Science

Encouraging curiosity and discovery

Science at Newman is designed to make learning meaningful, practical and accessible.

Pupils develop their understanding through scientific topics covering the natural and physical world, including living things, the human body, plants, materials, forces, electricity, light, sound, Earth and space.

Our curriculum recognises that pupils experience and understand Science in different ways. Learning therefore progresses through Newman’s four curriculum pathways – Engage, Discovery, Develop and Deepen.

For some pupils, scientific learning begins with sensory experiences and exploring cause and effect. Others progress to identifying and classifying, asking scientific questions, carrying out tests and recording their findings. At the Deepen pathway, pupils develop increasingly sophisticated scientific knowledge and enquiry skills and learn to apply these in different contexts.

Learning Through Our Pathways

Engage

Experiencing and exploring

Pupils engage with the world around them through sensory experiences.

They explore different plants and animals, materials, physical changes and other scientific phenomena. Learning develops through exploration, realisation, anticipation, persistence and initiation.

These experiences provide important foundations for developing an awareness and understanding of the world.

Discovery

Beginning to investigate

Pupils discover more about the world through focused scientific topics and activities.

They begin to identify and classify living things, materials and physical processes, use scientific vocabulary and respond to simple scientific questions.

Pupils take part in simple tests, make predictions based on familiar experiences and begin to gather information and communicate what they have discovered.

Develop

Building scientific understanding

Pupils develop their knowledge and understanding through increasingly focused scientific learning.

They ask questions, observe closely and use equipment to measure and obtain results. They develop their ability to gather and record simple data and use their observations and results to suggest answers.

Pupils also begin to make predictions based upon existing knowledge and consider how investigations might be improved.

Deepen

Applying knowledge and scientific thinking

Pupils deepen their understanding of key scientific concepts and learn to transfer their knowledge to different contexts.

They develop greater independence in planning and carrying out scientific enquiries, using equipment, gathering and presenting data and explaining their findings.

Pupils draw upon their existing knowledge to make predictions, evaluate results, suggest improvements and explain their reasoning.

Scientific Enquiry
Question • Investigate • Discover

Scientific enquiry is an important part of Newman’s Science curriculum and develops alongside pupils’ scientific knowledge.

Depending upon their pathway, pupils progress from sensory exploration towards increasingly independent scientific investigation.

This includes developing the ability to:

• explore and observe;
• respond to and ask scientific questions;
• make predictions;
• carry out simple tests;
• identify and classify;
• use scientific equipment;
• measure and gather data;
• record and present findings;
• recognise patterns;
• draw conclusions;
• evaluate investigations; and
• communicate and explain scientific ideas.

As pupils deepen their scientific understanding, they can progress towards planning different types of enquiry, considering variables, testing hypotheses, analysing evidence, evaluating limitations and considering whether evidence supports scientific theories and concepts.

Science Across Newman

Science develops progressively across Newman’s different phases and sites.

Within EYFS, scientific understanding forms part of pupils’ exploration of the natural world. Pupils experience and explore their surroundings and begin to recognise processes and changes, including seasons and changing states of matter.

Across Key Stages 1 and 2, pupils build scientific knowledge through carefully sequenced topics and practical experiences. Learning progresses through areas including animals and humans, materials, plants, seasonal changes, rocks, forces, light, sound, electricity, habitats, Earth and space and healthy living.

At Key Stage 3, pupils continue to develop their understanding through an adapted curriculum that builds upon earlier learning. Topics include organisms, matter, Earth and space, ecosystems, waves, forces, energy, reactions, genes and electromagnetism.

At Key Stage 4, the curriculum is increasingly shaped by the accreditation pathway appropriate to the individual pupil.

Our Science Curriculum
Developing knowledge across the sciences

Newman’s curriculum provides pupils with opportunities to explore a broad range of scientific concepts at a level appropriate to their pathway and stage of learning.

Areas encountered across the curriculum include:

Living Things & Habitats
Exploring plants, animals, habitats, ecosystems, classification, adaptation and the relationships between living things and their environments.

The Human Body & Healthy Living
Learning about the body, senses, skeleton and muscles, digestion, circulation, human development, nutrition, exercise, hygiene and keeping healthy.

Plants & Reproduction
Exploring the structure and growth of plants, what plants need to survive, reproduction, pollination, seed formation and dispersal.

Materials & Matter
Investigating different materials, their properties and uses, states of matter, changes of state, mixtures and reversible and irreversible changes.

Forces & Movement
Exploring forces including gravity, friction and magnetism and developing an understanding of movement, speed, levers, pulleys and gears.

Light, Sound & Waves
Experiencing and investigating light and sound and developing an understanding of how they are created, travel and can be changed or blocked.

Electricity & Electromagnetism
Exploring electrical appliances and circuits and progressing towards understanding components, current, voltage and electrical safety.

Earth & Space
Developing an understanding of the Earth, Sun and Moon, planets, the solar system and the relationship between their movements.

Chemistry & Reactions
Exploring materials and substances and, as appropriate, developing understanding of elements, compounds, mixtures, acids and alkalis and chemical reactions.

These areas are revisited at increasing levels of complexity as pupils’ knowledge and scientific understanding develop.

Communication

Sharing ideas and discoveries

Pupils use speech, AAC, gestures, signs and symbols as appropriate to communicate their involvement, enjoyment and understanding.

As they progress, pupils develop their scientific vocabulary and communicate observations, predictions, ideas, findings and conclusions in increasingly varied ways.

At more advanced stages, pupils are encouraged to communicate scientific knowledge independently and through teamwork, both within lessons and in real-world contexts.

Independence

Exploring with confidence

Science provides opportunities for pupils to develop independence through exploration and investigation.

Pupils progress from expressing their own interests and initiating exploration to engaging independently in scientific activities, making predictions and demonstrating their understanding.

As their knowledge develops, pupils learn more about themselves, their bodies and how to stay safe and healthy. They are encouraged to apply their scientific knowledge with decreasing levels of support.

Resilience

Questioning, testing and trying again

Scientific enquiry naturally encourages resilience.

Pupils learn to explore and test their ideas and understand that investigations don’t always produce the expected result.

As they progress, pupils develop the confidence to ask questions, test theories and adapt their thinking in response to evidence and feedback.

At the Deepen pathway, pupils develop an understanding that scientific theories and concepts can change as new discoveries are made and that the world around them is continually changing.

Science for Life
Knowledge for greater independence

Science provides pupils with knowledge that can help them understand themselves, make informed choices and participate more independently in everyday life.

Throughout the curriculum, pupils encounter practical learning relating to areas such as:

• healthy eating and nutrition;
• exercise and its effect on the body;
• personal hygiene;
• sun safety;
• electrical safety;
• materials and everyday products;
• environmental change;
• energy use;
• the human body and development; and
• understanding the natural world.

By connecting scientific knowledge with practical experiences, pupils can develop a greater understanding of how the world works and how that knowledge can help them make safer and more informed choices.