Science

In Science, we aim to encourage all children to explore and investigate, confidently, to gain a deeper understanding of the world around them. This includes providing exciting, practical experiences which will encourage curiosity and questioning. They will be stimulated and challenged in order to secure and extend their scientific knowledge and skills. Children are taught about different aspects of Science, i.e. Experimental and Investigative Science; Life Processes and Living Things; Materials and their Properties; Physical Processes Please check our Curriculum, Overviews and Knowledge Organisers below

Science Curriculum at St James Church of England Primary School

Science Curriculum Overview

Key Learning in Science 1 Animals

Key Learning in Science 2 Plants

Key Learning in Science 3 Environment

Key Learning in Science 4 Material Changes

Key Learning in Science 5 Light and Astronomy

Key Learning in Science 6 Sound

Key Learning in Science 7 Electricity

Key Learning in Science 8 Forces

Science in Action at St James'

Yr4 Science – 🎉Class Assembly: Living Things and Their Habitats 🌍

This week our brilliant Year 4 students wowed us all during their class assembly on Living Things and Their Habitats. 🐾🌱 The children delved deep into the fascinating world of vertebrates and classification – sharing their impressive knowledge. They not only informed the audience about different living organisms, but they also put their knowledge to the test with a fun game of “What Am I?” 🤔✨

Yr4 Science – 🌟 Exploring Living Things and Their Habitats! 🌿

👩‍🔬🧑‍🔬 In Science this week, Year 4 delved into the fascinating world of vertebrates, learning how to identify and group them into specific categories: birds, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, and fish. 🐦🐍🐸🐾🐟 Working in their teams, the children used scientific vocabulary to sort various char

Yr 3 - Exploring Light and Reflection! 🌟🪞

Today in science, we dove into light and mirrors! Miss Dawson challenged us to follow a wiggly line using just a mirror, and it was trickier than we thought as it flipped the line! We also tried reversing words on paper with mirrors—it was a real test of our writing skills! ✍️

Yr1 - Science

In Science, we explore the similarities between humans ✨ We looked at one another, identified similar features and then wrote sentences all about how we are similar even though we look different! ☺️

Nursery - British Science Week

We have been learning about The Gingerbread man, and we decided to test which liquid puddles were the safest for him to fall into.

Nursery – British Science Week

Yr4 Science- Our Digestive System and Teeth

Year 4 enjoyed learning all about their digestive system and teeth and showed their understanding by reconstructing the different stages their food journey takes. This was followed by work looking at our teeth and the impact food and drink can have on our tooth enamel using egg shells.

Our Digestive System and Teeth

Yr5 Science – Mechanisms.

In Science, Year 5 have been learning all about mechanisms. The children tested pulley systems and investigated the difference between using one or two pulleys to lift a weight. They found that the more pulleys used the easier the weight is to lift!

Y5 Science – Mechanisms

Yr6 Science - The circulation system.

Year 6 have been learning about the circulation system! To help us understand it, we acted out different parts of the system and then we made our own ‘blood smoothie’ with different items representing the different parts of the blood.

Year 6 Science – The Circulatory System

Yr5 Science – Friction

Year 5 Science: Friction Fun! ???? Our Yr5 scientists got hands-on with FRICTION and had a great lesson testing toy cars on different surfaces! ????️ From smooth tiles to bumpy carpets, they measured how far their cars could travel.

Yr5 Science – Friction

Yr2 Science – Living Things and Adaptation

???? SUPER SCIENCE: A Tortoise Tale! ???? In Year 2, they welcomed a very special visitor! Squirt the Horsefield Tortoise joined their Science lesson and took them on an exciting adventure into the world of tortoises! The children were amazed as they discovered fascinating facts about Squirt.

Yr2 Science – Living Things and Adaptation

Yr1 Science – Autumn Walk

???? Autumn Adventures in Science! ???? Our budding Yr1 scientists explored the school grounds on an Autumnal Walk! ???? They were on the hunt for signs of the season, but soon found themselves in a thrilling leaf fight! After the fun, they settled back in class to tick off their discoveries.

Yr1 Science – Autumn Walk

Yr1 Science – Investigating Materials

Year One decided to be super scientists as they carried out their first scientific investigation????They tested different materials such as: cotton wool, plastic, paper and felt, to see if they were a suitable materials for our ‘Ted’s’ umbrella ☔️ The testing was very fair.

Yr1 Science – Investigating Materials

Yr3 Science – Bones of the skeleton

In Science, our brilliant Year 3 pupils have been delving into the fascinating world of the human skeleton! They were introduced to our cheeky friend, Simon the Skeleton, who guided them through an exploration of the various bones that make up our bodies. ????????

Yr3 Science – Bones of the skeleton

Nursery Science - Senses (Hearing)

Our curious Nursery children embarked on an exciting adventure investigating their sense of “hearing”! They crafted their very own string telephones, discovering how sound travels in fun and creative ways. ????????

Nursery Science - Senses (Hearing)

Yr4 Science – Electric Circuits

In Year 4 This week, our budding scientists have been diving into the fascinating world of Electricity. ????‍???? In their lessons, the children have explored various circuit components and collaborated in small groups to design and create their own working circuits.

Yr4 Science – Electric Circuits

British Science Week 2024 - Falconry UK

This week, we were grateful to welcome Falconry UK to celebrate British Science Week. It was an exciting experience with everybody learning how birds have adapted in regards to camouflage and how they change when prey or a predator. The children also found out some amazing facts about birds too.

British Science Week 2024 - Falconry UK

Yr4 Science - Parts of the Digestive System

Yr4 began their science topic for the half term about the human digestive system and teeth. They worked extremely hard learning about the parts of the digestive system and labelling their diagrams. Following that, they also explored the roles of these key parts using our VR headsets and seeing how t

Yr4 Science - Parts of the Digestive System

Yr3 Science – Health and Nutrition

Year 3 had a brilliant time diving into health and nutrition! They explored food labels and learned about essential nutritional information. ????✨ Ask your child about the difference between saturated and unsaturated fats. It’s a great way to reinforce their learning and spark an engaging

Yr 3 Science – Health and Nutrition

Yr2 Science - Plants

Year 2 conducted an investigation in to what plants need in order to survive we will be observing this over the next 6 weeks. After planting the seeds we discussed the conditions that plants require to grow healthy and strong and then we made some predictions. We used our science learning from year

Yr2 Science – Plants

Science Fair – British Science Week

Well done to everyone who entered the Science Fair Competition! The Judges: Head boy Abbas, Head girl Amara and Chair of Governors Mr. Adnitt were blown away by the knowledge and creativity shown by the children. Thank you parents for supporting the children with their projects.

Science Fair – British Science Week

British Science Week 2025 – Mad Scientist

The children were very excited by a visit from a Mad Scientist, who brought a whirlwind of wacky experiments and fascinating demonstrations to kick off Science Week! 👩‍🔬 🧪 💥

British Science Week 2025 – Mad Scientist

Yr5 Science – Plants

SCIENCE IN ACTION: In this Year 5 science lesson, students explored the fascinating process of plant reproduction, focusing specifically on the role of pollen and insects. Through outdoor activities, pupils used magnifying glasses to closely observe flowers and the insects that interact with them. This hands-on experience allowed students to examine the characteristics of different plants and identify the insects responsible for pollination.

Yr5 Science – Plants

When teaching Science, here at St James’ Haslingden, we hope to inspire our children by: Giving them the opportunities to pursue their natural curiosity; Promoting the experience of exploring and Investigating scientific phenomena, in a range of contexts, and to ensure a continually evolving knowledge and understanding of the world around them.

Our children are encouraged to ask questions, experiment, reflect and make (and learn from) mistakes in a safe environment. Through this they will acquire and apply core skills which will equip them for life in an increasingly scientific and technological world, today and in the future.

The National Curriculum focuses on two dimensions for teaching science:

Developing scientific knowledge
Developing scientific skills

At St James’ Haslingden, science is taught as a discrete subject and focuses on developing pupils’ competence in both dimensions. Our scientific teaching is concerned with increasing pupils’ knowledge and understanding of our world, and with developing skills associated with Science as a process of enquiry.

To ensure imaginative, purposeful and well managed lessons, we use ‘Developing Experts’ to support the planning of science within our school. Lessons are delivered in a variety of ways ensuring that all children can access and participate in lessons. Interactive, practical activities encourage the children to discuss their ideas and extend their understanding of difficult concepts and challenging questions. Well planned lessons along with access to a vast range of up-to-date scientific equipment, the use of knowledge organisers and subject specific vocabulary displays in classrooms ensures that children receive the best possible science lessons in our school and can apply science to the wider world and staff are confident teaching science.

Science teaching ensures that:

All pupils are given the opportunity to develop scientific knowledge and acquire scientific skills in a science lesson.
Topics are blocked to allow children to focus on developing their knowledge and skills, studying each topic in depth.
A vast range of up-to-date scientific equipment is utilised within science lessons.
Children are given opportunities to explore, question, predict, research, plan, carry out investigations and observations as well as conclude their findings.
Children present their findings and learning using science specific language, observations, diagrams, graphs and charts to enable our children to become effective communicators of scientific ideas, facts and data.

By the time children leave St James’ Haslingden, children will not only acquire the appropriate age related knowledge linked to the science curriculum, but also skills which equip them to progress from their starting points, and within their everyday lives. They will pursue their natural curiosity in a safe environment, developing an understanding of the nature, processes and methods of science through scientific enquiries and can answer scientific questions about the world around them. They are equipped with the scientific knowledge required to understand the uses and implications of science, today and for the future.