Curriculum Intent

At Wooburn Green Primary School, our Science curriculum aims to spark curiosity, inspire creativity and deepen pupils understanding of the world around them.

Through the White Rose Science Scheme, we provide a rich, sequenced curriculum that promotes both knowledge and the development of ‘working scientifically’ skills. Children are encouraged to ask questions, make predictions and explore through hands-on investigations. They should learn to accurately use scientific equipment, conduct fair tests and confidently explain key concepts using correct vocabulary. Our approach fosters independent discovery and critical thinking, with regular opportunities for evaluation and reflection.

We believe Science is essential for understanding everyday life and global challenges. Children should leave Wooburn Green with an understanding of how Science surrounds us in our day to day life and how a respect and understanding of the discipline is necessary to human development and purposeful progression.

Curriculum Content

The National Curriculum Programme of Study for Science describes a sequence of knowledge and concepts, processes and methods. This sequence of knowledge and concepts is arranged as progressive blocks of key ideas in biology, chemistry and physics, alongside a progression in the skills of working scientifically.

The conceptual ideas in Biology, Chemistry and Physics build on each other and children need to develop a strong understanding of each set of ideas in order for the next set to make sense and for them to make progress. The Programme of Study is set out year by year for Key stages 1 and 2 but each science topic is not covered in every year. It is therefore important that teachers and children know where each block of ideas fits into the overall sequence.

The link below shows Progression Charts where the key ideas within Biology, Chemistry and Physics in the National Curriculum are arranged to show how they are related to each other and how one idea builds on another. The National Curriculum statements have been edited into key ideas statements. The source of each key idea is identified by the year group and the Programme of Study topic heading. Some additional statements have been added to make important links between ideas.

The link below will take you to the National Curriculum Programme of Study for Science.

Curriculum Implementation

The White Rose Science Scheme ensures the curriculum is covered fully with a clear progression across the whole school. Lessons are carefully planned to build on prior knowledge, with increasing complexity and opportunity for independent thinking and reasoning as pupils move through year groups. Children have the opportunity to work on both group and individual experiments, using a wide range of equipment to explore, test and apply their theoretical learning. Teachers facilitate enquiry-based learning, encouraging pupils to make decisions, plan investigations and draw conclusions.

Cross-curricular links enrich understanding, with Science bringing to life topics covered in Maths, English and Topic. As pupils progress they are encouraged to take greater ownership of their learning, developing autonomy, critical thinking and confidence in their application of scientific methods and vocabulary in a meaningful context.

This table shows the White Rose Science 'blocks' for each year.

Curriculum Impact

The impact of our approach to Science is evident in the promising progression most pupils make in all year groups. High levels of engagement and enthusiasm are consistently reflected in pupil voice where pupil’s express curiosity and confidence surrounding their learning.

Our coherent, well-sequenced approach ensures students have a strong set of foundational skills. This subsequently allows them to demonstrate increasing independence during lessons and growing ability to apply technical and precise scientific vocabulary. Pupils are able to evaluate investigations thoughtfully and do so with reference to and reflection on prior learning and experiences.

The combination of hands on learning, effective resources, and skilled teachers fosters a positive learning environment where scientific thinking thrives, preparing pupils for future academic success grounded in an informed understanding of the world.  

Assessment Information

The most important assessments teachers make are during science lessons, as teachers observe, question children and check children’s work. This helps teachers decide how to support and challenge children as they learn.

Children are also assessed using White Rose Science worksheets and end of topic quizzes. This helps teachers understand how much progress towards each step of the key learning of the National Curriculum each child has made and helps the school as a whole understand how successful its science curriculum is.

Useful Links

You can find lots of supplementary information about National Curriculum Science topics at KS1 Science - BBC Bitesize and KS2 Science - BBC Bitesize.