We are incredibly proud to have achieved the Primary Science Quality Mark for the second time. This time, we achieved the GILT Award, which recognises our dedication to widening children’s scientific experiences across the academy. It is recognised that we are doing a great job in supporting the development of science by supporting local schools with Outreach Work.

At The Vale Academy, we bring science to life with practical and engaging Science lessons that promote inquiry and curiosity. We worked together to create our ‘Principles of Science’ that underpin our planning and teaching of Science across the academy. Having these Principles of Science at the forefront of our science curriculum means that we have children who can generate their own questions, lead their own science investigations, and use scientific language to explain their findings.

We study a wide range of units, using the National Curriculum Programme of Study as our guide. The National Curriculum states that pupils should experience and observe phenomena by looking closely at the natural and human world around them. This is at the heart of our science curriculum and goes hand in hand with pupils being given the opportunity to work scientifically, through practical activities, to investigate the world around them and to create their own questions and find their own scientific discoveries. Children have the independence to use their knowledge to plan their own investigations and use their findings to inform what they want to discover next. Through this, children develop their scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding as well as a sense of ownership of their scientific work and how they record and present that work.

Our key concepts in Science are:

• Cause and effect
• Change
• Structure and function

These key concepts are woven through our science curriculum, enabling pupils to make links between science units and, as a result, deepen their knowledge and understanding of the scientific world.