Being Scientists at S.M.I.T.H
We have many enthusiastic scientists at St Michaels, and we want to take every opportunity to help our children understand how important science is for everyone and to make links to the science behind everyday objects and activities.
We use the Science Bug scheme of work as the backbone of our science teaching. We also add other investigations and experiments so we can suit our teaching to our learners’ needs and next steps. We are very lucky to have ‘Barry’s Back Garden’ our wild garden that enables us to investigate living things and their habitats without leaving the school site.
Our Science Policy Document can be found here:
Primary_National_Curriculum_-_Science
What is taught when? The St Michael’s 2024-25 science overview
Science subject overview 2024-2025
British Science Week is always a highlight for our whole school community. This year we adapted the nation theme of ‘Time’ to ‘Time…to Act.’ We welcomed the education team from Chester Zoo, who told us about endangered species, and the small changes we can make to help the rainforest and species within.
We also had a great time participating in the Great Science Share in June, welcoming in upcoming Paris Olympic games by exploring the question, ‘Do people with longer arms throw further?’
We’ve had lots of fun this year in Family Learning sessions. We began by using chromatography paper to discover the culprit who had written a ransom note for our school goldfish, Vinegar! We have also used the characters and stories of Roald Dahl for inspiration into a whizz-popping session that saw using playing cards and coins to test surface friction, making sweetie-art, creating magnetic cars and lava lamps before using the theory of rocket power to predict how far our rocket balloons could travel!
Raising our Science Capital
Another way we raise the profile of STEM subjects is by engaging with STEM Ambassadors. We are especially delighted as two of the visiting ambassadors are our parents. Evidence shows that engaging with STEM Ambassadors can help young people to achieve their full potential in STEM subjects as well as inspiring them to explore STEM careers. It also helps teachers make links between the curriculum and the most up-to-date real world happenings, and means we have access to some wonderful resources. Other parents have made videos showing us what their job entails, to help all our children see that science is relevant to them and their world, and to consider the huge range of STEM careers they might pursue in their futures.
Here are some photos of palaeobiologist Dr Carlo Meloro’s visit. He explained how fossils are formed. He brought fossils and bones for our children to observe and group. He told us what can be learnt about life long ago by studying the fossil structure. Did you know that the shape of a fossil can show how fast it moved, or whether it lived in deep or shallow water, or in a burrow?
