We were awarded the PSQM GILT award in 2022. The Primary Science Quality Mark is a school improvement programme for primary science, which provides professional development for subject leaders. PSQM enables confident, knowledgeable, reflective leadership which results in an improvement in the way in which science is planned and taught across the whole school.

What have we been up to?

Science Week 2023

Science Week this year began with news being shared that Corpus Christi had been the victim of a crime – a very naughty member of staff had trashed the staff room over the weekend!
We needed the whole school’s help to try and catch the culprit!

Science at Corpus Christi

Research shows that children form their opinion of a career in STEM at an early age. We recognise the importance of inspiring the children in this area so they have a wide range of opportunities available in later life. This is why we not only see our science curriculum as a wonderful opportunity for our children to explore the world around them, but also the opportunities to expose children to a range of scientists who are relatable and relevant.

Our vision is to equip the children with a range of skills which they can use in an ever-changing world and which inspire them to be innovative, problem-solvers and scientists of the future.

• Science is a core subject at Corpus Christi and will be taught for one afternoon each week.

• Children have opportunities to complete practical work in our Science Lab allowing us to develop our children’s understanding of the scientific process. Alongside working like scientists, children are exposed to real-life scientists through a range of traditional and contemporary figures.

• Children will learn the scientific knowledge through scientific enquiry wherever possible.

• Teachers are aware of the knowledge that is covered across the whole school and know how to build on this.

• We encourage children to ask their own questions and give them guided opportunities to use their scientific skills to discover the answers.

• Teachers deliver engaging lessons using high-quality, physical resources to support their teaching.

• Working Scientifically skills are embedded throughout the curriculum and the development of these is progressive throughout the school.

Our Curriculum

See below for an overview of how our curriculum is organised across the whole school. The National Curriculum link below provides further details on the expectations of what children should know and be able to do.

Progression

To see the progression in learning for each topic and year group, please see the documents below. These breakdown both the scientific knowledge they will learn alongside the working scientifically skills they will develop.

Assessment

We use a range of assessment techniques to find out what children understand and what we need to do to promote further development.

Teachers continually use formative assessment strategies to move learning on through children using a range of resources, such as concept cartoons, to support this.

To ensure we assess both the knowledge and working scientifically ​skills, teachers carry out an assessment activity at the end of each topic. These assess what scientific knowledge the children have acquired, alongside how their working scientifically skills have been developed.​​​​​​