Our science curriculum inspires curiosity and wonder so that every pupil “lives life in all its fullness.” It is ambitious, sequential and rooted in the National Curriculum; it equips pupils with substantive scientific knowledge (biology, chemistry, physics) and the disciplinary knowledge of doing science (working scientifically). It is designed so pupils remember more, make clear progress year-on-year and are prepared for the next stage of their education.

We follow a progression model based on the National Curriculum so coverage and taught contact explicitly map the knowledge and skills pupils must master. Year-by-year documents set out the substantive concepts and disciplinary skills, show how learning builds from Reception to Year 6, and prioritise spaced retrieval so pupils remember more. Practical enquiry and scientific reasoning are central: each unit contains purposeful hands-on work (observing over time, pattern-seeking, classification, comparative testing and researching) that is directly linked to knowledge goals and used to teach evidence, accuracy and interpretation. An oracy framework is embedded in lessons so pupils explain, justify and reason about evidence — planned talk tasks, sentence stems and teacher questioning are used diagnostically to surface and correct misconceptions.

Reception learning in “Understanding the World” provides the foundation in observation, vocabulary and simple enquiry that explicitly links to Year 1 science. In Key Stage 1 pupils build core knowledge (plants, animals, everyday materials, seasonal change) and basic enquiry skills (asking simple questions, making observations, recording). In Lower Key Stage 2 pupils broaden substantive knowledge (rocks, forces, states of matter, digestion, light) and begin more systematic enquiries with simple quantitative recording. In Upper Key Stage 2 pupils study more complex concepts (life cycles, classification, materials changes, electricity, Earth and space) and refine investigative approaches — controlling variables, precise measurement and presenting evidence — with explicit preparation for secondary science. Each stage is sequenced to ensure coherence and progression of both substantive and disciplinary knowledge.

Our first response is quality-first classroom teaching: clear learning intentions, explicit modelling and scaffolded steps so the same ambitious curriculum is accessible to most pupils. Adaptations are made through scaffolding (simplified recording frames, visual models, sentence stems, pre-teach vocabulary, tactile resources) rather than lowering expectations; challenge is provided through deeper investigative prompts and extensions. Provision is informed by knowledge of our pupils (high mobility, disadvantage, SEND and EHCPs) so learning intentions are broken into small steps where needed, and assessment (regular low-stakes checks and termly curriculum reviews) identifies gaps for precision support. For pupils with EAL and SEND, oracy and dual-coding strategies ensure language is not a barrier to scientific thinking, and practical roles/resources are adapted so all pupils meaningfully participate.