St Mary's Catholic Primary School
St Mary's Catholic Primary School
We are Scientists
We are passionate about Science here at St Mary's and we believe that all children are born scientists with their curious minds and their enthusiasm for knowledge. Our Science planning from Year 1 -Year 6 is centred around the United Learning Science scheme, which is also suplimented by Developing Experts Science. The latter adds to the rich resources, with videos from poeple working across many different industries relating to science. In EYFS (Nursery, Pre-school and Reception), we use Developing Experts as our main scheme of work as it provides excellent EYFS planning, resources, experiment ideas and interactive learning resources.
At St Mary's we love hands-on Science; every year we take part in many whole-school practical Science events, including Space Week, British Science Week and Ulverston Eco Fair. We also take part in recycling week, STEM opportunities and run our very own Eco Committee, the Co-creators, on Friday afternoons.
We believe that introducing children the science in a prcatical, fun and explority way can ignite a love for the subject and a curiosty for the world around them. We often take science outside, such as in our 'whole-school' experiments and arrange science trips. Last Year, KS2 visited the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester and gained so much from the experience.
We are always looking for parents who work in any industries relating to the sciences to get in touch about coming in to speak to the children. Please contact Mrs Farrell efarrell@st-marys.cumbria.sch.uk.
EYFS Science Curriculum Map
Science Progression of Skills
Our Science Policy
Our Scientists' Vocabulary
Year 3 Science Vocabulary
We are an Eco School and we were awarded the prestigious Green Flag last year for our work. Our Eco-Committee meets every Friday lunchtime and has already made great impact on our school, including introducing compost bins in classrooms.
Science in EYFS
At St Mary’s, Science in EYFS is introduced to children mainly through the specific areas of the EYFS Framework: Understanding of the World. It is also embedded into other areas of the Early Years curriculum as well as being taught as a discrete subject weekly. Children experience scientific understanding through many engaging and exploratory hands-on experiences in the classroom and in our extensive school grounds. These early experiences help children develop essential skills such as observation, questioning, and problem-solving, forming the basis for more structured scientific investigations in primary school. We use the Developing Experts scheme of work to plan and deliver our Science sessions.
These are the Science outcomes from Understanding of the World area of the EYFS Framework:
Birth to three year olds:
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Repeat actions that have an effect.
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Explore materials with different properties.
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Explore natural materials, indoors and outside.
3-4 year olds:
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Use all their senses in hands-on experiences of natural materials.
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Explore collections of materials with similar and or different properties.
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Talk about what they see, using a wide vocab.
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Explore how things work.
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Plant sees and cares for growing plants.
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Understand the key features of the life cycle of a plant and an animal.
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Begin to understand the need to respect and care for the natural environment and all living things.
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Explore and talk about differences between materials and changes they notice.
ELG:
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Explore the natural world around them.
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Describe what they see, hear and feel whilst outside.
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Understand the effect of changing seasons on the natural world around them.
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Explore the natural world around them, making observations and drawing pictures of animals and plants.
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Know some similarities and differences between the natural world around them and contrasting environments, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class.
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Understand some important processes and changes in the natural world around them, including the seasons and changing states of matter.