Key Stage 1 – Science

The principal focus of science teaching in Key Stage 1 is to enable children to experience and observe phenomena, looking more closely at the natural and humanly-constructed world around them. They should be encouraged to be curious and ask questions about what they notice. They should be helped to develop their understanding of scientific ideas by using different types of scientific enquiry to answer their own questions, including observing changes over a period of time, noticing patterns, grouping and classifying things, carrying out simple comparative tests, and finding things out using secondary sources of information. They should begin to use simple scientific language to talk about what they have found out and communicate their ideas to a range of audiences in a variety of ways. Most of the learning about science should be done through the use of first-hand practical experiences, but there should also be some use of appropriate secondary sources, such as books, photographs and videos.

The specific topics within the national curriculum are:

Working scientifically is an important part of all science activities

Across the whole of Key Stage 1 children will learn to:

• ask simple questions and recognise that they can be answered in different ways
• observe closely, using simple equipment
• perform simple tests
• identify and classify using their observations and ideas to suggest answers to questions
• gather and record data to help in answering questions.

The WES Science course emphasises the importance of working systematically and logically as well as encouraging creative ways of looking at problems. It contains a balance between acquiring scientific knowledge and understanding and using the appropriate processes and skills. Children are encouraged to observe, classify, measure, communicate and investigate to an increasing degree. We encourage children to ‘think scientifically’, by looking for common underlying patterns, controlling variables and solving problems which involve the application of scientific knowledge at their level.

In Key Stages 1 and 2 a core Science course is used, supplemented with a variety of information books. The WES topics cover all that is required in the national curriculum plus some other topics of interest to young children.