- About Us
- Pupil Care
- Outside the Classroom
At The Elms, Science is recognised and treated as a core curriculum subject, and the pupils are encouraged to develop their curiosity and desire to understand the world around them.
Through regular investigative lessons, our pupils improve their knowledge and understanding of important scientific ideas, processes and skills and then relate these to everyday experiences. The curriculum is taught with a focus on hands-on exciting activities to collect data first hand. Pupils are encouraged to seek explanations and think critically about the evidence they have collected.
The Science Programmes of study are delivered through weekly Science lessons for most of the school. For some year groups Science is integrated into other areas of learning and exploration and Science is taught by specialist teachers to Junior children.
In addition to staff expertise, we have excellent resources to enthuse and engage: for example, skeletons of vertebrates and invertebrates, force meters, data loggers, digital balances and microscopes.
The beautiful grounds give us a wonderful outdoor resource for learning about habitats and the local environment. Pond dipping, invertebrate collection and making and using keys for classifying organisms are all available just outside the classrooms.
The children also benefit from residential trips and visits to provide memorable learning experiences. We visit residential centres, for example, Cranedale Field Centre in Yorkshire, Attenborough Nature Reserve and Think Tank, Birmingham. The Mad Science team also visit us in school for an afternoon of experiments and workshops.
As our pupils are given increasing levels of independence we expect them to acquire and refine the practical skills needed to investigate questions safely. Progressing from Infants to Juniors, they will develop the valuable skills of predicting, asking questions, recording and presenting data, making inferences, concluding and evaluating.
Information Technology and Computing enhance the Science curriculum; particularly in research for homework. As the children increase in age and experience they are expected to have the skills necessary to be able to assess and improve their own learning and performance.
The aim throughout, is that the children love learning about science and develop a lifelong desire to discover more about the world in which they live - as well as being equipped with the skills necessary to learn effectively.