It is our intention, when teaching Science in Boxford, to nurture in the children an enthusiastic and inquisitive attitude and a hands-on approach to the subject and to the environment around them. Boxford is in a rural location and has large grounds, with a forested area, and we aim to use this as much as possible in the exploration of this subject.

We would like them to work increasingly scientifically as they progress through school and to apply the contexts of the subject into tests and experiments.

We aim to develop the natural curiosity of the child, encourage respect for living organisms and the physical environment and provide opportunities for critical evaluation of evidence.

All teaching staff are made aware of the curriculum objectives for their year group. These are put in the front of each pupil’s science work book, in the form of a Target Tracker check list. This is to ensure coverage and progression throughout the school.

Staff are encouraged to use their professional judgement and experience to meet these objectives in an inspirational, engaging way and linked to their current topic, if possible and appropriate. To assist them to teach these objectives the staff are provided with Hamilton Trust science plans. These plans provide lots of opportunity for the children to study science in an exciting, ‘hands-on’ way.

The way that we measure the impact of our teaching in science is through the assessment of pupils, using the aforementioned Target Tracker sheets in the front of the children’s workbooks. Each objective is highlighted as it is covered and linked to the page number in their books, where the objective was met. The teacher will use the evidence of the children’s work, allied with their own observations to form judgements as to whether a child is working at the required level. To help form these judgements, the teacher or LSA will listen to children’s responses during whole class and group discussions and record relevant comments. These comments are then stuck in the child’s book in the form of a post-it note or speech bubble. This is a useful tool to assess young children, in particular, but also for those older children who may find more formal methods of recording more challenging.

We intend that all children will have:

• A wide variety of skills linked to both scientific knowledge and understanding, and scientific enquiry/investigative skills.
• The ability to work collaboratively and practically to investigate and experiment.
• The capacity to explain the process they have taken, to reason scientifically and to reflect upon their knowledge.