At Co-op Academy Princeville, we follow the recommendations of the National Curriculum at each stage of our children’s science education.

We believe that the knowledge content and skills expectations of the National Curriculum provide a broad and balanced science education across a range of scientific disciplines, including a good balance of physics, chemistry and biology-based units. Each phase of school returns to and builds upon previous learning to allow children the opportunity to master these areas before the end of their time at Princeville. This ensures they are fully prepared for the next stage of their science education, allowing them to succeed in their learning across all science subjects at secondary school. This is reflected in our long-term plan.

“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known” – Carl Sagan

Science is the story of the world around us and how it works. At Princeville, we recognise not only the importance of science education for practical means, but also the joy of learning about our world for no reason other than that joy itself. Children’s minds are innately curious, and science education is a perfect opportunity to harness and grow that natural curiosity in order to nurture the inquisitive and self-motivated problem-solvers of the future.

Questions are at the heart of science teaching at Princeville, and we understand that asking questions is as important to science as answering them.

“Science is magic that works” – Kurt Vonnegut

If science is the story of the world around us, it should not be restricted to abstract thoughts expressed solely in words spoken or written on a page. At Princeville, we believe that science lessons should take place in that physical, practical world; we know our pupils learn best when given ample opportunity to explore, experiment with and directly experience the ideas we are learning about.

As such, many of our science lessons take place not in the quiet of a hushed classroom, but in the mess of outdoors or the noise of a collaborative investigation. It is only by having these experiences first-hand that our children are able to learn how to handle materials and equipment safely and respectfully, and to begin to refine their investigational skills into the logical, systematic approach that science ultimately requires.

“Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge” – Carl Sagan

The science curriculum at Princeville consists of two strands: knowledge and skills. The two are inextricably linked, but must also both be explicitly taught. Skills are necessary in order to make connections between fragments of knowledge and apply this knowledge to new situations. However, without knowledge, we have nothing to apply our skills to.

Therefore, we ensure that, as well as clearly and explicitly teaching the knowledge content of each unit of work, lessons are taught in each unit which focus specifically on scientific skills such as making close observations, setting up comparative tests and presenting data.

“If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants” – Isaac Newton

At Princeville, our science curriculum is rooted in our past but looks towards our future. We want children’s science education to inspire them beyond their time at our school. As such, we include learning about famous scientists from history and embed real-world applications of science in our curriculum in order to give children aspirations for their own futures.

Our ultimate goal is not purely to teach children the necessary scientific facts, but to inspire and equip our pupils to be the scientists of the future.