Science
Science is the systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through questioning, observation, experimentation and the testing of theories against the evidence collected.
At Underwood West Academy, we strongly believe that every pupil is a scientist. Our aim is for pupils to develop their scientific skills and knowledge whilst stimulating their natural curiosity about the world around them. Science allows pupils to make sense of the world around them by asking questions and using the disciplinary knowledge (working scientifically) to find an answer. Our spiral approach to the teaching of the disciplinary knowledge, for working scientifically, alongside the scientific knowledge ensures that the pupils revisit and build on these skills every year to show progression. We want our pupils to see the power in science and its everyday uses in the modern world and technology.
How we plan and teach Science
Science is a core subject which is taught weekly at Underwood West Academy. We use the research-based White Rose Science scheme to teach our lessons, which cover the aims and objectives set out in the National Curriculum. Each unit is broken down into smaller steps, which ensure pupils are developing a solid understanding of scientific processes and concepts.
In EYFS, we use the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile, which looks at science through 'Knowledge of the World'. The children will have termly topics. The early years topics are child-led and foster their natural curiosity, developing the awe and wonder of science and learning. This natural curiosity encourages questioning and the need to know or find an answer. This provides opportunities for the children to investigate and learn about that given area of science.
Below you will find a table showing the different scientific topics and units that the pupils will cover throughout the year. To find out more about these units and what your child will learn please use the year group tabs on the main Science drop down menu or at the bottom of this page. To find out more about the disciplinary knowledge of the working scientifically skills, please click on the Science Progression tab (also found in the drop down menu or at the bottom of this page).
Working Scientifically
As a school, we aim to teach our scientific skills through all of our science units, using a spiral approach to build on each skill to show progression through the year groups.
The scientific skills that we focus on and develop are:
Questioning
Investigating
Drawing conclusions
Identifying and classifying
Recording and presenting
You can find a table to show the progression through these skills under 'Scientific Skills and Progression'.
STEM Education
STEM Education, at its core, simply means educating students in four specific disciplines, namely, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (collectively shortened as STEM). Instead of training students in any one of these domains, STEM combines all four in an interdisciplinary and applied approach, to better equip students to have a career and consider real-world applications. Through our science lessons, we aim to incorporate as much STEM learning as possible, however STEM is also present in our topic work, where science is used in design and technology lessons.
This year students took part in a Science Super Learning Day, where children moved around school to take part in different STEM workshops (taught by teachers in different year groups). This year, the children combined science and technology to design, create and evaluate products that linked to science within their year group topics. The students loved visiting different classrooms and teachers and more importantly, lots of science fun was had!
British Science Week
British Science week is a ten-day celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths that will take place 7th-16th March 2025. The official theme this year will be 'Change and Adapt'.
Every year, the school holds a week of science activities and invites outside organisations and the ROTARY club to host workshops and sessions within school for the children to inspire and develop their learning in science. Look out for updates on our next Science Week in 2025.
If you wish you carry out some similar activities at home, past activity packs can be downloaded from the official British Science Week website (see the link below).
