Outstanding Learning in the Primary Science Curriculum

This course considers the most recent evidence for what makes outstanding science teaching which engages learners and fosters children’s curiosity. It starts from the premise that the purpose of science education is to nurture the ‘scientists’ within learners.

• Identify features that contribute to outstanding learning in science
• Consider the integral role played by the ’Working Scientifically’ Programme of Study in the science curriculum
• Identify engaging starting points in science investigations that lead on from pupils’ questions, increase active engagement and build pupils’ curiosity in the world around them
• Consider what evidence of outstanding learning in science looks like
• Develop assessment strategies that enable teachers to identify and use children’s current understanding as a starting point upon which learning can be built

Sessions

The national context and further afield

• The national curriculum for science
• The Ofsted perspective of science
• Science education in a global context and the imperative for teaching

Starting points in science

• Practical starting points – raising questions
• Time for exploration and next steps
• Starting points throughout the curriculum

Evidence of learning and progress in science

• Practical investigations – opportunities and challenges
• A range of outcomes – what does good look like?
• Supporting pupils’ recording of science investigations

Assessment for progress in science

• Using powerful questions to start from where children are at
• Assessment without levels
• Authentic scientific experiences