How is Bridekirk Dovenby's curriculum designed?

Science at Bridekirk follows the National Curriculum. We ensure that children leave the school having covered the learning objectives and goals required for each age group. 

We have selected the order of our subjects according to when they will fall best within a school year; for example, year 3s will learn about plants in Summer term when plants all grow best in nature. 

Some subjects, such as the Seasonal Changes in year 1, are best studied in real time, so the children are able to study the seasons when they are actually happening, as opposed to all at once and in abstract. As a result of this, they study the seasons throughout the year, autumn in autumn, spring in spring etc. 

Bloom's Taxonomy and the building on vocabulary also play key roles in our curriculum design to ensure they pupils leave in year 6 ready to be successful scientists in Secondary School.

How is Science taught at Bridekirk?

Due to the nature of the subject, Science is taught in discrete year groups by teachers, which allows for a clear progression between year groups and pupils move through the school. We also provide enrichment from external sources on a regular basis. Children's learning is assessed as they are learning a topic to ensure it has maximum impact on their learning and progress.

How does the curriculum design impact on the children?

Allowing the children to see their subjects when they are most appropriate during the school year helps them to retain their knowledge as they are able to experience different concepts with different types of learning. For example, again with plants, if done out of season, the pupils simply rely on visual and aural learning; whereas if done in summer term, they will be able to add physical learning in too. 

Many of the subject topics are repeated allowing children to develop and build on previous learning, deepening their understanding and increasing the chances of it being retained in their long-term memory. Our pupils become increasingly able to talk about scientific concepts in greater depth and to answer increasingly complex questions.

Some of the topics are repeated; how do you ensure children develop instead of simply re-doing the same lessons?

In science lessons, like many of our subjects, teachers bear Blooms Taxonomy and their year groups vocabulary and learning objectives in mind. For example, Electricity is studied in year 3 and in year 6. In year 6, the children will build on their knowledge gained in year 3 and deepen their knowledge with higher-order thinking following Bloom's Taxonomy. Repetition is a great way to ensure that learning is retained in a child's long-term memory, but we also strive to help children deeper their understanding as they move through the school. 

Is Early Years science important?

Yes! In Bridekirk Dovenby, the children begin their journey to become great scientists in EYFS, where they are given the opportunity to observe the world around them, experiment with cause and effect, conduct investigations and answer questions about them. Early years is crucial in Bridekirk for applying the foundations of scientific discovery and how to ask and answer questions about the world around them.