording data and developing new scientific knowledge. 

We recognise human progress throughout history has significantly furthered advances in science, we therefore learn about people who have used their scientific knowledge to improve and make sense of the world we live in today.