Science

Science at Coates Way
Intention
At Coates Way School we aim to develop a love of science in our children. We develop key skills and understanding through our use of Developing Experts, in which the working scientifically skills are embedded. As children progress through the school, themes are revisited, allowing subject knowledge to be consolidated and built upon.

Implementation
We balance theory with a hands-on, practical approach where possible, as we understand this is how children learn best. We allow children to build upon their experiences and in doing so, gain a more concrete knowledge and understanding of the world in which we live. We have adopted ‘Developing Experts’ to enable consistency of teaching from Nursery to Year 6. It also allows us to highlight real world applications and careers that build on our science learning.
A clear progression of substantive knowledge is taught from EYFS to Year 6. This includes the fundamental learning of the ‘what’ of science: understanding living things, habitats, life cycles, and the human body (e.g., classifying plants, understanding the digestive system); studying the physical world and materials (e.g., states of matter, identifying properties such as conductivity and solubility, and the water cycle); learning about physical phenomena (e.g., observing forces, sounds, light, and simple electrical circuits). Disciplinary knowledge, also known as working scientifically – the ‘how’ of science – is an important part of our curriculum. Children have regular opportunities to plan and write independently and creatively. This includes learning to design different types of scientific enquiry, such as: fair testing (identifying independent, dependent, and controlled variables); observation over time (tracking changes and recording phenomena); pattern seeking (identifying relationships in data); identifying and classifying (sorting objects, materials, and living things into categories).

Impact
At Coates Way, we establish early foundational understanding of the natural world that nurtures curiosity. This makes our students more likely to pursue scientific pathways as they continue their learning journey in secondary school and beyond. Our strong emphasis on scientific vocabulary provides opportunities for repeated use over time. Pupils are encouraged to articulate and explain their thinking to deepen understanding. We guide pupils to work scientifically, enabling them to design and carry out their own investigations, recording data and evaluating the outcomes. We relate science learning to real-world contexts and careers, particularly in Year 6, by utilizing parents, Governors and other contacts who come in to school to share their experiences.

EYFS
In EYFS, science is taught using a cross curricular, topic approach. You can find out more on their dedicated page here.