Our Science Curriculum

At St Cuthbert Mayne, we follow the Kapow Primary Science scheme to support the teaching of a rich, engaging and progressive science curriculum. We want children to be curious about the world around them and to see themselves as scientists: asking questions, exploring ideas and finding out how and why things happen. 

Intent 

Our aim is to develop children’s scientific knowledge and understanding alongside the skills they need to think and work scientifically. 

Our curriculum is built around three key strands: 

• Scientific knowledge and understanding – developing children’s understanding of Biology, Chemistry and Physics. 

• Working scientifically – developing the skills needed to ask questions, make predictions, investigate ideas, observe and measure accurately, and use evidence to draw conclusions. 

• Science in action – helping children understand how science relates to everyday life and how scientists, past and present, have contributed to our understanding of the world. 

We want children to experience science as a practical, meaningful and exciting subject. They are encouraged to be curious, challenge ideas and communicate their thinking using increasingly precise scientific vocabulary. 

As children move through the school, we aim for them to become increasingly independent in their scientific thinking and enquiry, building the confidence to ask their own questions and make decisions about how these could be investigated. 

Implementation 

Science is taught regularly across Key Stages 1 and 2. In Reception, children begin developing their scientific understanding through the Understanding the World area of the Early Years curriculum. 

Kapow follows a spiral curriculum, meaning that important knowledge and skills are revisited with increasing complexity as children progress through the school. This enables children to build on previous learning, make connections and develop a deeper understanding over time. 

Children study key areas including: 

• Plants 

• Animals, including humans 

• Living things and their habitats 

• Materials 

• Energy 

• Forces, Earth and space 

Working scientifically is woven throughout the curriculum. Children develop their ability to: 

• ask scientific questions; 

• make predictions; 

• plan and carry out investigations; 

• observe and measure accurately; 

• group and classify; 

• record and present data; 

• identify patterns; 

• draw conclusions from evidence; 

• evaluate their findings. 

Practical investigations are an important part of science at St Cuthbert Mayne. Children are given opportunities to explore, test ideas, gather evidence and discuss what they have discovered. As they progress through the school, they take increasing responsibility for planning and carrying out their own enquiries. 

Scientific vocabulary is explicitly taught and regularly revisited so that children can explain their thinking clearly and confidently. Teachers also revisit prior learning and address misconceptions to help children build secure and connected scientific knowledge. 

At the end of each topic, children complete a Kapow end-of-unit quiz alongside a double-page spread where they can creatively showcase their learning. The quiz helps children demonstrate what they know and remember, while the double-page spread gives them an opportunity to select, organise and present key knowledge, vocabulary and ideas from across the unit. Together, these provide teachers with a clear picture of children’s understanding and help identify any misconceptions or gaps in learning. 

Science is further enriched through outdoor learning, educational visits, workshops and wider STEM opportunities. Each year, children can take part in our school science fair, giving them the chance to investigate their own ideas and share their findings with others. Finalists are then invited to represent St Cuthbert Mayne at the Xavier Science Fair, celebrating scientific thinking and achievement across the Trust. 

Impact 

By the end of their time at St Cuthbert Mayne, we want children to enjoy and value science and understand its importance in their lives and the wider world. 

Children will have developed secure scientific knowledge and will be able to use this to ask questions, make predictions and explain scientific ideas. By the end of Key Stage 2, we expect children to be increasingly confident in developing their own questions, planning different types of scientific enquiry and communicating their findings in a range of ways. 

Children will be able to: 

• recall and apply key scientific knowledge; 

• use scientific vocabulary accurately and confidently; 

• ask relevant scientific questions; 

• plan and carry out appropriate investigations; 

• use equipment and take measurements accurately; 

• record and present results in different ways; 

• identify patterns and relationships in data; 

• use evidence to draw and explain conclusions; 

• evaluate their investigations and suggest improvements; 

• understand how science contributes to everyday life and wider society. 

Teachers assess children’s understanding throughout each unit through questioning, discussion, practical work and written outcomes. End-of-unit quizzes and double-page spreads provide further opportunities for children to demonstrate what they know, understand and remember. This helps teachers identify strengths, misconceptions and gaps in learning and informs future teaching. 

Science is monitored through activities such as book looks, pupil discussions and lesson visits. This helps to ensure that children build their scientific knowledge and skills progressively and experience a broad, engaging and ambitious science curriculum. 

Ultimately, we want children to leave St Cuthbert Mayne with the knowledge, curiosity and confidence to continue exploring science at secondary school and beyond.