Science

At Norland Place we aim to deliver a science curriculum that stimulates and excites children, and answers their natural curiosity about phenomena and events in their environment. We aim to link children’s practical experiences to scientific facts, laws and principles to enable them to begin to understand the world around us.

Throughout the school, Science is organised on a topic basis. These topics derive from the three main divisions of the discipline at this level: Life Processes and living things; Materials and their properties; and Physical processes.

Within each topic, wherever possible, children are given direct practical experience of a concept. Of paramount importance is the development of the skills associated with this practical experience. ‘Scientific enquiry’ provides opportunities to understand the investigation process. We aim to develop each child’s independence and confidence, equipping them with key scientific skills and enabling them to question, predict, experiment safely, record and present results effectively in order to make informed conclusions and evaluations.

Science in the upper part of the school differs in that the children spend a greater proportion of the timetable on this core subject, which accelerates in pace and complexity. The children usually attend lessons in the science laboratory, which is well resourced and assists us in facilitating the expectations we have for scientific enquiry work. There are high expectations for both conduct in the lab and the quality of work in the children’s books.

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