Intent 
Our science curriculum aims to inspire curiosity and a love of learning about the natural world. We want pupils to develop scientific knowledge, enquiry skills, and critical thinking, while understanding how science impacts everyday life and future careers.
Implementation
Science is taught through engaging, hands-on lessons, investigations, and projects.
Pupils explore topics through practical experiments, research, and technology, including coding and data collection. Regular assemblies, guest speakers, and cross-curricular links help bring science to life. We use a variety of schemes and resources to ensure lessons are progressive and suitable for all ages.
Impact
Through our science curriculum, pupils gain confidence in scientific thinking, practical skills, and problem-solving. They develop a deeper understanding of the world around them, are inspired to ask questions, and are well-prepared for future learning and careers in STEM fields. Pupils leave school with a lasting curiosity and enthusiasm for science.
Our Vision for Science
At Prior Weston, we believe that every child is a scientist — curious, creative, and capable of discovering the world around them through exploration and investigation.
Our science curriculum encourages pupils to think critically, solve problems, and understand how science connects with technology, engineering, and mathematics. Through engaging, hands-on experiences, children develop curiosity, resilience, and confidence in asking questions, making predictions, and finding answers.
We aim to prepare pupils not just for the next stage of education, but for a future where scientific understanding and innovation play a vital role in shaping the world. Through the school year, we have extra curriculum clubs that children have access to, and are linked to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) such as science clubs, chess clubs, arts and crafts clubs and more. helping to broaden pupils’ knowledge and inspire their future aspirations.
Our Approach to Teaching Science
At Prior Weston, we believe great science teaching:
- Promotes curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking.
- Provides practical, hands-on learning experiences in every year group.
- Encourages children to ask questions and seek evidence-based answers.
- Builds scientific vocabulary and concrete understanding over time.
- Connects science with real-world applications and future careers.
- Uses outdoor learning, experiments, and cross-curricular links to make learning meaningful.
Our lessons follow the National Curriculum for Science (2014) and are sequenced carefully to ensure pupils revisit and deepen their understanding of key concepts as they move through the school.
Our Aims
By the end of Year 6, every child at Prior Weston will:
- Have a strong foundation in scientific knowledge and enquiry skills.
- Understand the importance of science in everyday life and the wider world.
- Be confident in planning, conducting, and evaluating investigations.
- Recognise how science connects with technology, engineering, and mathematics.
- See themselves as curious thinkers and future innovators.
Science in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)
In the Early Years Foundation Stage, science learning takes place through the ‘Understanding the World’ area of the curriculum. Children learn by exploring, observing, and investigating the world around them — laying strong foundations for scientific thinking.
In EYFS, children will:
- Explore and talk about what they see, hear, and feel in the natural environment.
- Observe animals, plants, materials, and seasonal changes.
- Ask questions and begin to explain why some things happen.
- Develop early scientific skills through play, discovery, and outdoor learning.
- Begin to use simple STEM-related vocabulary to describe what they observe.
EYFS Curriculum Links:
- Understanding the World – The Natural World: Children make observations, explore patterns, and talk about changes.
- Understanding the World – People, Culture and Communities: Children notice differences in environments and learn how people use and protect the natural world.
Through purposeful play and guided exploration, our youngest learners begin to develop the curiosity and enquiry skills that underpin later scientific learning.
Science in Key Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2)
In Key Stage 1, pupils build upon their early experiences by engaging in hands-on investigations that develop observation, questioning, and reasoning skills. Science lessons are designed to be active, practical, and enquiry-led, helping pupils to see themselves as scientists in action.
Key areas of learning include:
- Plants – identifying, naming, and describing how they grow.
- Animals, including humans – learning about basic needs, food chains, and habitats.
- Everyday materials – exploring properties, uses, and how materials can change.
- Seasonal changes – observing weather patterns and the four seasons.
Working Scientifically:
Children begin to use simple equipment, perform tests, collect data, and communicate their findings using drawings, tables, and verbal explanations. They learn to ask their own questions and make predictions based on what they already know.
Science in Lower Key Stage 2 (Years 3 and 4)
In Years 3 and 4, children extend their scientific understanding and develop greater independence in planning and carrying out investigations. They start to make more systematic observations and record results accurately.
Key areas of learning include:
- Rocks, light, and sound – exploring natural materials and physical processes.
- Forces and magnets – understanding motion, attraction, and repulsion.
- Plants and animals, including humans – learning about nutrition, skeletons, and life processes.
- States of matter – investigating solids, liquids, and gases, and changes in state.
Working Scientifically:
Pupils plan fair tests, use simple measurement tools, present data using charts and graphs, and draw conclusions from evidence. They begin to recognise that scientific ideas change and develop over time.
Science in Upper Key Stage 2 (Years 5 and 6)
In Years 5 and 6, pupils refine their investigative skills and develop a deeper understanding of scientific ideas and their applications in the modern world. They are encouraged to think critically, justify their conclusions, and evaluate evidence.
Key areas of learning include:
- Forces and electricity – exploring energy, motion, and circuits.
- Earth and space – understanding the solar system and Earth’s rotation.
- Properties and changes of materials – reversible and irreversible changes.
- Living things and their habitats – classification and life cycles.
- Evolution and inheritance – understanding adaptation and change over time.
Working Scientifically:
Pupils plan and conduct investigations, identify variables, and present findings using scientific vocabulary, graphs, and reports. They learn to recognise the impact of scientific discoveries on society and the environment.
