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'.

World Space Week 2025

We celebrated World Space Week from the 4th October to the 10th October. Each year group spent an afternoon watching video clips, listening to songs about space and creating pieces of art in keeping with this year's theme of 'Living in Space'.

British Science Week 2026

British Science week is a ten-day celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths that will take place 6th-15th March 2026. The official theme this year will be 'Curiosity: What's Your Question?'.

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 2026.

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).

https://www.britishscienceweek.org/activity-packs/

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.

Key Dates in the STEM Calendar

November 2025

10th - World Science Day

13th-26th - Switch Off Fortnight

22nd-30th - National Tree Week

December

5th - World Soil Day

6th - 12th - Computer Science Education Week

21st - Winter Solstice

January 2026

8th - Earth's Rotation Day

18th World Snow Day