Our aim at Oakridge is to build a love of Science, enthusing children by building on their natural curiosity and sense of awe in the natural world. Science provides children with opportunities to learn through practical, first-hand experiences as well as secondary sources and to develop understanding of the world in which they live through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics. These experiences enable children to question, investigate, make sense of, communicate and evaluate their findings.

Children learn that Science is a powerful tool to solve problems across the globe and study key scientists whose contributions have made a difference, for example Mae Jemison in Year 5, linking Space with Black History Week and Charles Darwin in Year 6, linking with their English unit studying “On the Origin of Species”. All six of the Oakridge Threads are represented in the Science curriculum across the school, with a particular focus on Technology and Progress, Environment and Equality & Diversity. Each unit has an associated thread question for example when studying light in Year 6 the children answer the question “How did Ibn al-Haytham change our scientific understanding of how humans see?.” This focus serves to contextualise their learning in line with possible future careers in this subject whilst providing all children with the opportunity to imagine themselves as future Science leaders.

Through building up a body of key foundational knowledge and concepts, children are encouraged to recognise the power of rational explanation backed by evidence. They learn to make sense of the world that they live in and understand how and why things happen. They develop their communication and language skills through using technical vocabulary to ask their own questions and investigate their own solutions whilst working safely with others.

Children receive opportunities to extend their Science learning beyond the classroom within our local area, including through links made with local secondary settings (e.g. Wycombe Abbey School and John Hampden Grammar). Other examples of enrichment activities within Science include a visit from the inflatable Planetarium in Year 5, Zoo Lab visits in school, trips to the The Living Rainforest and the Science Museum, London, along with visits from working scientists.

The curriculum documents that outline Science at Oakridge are:

Curriculum Progression Road Map

Progression of Working Scientifically at Oakridge

Threads Document for Science Long and Medium Term Plan for Science