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Science


Science teaches an understanding of natural phenomena. It aims to stimulate a child's curiosity in finding out why things happen in the way they do. It teaches methods of enquiry and investigation to stimulate creative thought. Children learn to ask scientific questions and begin to appreciate the way science will affect their future on a personal, national and global level.
The aims of science are to enable children to;

  • Ask and answer scientific questions;
  • Plan and carry out scientific investigations using equipment, including computers, correctly;
  • Know and understand the life processes of living things;
  • Know and understand the chemical processes of some materials;
  • Know and understand the physical processes of materials, electricity, sound, natural forces and light;
  • Know about the solar system;
  • Evaluate evidence and present their conclusions clearly and accurately.

Science is taught in the Junior School, up to year 3, in the classroom. From year 4 it is taught in specially designed, well equipped science laboratories.

The syllabus follows the National Curriculum up to year 6 and the Common Entrance IAPS Syllabus for years 7 & 8.

A summary of the subjects taught by year

Reception: Science is covered in the knowledge and understanding area of the curriculum in the Foundation Stage
Year 1: Ourselves, Growing plants, Sorting and using materials, Light and dark, Pushes and pulls, Sound and hearing.
Year 2: Health and growth, Plants and animals in the local environment, Grouping and changing materials, Forces and movement, Using electricity.
Year 3: Light and shadows, Materials and their properties, Magnets, Teeth and eating, Rocks and soils, Helping plants grow well.
Year 4: Moving and growing, Habitats, Keeping warm, Solids, liquids and how they can be separated, Friction, Circuits and conductors.
Year 5: Keeping healthy, Life cycles, Gases around us, Changing state, Earth, Sun and Moon, Changing sounds.
Year 6: Interdependence and adaptation, Micro-organisms, More about dissolving, Reversible and irreversible changes, Balanced and unbalanced forces.

Common Entrance Study, Years 7&8, based on IAPS Scheme of Work.

Year 7

CHEMISTRY
Acids and Bases, Chemical reactions, Limestone, Solids, liquids and gases.

PHYSICS
Energy resources and energy transfer, Electricity, The solar system.

BIOLOGY
Cells Reproduction, Green plants, Variation, classification, inheritance.

Year 8

CHEMISTRY
Elements, Compounds and mixtures, Metals.

PHYSICS
Magnetism and Electromagnetism, The behaviour of light and sound.

BIOLOGY
Respiration and Digestion, Living things in their environment.