Science
At Joy Lane, we strive to provide high-quality Science teaching that promotes curiosity, exploration and scientific knowledge and skills development. The teaching of Science promotes an understanding of the natural, physical and technological world in which we live. Our approach aims to develop practical skills, critical thinking, and problem-solving abilities as well as ensuring a clear progression in knowledge, skills, and understanding across the school that is in line with the National Curriculum.
Teachers provide opportunities for scientific investigations and experiments, which promote interactive, hands-on learning experiences. A shift away from repetitive experiment write ups has moved towards a renewed focus on promoting pupils' scientific literacy, vocabulary acquisition, and their ability to communicate their understanding effectively through discussion.
We are passionate about all children achieving this and employ a range of strategies (such as Knowledge Organisers, Widgit visuals, scaffolds, modelled examples and pre-teaching) to support our SEND, disadvantaged and lowest 20% of pupils.
Science is taught through a wide range and combination of practical experiments, demonstrations, discussions, and outdoor activities to engage students in the subject. Our ‘Voices for Choices’ approach develops our children’s metacognitive skills, supporting them in voicing the learning process and building resilience in the face of new problems. This, alongside a renewed focus on practical, hands-on approaches, is working to enhance pupils’ engagement and love for the subject to flourish.
Regular formative assessment and feedback will be used to monitor progress and provide necessary support or challenge. Opportunities to revisit learning from the previous lesson, unit, year, etc. are highly valued and planned in to support retrieval practice and making links to new learning.