News & Letters

Key Stage 2


Science

Science helps us ask questions, explore the world, and discover how things work!

About Science at New Heights - Key Stage 2

At New Heights Primary, we use the White Rose Science curriculum to deliver engaging, high-quality science education that fully aligns with the National Curriculum. This approach ensures that our students gain a solid foundation in scientific knowledge, skills, and understanding while fostering curiosity and a love for discovery.

White Rose Science follows a carefully structured progression, covering key areas such as biology, chemistry, physics, and working scientifically. Lessons are designed to be hands-on and inquiry-based, encouraging students to explore, ask questions, and think critically about the world around them.

By adhering to the National Curriculum, White Rose Science ensures our students meet age-appropriate objectives, preparing them for future academic success and equipping them with essential skills for everyday life.

Subject Content

White Rose Science provides a structured and engaging curriculum that covers the core areas of science outlined in the National Curriculum. This progression ensures that students build knowledge and skills step-by-step, from the early stages of Key Stage 2 to the end of Year 6.

Lower Key Stage 2 (Years 3 and 4)

  • Year 3 Topics:
    • Animals, including humans (nutrition, skeletons, and muscles)
    • Plants (functions of parts, life cycles, and pollination)
    • Rocks
    • Forces and Magnets
    • Light
  • Year 4 Topics:
    • Living Things and Their Habitats (classification and environmental changes)
    • Animals, including humans (teeth, digestion, and food chains)
    • States of Matter (solids, liquids, gases, and changes of state)
    • Electricity
    • Sound

Upper Key Stage 2 (Years 5 and 6)

  • Year 5 Topics:
    • Living Things and Their Habitats (life cycles and reproduction)
    • Animals, including humans (human development and aging)
    • Earth and Space
    • Properties and Changes of Materials
    • Forces (gravity, friction, and mechanisms)
  • Year 6 Topics:
    • Living Things and Their Habitats (classification of plants, animals, and microorganisms)
    • Animals, including humans (circulatory system, diet, exercise, and health)
    • Evolution and Inheritance
    • Light
    • Electricity

Across all year groups, children develop investigative skills through practical, hands-on activities. These include:

  • Asking scientific questions
  • Planning and conducting experiments
  • Observing and measuring
  • Recording and analysing data
  • Drawing conclusions based on evidence

Science is discovery

Curriculum Principles

White Rose Science is built on key principles that ensure students receive a rich and meaningful education in science. These principles guide the design and delivery of the curriculum, fostering curiosity, understanding, and a lifelong interest in the subject.

  1. Alignment with the National Curriculum
    White Rose Science fully adheres to the National Curriculum, ensuring that all statutory requirements for knowledge and skills are met. This alignment guarantees a consistent, high-quality education that prepares students for future learning.
  2. Progressive Knowledge and Skills
    The curriculum is carefully sequenced to build on prior knowledge and develop scientific skills progressively. Concepts are revisited and deepened over time, helping students retain information and make meaningful connections across topics.
  3. Hands-On, Inquiry-Based Learning
    White Rose Science emphasizes practical, hands-on activities that allow students to explore and investigate scientific ideas. This approach encourages curiosity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.
  4. Focus on Working Scientifically
    Throughout the curriculum, students are taught how to think and work like scientists. This includes developing skills such as asking questions, planning investigations, collecting and analysing data, and drawing evidence-based conclusions.
  5. Real-World Connections
    The curriculum links science to real-world contexts, showing students how scientific principles apply to everyday life and global challenges. This helps foster relevance and a deeper understanding of the importance of science.
  6. Accessibility and Inclusion
    White Rose Science is designed to be inclusive, catering to students of all abilities and backgrounds. Differentiated tasks and accessible resources ensure that every child can engage with and succeed in science.
  7. Cross-Curricular Opportunities
    The curriculum integrates science with other subjects, such as mathematics, literacy, and geography, enhancing learning and creating opportunities for students to apply their knowledge in diverse contexts.
  8. Inspiring a Love of Science
    Above all, White Rose Science aims to spark a lifelong interest in science. By engaging students with exciting topics, practical investigations, and thought-provoking questions, the curriculum nurtures curiosity and a sense of wonder about the world

Assessment and Feedback

White Rose Science integrates assessment and feedback seamlessly into the learning process to ensure every student’s progress is supported and celebrated.

Assessment

Assessment in White Rose Science is designed to be ongoing and purposeful. It includes:

  • Formative Assessment: Teachers observe and question students during lessons to gauge understanding and guide teaching.
  • Practical Activities: Hands-on experiments and investigations allow students to demonstrate their scientific skills and knowledge.
  • End-of-Unit Checks: Summative assessments review key concepts, ensuring that students meet age-appropriate objectives outlined in the National Curriculum.

 

Feedback

Feedback is constructive and focuses on helping students improve their understanding and skills. This includes:

  • Encouraging students to reflect on their work and identify areas for growth.
  • Providing targeted guidance during activities to support learning.
  • Recognizing achievements to build confidence and foster a love for science.

 

By combining assessment and feedback, White Rose Science ensures that all students are challenged appropriately while receiving the support they need to succeed.

Links to Everyday Life

Understanding the World: Students explore topics like plants, animals, materials, and forces, helping them make sense of natural and man-made phenomena in their surroundings.

Practical Problem-Solving: Through hands-on investigations, students learn to ask questions, test ideas, and solve problems—skills they can apply in everyday challenges.

Health and Wellbeing: Lessons on nutrition, exercise, and human biology help students understand how to make informed choices for a healthy lifestyle.

Technology and Innovation: Topics like electricity, forces, and materials introduce students to the science behind technology and engineering in modern life.

Environmental Awareness: By studying ecosystems, habitats, and climate, students develop an understanding of how their actions impact the environment and learn how to care for the planet.

By emphasising these connections, White Rose Science ensures students see science not just as a subject, but as an essential part of life that empowers them to understand, question, and shape the world.

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