At Northern House Academy, our Science curriculum is built around and underpinned by our School values. As such our approach is designed around understanding the needs of each individual child, is unapologetic in its high expectation, knowing that our children are not defined by their needs but instead viewed with the positivity they need in order to be nurtured both emotionally and academically, it is consistent in order to enable a safe environment where our pupils are empowered to take risks and experience success and it must be a Science curriculum that promotes the simple pleasure of happiness.
At Northern House Academy we want our pupils to develop a natural curiosity and a wider understanding of the world around them, our science curriculum is the perfect vehicle to drive this intent. Northern House Academy offers its pupils a high-quality science curriculum that provides the foundations for understanding the world through developing disciplines in biology, chemistry and physics. Science has informed and has forever changed our lives and our science curriculum at Northern House Academy is designed to broaden our pupils’ experiences and interactions with the world as well as deepening their knowledge and understanding of themselves. We believe that it is essential that our pupils gain knowledge and understanding of methods, processes and the uses of science through building up a body of key foundational knowledge and an understanding of the relevance of Science in a wider context.
It is through our science curriculum that our pupils learn and are encouraged to recognise the power of rational explanation and develop a sense of excitement and curiosity about the world around us Pupils are encouraged to explore how science can be used to explain what is occurring, predict how things will behave and analyse results thinking scientifically and critically. Through our teaching of science our pupils will learn about how they develop and grow, how to be healthy, how to look after and care for animals, understand life processes, develop an understanding of key physical theories and start to explore the magic and wonder of scientific experiments. Within this offer, we ensure that our coverage of scientific enquiry is well matched to the national curriculum and differentiated to meet our pupils’ individual needs and interests. The development of knowledge as well as the acquisition of scientific skills is mapped out through our two-year rolling plan to ensure that our pupils have exposure to learning in line with the national curriculum age related expectations and to build upon prior knowledge. We carefully consider the coverage of scientific topics across galleries, providing opportunities to revisit topics and extend their understanding and vocabulary, no matter their starting points. White Rose Science assessment models and resourcing sit alongside STEM and Explorify resourcing in support of our delivery and class team judgements, providing a consistent whole school approach where coverage and learning attainment are closely tracked. We believe that science should not be seen as a further means by which we test our pupils’ literacy skills or act as a barrier to them demonstrating scientific understanding and knowledge. However, strong links between literacy and science are still promoted and celebrated. Texts related to our termly science focuses are incorporated into the English curriculum and teachers can utilise these to aid cross curricular learning and embed key vocabulary utilised within science sessions.
Our ‘Learning Objective Descriptors’ provide a clear overarching framework from which teachers can select appropriate targets for their students. These are then used to plan well sequenced and differentiated lessons for their class, . Floor books are used to capture the class’s findings from their science session via photos, copies of work produced, children’s observations and commentary from staff, all of which run alongside their learning objectives and success criteria. Our formal curriculum, which includes a weekly interactive and engaging lesson, is also enhanced by our developing STEM packaging, including outdoor learning opportunity through our termly visits to ‘Hill End’ and the option of ‘science club’ as a popular star time choice,
where children actively choose to engage in a range of exciting scientific experiments, broadening their experiences and promoting a love of learning. The Science Leader is responsible for careful monitoring and reviewing of assessment, planning, resources and ensuring staff are equipped to plan and deliver lessons confidently.