Science

A scientist will leave Illogan with an enquiring mind and a strong understanding of the world around them. Pupils at Illogan will acquire specific skills and knowledge to help them think scientifically, to gain an understanding of scientific processes and also an understanding of the uses and implications of Science, today and for the future.

Throughout the children’s time at our school, we ensure that the Working Scientifically skills are built on and developed so that they can apply their knowledge of science when using equipment, conducting experiments, building arguments and explaining concepts confidently and continue to ask questions and be curious about their surroundings.

The aims of our science teaching:

  • To have time in sessions dedicated to understanding specific, scientific vocabulary.
  • To experiment and to observe scientific phenomena.
  • To record findings, utilise, and embed learning from writing, reading and maths lessons.
  • To have “hands on” experiences both in and outside the classroom.
  • To develop an understanding of the world around them.

We aim to achieve this through providing consistently good teaching that incorporates the most up to date resources, ideas and methods, rich questioning and use of our discussion guidelines to support lively and purposeful discussion.

How is science taught at Illogan?

Children are taught science using a topic-based approach.  Through the Cornerstones curriculum children study blocks of science-based lessons via a range of exciting topics.  The Cornerstones curriculum helps to ensure consistency and progression across the whole school based on the objectives set out in the 2014 national curriculum.  Topics, such as plants, are layered across years to enable mastery over time.

Topics covered include:

  • Plants
  • Animals including humans
  • Rocks
  • Light and Sound
  • Forces and magnets
  • Living things and their habitats
  • Electricity
  • States of matter
  • Evolution and inheritance
  • Earth and space
  • The seasons
  • Materials

We also employ the aspect of “Working Scientifically” from the National Curriculum. This encompasses a key group of skills which children must develop in order to support their learning in science. These core skills are:

  • Questioning
  • Predicting
  • Concluding
  • Observing
  • Identifying and classifying
  • Measuring
  • Testing
  • Recording

These skills can be grouped into two groups.

  • Functional skills: observing, identifying and classifying, measuring, testing and recording.
  • Reasoning and thinking skills: questioning, predicting and concluding.

Our science policy can be found below:

Illogan-School-Science-Policy

Our science overview can be found below:

Science Overview

Year 2 Working hard on various Science topics - classifing objects/animals as living, dead or never alive - using ICT to help them learn how animals are suited to the habitats they live in - sorting and classifying objects based on what material they are made of.

Some useful websites and resources:

We encourage our learners to extend their learning at home by using online resources!