Our Science Lead is Miss Drake

Our Intent.

Science is good at John Blandy Primary School when;

We apply our ‘working scientifically skills’ to solve problems, explore, observe and investigate.

We ask questions and work together to discover the answers  

Science has a wow factor and promotes a sense of awe and wonder

Our learning is enhanced by outdoor learning , specialist visitors and we have access to a range of resources.

We are involved in creating and carrying out investigations and can share and explain our ideas and conclusions

Children are encouraged to ask their own questions and be given opportunities to use their scientific skills and research to discover the answers.

Teachers ask a range of questions which enable all children to take part, listening carefully to answers and taking learning forward, using open and closed questions and allowing children time to think.

Planning involves teachers creating engaging lessons, often involving a range of resources to aid understanding of conceptual knowledge

Teachers use questioning in class to test conceptual knowledge and skills, and assess pupils regularly to identify those children with gaps in learning, so that all pupils keep up. 

New vocabulary and challenging concepts are introduced through direct teaching. This is developed through the years, and in-keeping with the National Curriculum units.

Working Scientifically skills are embedded into lessons to ensure these skills are being developed throughout the children’s school career. 

Teachers find opportunities to develop children’s understanding by accessing scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding at the end of each unit.

Implementation

Science is taught throughout the school in weekly lessons and is delivered by class teachers.  The school follows the  National Curriculum. Each of the units shows progression in the key scientific knowledge and concepts required from Year 1 to Year 6. Other sources may also be used to enhance the lessons in order to meet the needs of the children.

The Impact

The children at John Blandy are confident scientists who can talk about the investigations that they have undertaken. Children throughout the school take part in British Science Week which ends with a KS2 Science Fair, this week generates huge excitement amongst the children. Also at John Blandy parents are encouraged to come in and share their scientific jobs with the children.

Children enjoy talking about Science and show a good understanding of the concepts that they have learnt.

Year 3 and 4 Trip to Science Oxford

Our Oxford Science Trip

On Friday, we had our year 3 and 4 trip to Science Oxford. First, we walked to the coach in pairs. We were very excited on the journey there and couldn't wait to see what we had ahead of us. 

Changing materials workshop

When we arrived, we were split into our three classes. Our class went into a science lab and took part in a changing materials workshop. During the workshop, we heated water, salt water, staples, solder, soap and sugar. The sugar was the most interesting. First, it started to melt into caramel before turning into a solid. The solder curled up into a mini ball. The teachers even let us use lighters to light our oil candle but don't worry, they were safe! Throughout the whole experiment, some ice was in a glass of water slowly melting. We learnt how this turned into condensation on the outside of the glass before turning back to water on the table. 

Light Show

After break, we learnt how light can travel 10 million times faster than sound and how usually when we see things our eyes flip the image upside down, but our brains turn it the right way up again. We also looked at some lasers and learnt that we can only see light when it is bouncing off another surface. At the end, we did two mini quizzes to see what we had learnt.

Exploration Centre

Lastly, we went into a room called the exploration centre where we could play around with lots of different science topics. There was even a heat thermal camera where we could see how hot or cold different parts of our bodies were. We also got to look at different items under microscopes but two of our favourite things were the magnetic marble run and the electrical circuit challenges. 

On the way back home, nobody could stop chatting about the trip. 

Written by Ruairi and Layla. 

Did you know that families can attend activity events every Saturday.

Follow the link for more Information:

https://scienceoxford.com/

SPACE talk 

This week we were lucky enough to have Simone in to talk to the children about her job working in the Space Sector. She led a fascinating assembly for both KS1 and KS2 children where she talked about the solar system, earth, satellites and rockets. The children asked some great questions and thoroughly enjoyed the visit. We hope Simone will come back and visit us again soon. 

British Science Week 2022

Last week we celebrated British Science Week, we started the week with a school assembly where we discussed ideas for investigations and the theme for the week; 'Growth'. We even managed to complete two investigations during the assembly.

In KS2 the children created their own investigations answering a range of science based questions such as: How do you create a battery operated car? Can you power a clock using lemon juice? Which is the stretchiest chocolate bar? and lots more.

The Year 6 Science Ambassadors ran Pop-up Science Clubs in the playground which were very popular. 

Calling all parents...

Are there any parents out there with a Scientific or Engineering background who would be willing towork with and answer questions from our children about their jobs?

It would hopefully be enjoyable for both our children and you and possibly open their eyes to future career paths.

If you are interested, please contact Miss Drake, Mrs Young or the school office.

Thank you