Primary Science Scheme of Work

The Primary Science Scheme of Work aligns with the National Curriculum, offering pupils the opportunity to learn about the products of science so that they can explain the material world and ‘develop a sense of excitement and curiosity about natural phenomena’.

Pupils will also learn about the practices of science so that they know how scientific knowledge becomes established through scientific enquiry. Through this programme of study, pupils will combine these two distinct types of knowledge, so they develop a solid understanding within meaningful context.

Knowledge and skills have been carefully placed across the units and years with sequential component knowledge clearly broken down into steps and composite tasks. Although they are taught together, there is clarity about which knowledge is disciplinary and which is substantive.

There is a brand-new section: 'Ten Big Ideas', which is underpinned by key concepts. As pupils move through the scheme, they will build comprehensive schemata for each of these big ideas, so that new information connects with prior knowledge and can be committed to long-term memory.

Each unit of the Primary Science Scheme of Work (from Year 1 through to Year 6) is helpfully divided into year groups and terms, and covers the relevant topics (depending on the required curriculum) for the full academic year. Within each unit, there is detailed and insightful information to assist teachers and science leads.

Year 1

• Terms 1-2 - Everyday Materials
• Terms 3-4 - Animals Including Humans
• Terms 5 - Plants
• Termly - Seasonal Changes.

Year 2

• Terms 1-2 - Living Things and Their Habitats
• Term 3 - Uses of Everyday Materials
• Term 4 - Animals Including Humans
• Terms 5 - Plants.

Year 3

• Term 1 - Forces and Magnets
• Term 2 - Light
• Term 3 - Rocks
• Term 4  - Plants
• Term 5 - Animals Including Humans.

Year 4

• Terms 1 - States of Matter
• Term 2 - Sound
• Term 3 - Electricity
• Term 4 - Animals Including Humans
• Term 5 -  Living Things and their Habitats

Year 5

• Term 1 - Living Things and their Habitats
• Term 2 - Earth and Space
• Term 3 - Animals Including Humans
• Term 4 - Forces
• Term 5 - Properties and Changes of Materials.

Year 6 

• Term 1 - Living Things and Their Habitats
• Term 2 - Evolution and Inheritance
• Term 3 - Electricity
• Term 4 - Light
• Terms 5 - Animals Including Humans.

• working scientifically
• big ideas
• National Curriculum objectives
• links to prior learning
• common misconceptions
• building component knowledge
• unit preparation
• suggested significant people
• vocabulary
• a reading list
• possible enrichment opportunities
• resources
• substantive knowledge
• disciplinary knowledge
• lesson outline
• a tick list to ensure your pupils are ready to progress
• assessment is now woven throughout the units in this updated version.

To ensure that assessment is not an add-on and is integrated into the teaching and learning process, several elements of assessment are built into the scheme:

1. Ready to Progress statements in each lesson outline the essential knowledge that pupils should have secured. As a result, teachers know what to check so that they can make decisions about whether pupils are ready to move on to the next lesson.
2. Meaningful learning activities link directly to the enquiry for each lesson so that teachers can assess understanding of key knowledge when marking.
3. The scheme is pinned to 10 big ideas about science that pupils will have secured before they leave the school. Opportunities are built into each unit for pupils to reinforce prior knowledge about these big ideas and add new knowledge gained during the unit.
   Five teaching lessons have been planned for each unit and the sixth is a dedicated assessment lesson. This provides pupils the opportunity to demonstrate their learning from across the unit.
4. Assessment grids for each unit have been created for teachers to populate with information about pupils who are not secure in the key knowledge. These also provide space for teachers to record the actions being taken.
5. Term 6 has been designated for revisiting and reinforcing and teachers will use the wealth of assessment information gathered during the units to plan ‘revisit and review’ units, designed to address the specific gaps and misconceptions identified.

By building several layers of assessment into each enquiry at both lesson and unit level and providing ways to record this, we have ensured that assessment is part of the teaching and learning process and is helping teachers understand specific gaps in knowledge so that they can make informed decisions about when pupils are ready to move on. Most importantly, by allowing a term for gaps to be addressed, we are providing the time to take action.

The scheme also provides clarity for subject and school leaders about the key knowledge pupils should have secured, where gaps are and how teachers are working to address this.

• reducing workload
• developing and scaffolding teacher subject knowledge, in particular non-science specialists
• work to consider and identify the disciplinary knowledge, including concepts, that are needed to work scientifically has been done for you. This was an area of weakness identified in the Ofsted subject review
• disciplinary knowledge (knowledge of how to work scientifically) as well as substantive knowledge (established factual knowledge) provide a clear framework for progression
• provides links to high quality online resources such as from the BBC, STEM and Explorify.

• the curriculum is sequenced in such a way that pupils have the opportunity to learn detailed and connected knowledge of the curriculum
• pupils will know and remember more
• there are sufficient opportunities for pupils to practise and consolidate what they learn before moving on to new content
• pupils have enough opportunities to take part in high-quality practical work that has a clear purpose in relation to the lesson sequence
• opportunities will be in place for pupils to demonstrate disciplinary writing through answering the key question at the end of the lesson
• pupils will build cultural capital by learning about scientists from the past and present; this will also