Science
Science Intent
At Grove House Primary School, our children are SCIENTISTS! Every child at Grove House receives a broad and balanced Science curriculum which enables them to confidently explore and discover what is around them, so that they have a deeper understanding of the world we live in. Our children understand how science links to the wider world by studying local scientists and discoveries from throughout history. Where possible, our science lessons include practical hands on experiences that encourage curiosity and questioning. Our aim is that these stimulating and challenging experiences help every child secure and extend their scientific knowledge and vocabulary, as well as promoting a love and thirst for learning. At Grove House, we have a coherently planned and sequenced curriculum which has been carefully designed and developed with the need of every child at the centre of what we do. We want to equip our children with not only the minimum statutory requirements of the science National Curriculum but to prepare them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life.
Prior to working at Grove House, Lyall Anderson, one of our fabulous support staff, trained as a paleontologist at the University of Manchester. He then worked at the museum in Edinburgh in charge of the Scottish fossil collection, before moving to a research post at Cambridge investigating Darwin’s rocks and fossils that he collected on the Voyage of the Beagle. This was to provide stories and background to a new permanent exhibition at the Sedgwick Museum. Mr Anderson runs a science after school club where children have the opportunity to explore other areas of science outside of the primary national curriculum.
EYFS
The Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum supports children’s understanding of Science through the planning and teaching of ‘Understanding the World.’ Children find out about objects, materials and living things using all of their senses looking at similarities, differences, patterns and change. Both the environment and skilled practitioners foster curiosity and encourage explorative play, children are motivated to ask questions about why things happen and how things work. Our children are encouraged to use their natural environment around them to explore. Children enjoy spending time outdoors exploring mini-beasts and their habitats, observing the changing seasons, plants and animals. Throughout the year, children get to look at changes animals and insects go through and life cycles. They spent time looking after caterpillars, tadpoles and hatchlings.