SEB Bulletin July 2006 - The Science National Curriculum at Key Stage 1
Pauline Lowrie
Sir John Deane’s College
Northwich, Cheshire
Key stage 1 refers to children aged between 5 and 7 years of age. For this age group, there are four areas of study:
- Scientific enquiry
- Life processes and living things
- Materials
- Physical processes
Children are assessed, by their science teacher, at the end of year 2 (i.e. when they are aged 7). They are given a level which reflects their progress in understanding and skills in these four areas. The level is awarded according to level descriptors in the National Curriculum.
Scientific enquiry is integrated into each unit. In each year, there are opportunities for children to carry out the whole process of scientific investigation. As part of this, children
- Collect evidence to try to answer a question – ICT and the internet may be involved
- Test ideas suggested to them, and make predictions about what will happen
- Make observations using their appropriate senses. They may also use simple measuring devices, including ICT, e.g. light meters, temperature probes.
- Communicate their findings using simple tables and charts
- Communicate their findings orally, supported by simple writing, or drawing with labels.
- Draw simple conclusions.
An example of an investigation at this level might be ‘Do some things change when you heat them up?’ Children might try a number of things, including chocolate. They would be expected to describe what they see, making comments like ‘it goes runny’, or ‘it changes shape’. They might draw a picture of what it looks like.
The teacher would introduce words like ‘solid’ or ‘liquid’, but the children would be expected to remember the process rather than learning technical words at this stage. A biological investigation might be when they are in the school grounds looking for minibeasts. The teacher might ask ‘Where are most of the woodlice found?’ Children could count how many they see on top of a piece of wood, and how many are underneath. They might return to the classroom and make a simple bar chart, with numbers of woodlice represented pictorially.
In the classroom, there would be a great deal of work displayed – both work that has just been completed, and work in progress. Sometimes there might be tadpoles, snails etc in appropriate housing. These would be returned to their habitat afterwards. However, the ‘nature table’ many adults will remember from this stage of their education is no longer present, for health and safety reasons.
Hands-on practical work is very important at this stage. However, not all schools have a teaching assistant available, and a teacher might have to do practical science with 20+ children alone. This sometimes limits what can be done! There are no lab technicians in primary schools, so all equipment must be prepared by the teacher and cleared away afterwards. Only in the last year have primary school teachers been awarded non-contact time (which has been standard in secondary schools for many years). Many staff find science daunting and time consuming, and of course very few primary school teachers are scientists by training.
In the past, a spontaneous ‘nature walk’ was possible, for example, to look for ‘signs of spring’ or habitats. Now this is very difficult because of the risk assessments that must be completed, due to health and safety regulations, and getting enough parent helpers in place quickly. Some schools have developed their school grounds (if they have any!) to the advantage of science teaching. For example, in an enclosed courtyard, it may be possible to have a small pond. Health and safety would prohibit this in the school grounds. If there is a school field, there might be a path round it, with a wildlife area and maybe a school garden. These are all very useful for supporting the National Curriculum.
Foundation Stage
This is a separate stage in the National Curriculum. It has its own programme of study, and covers children between 3 and 5 years of age. This affects children who attend an Ofsted-inspected child care provider, and continues into the reception class at school. There are six areas:
- Personal, social and emotional development
- Communication, language and literacy
- Mathematical development
- Knowledge and understanding of the world
- Physical development
- Creative development
Biology is covered in ‘Knowledge and Understanding of the world’. These children will also carry out investigations and practical-based work. Most reception classes have classroom assistants who can help with these activities. Examples of activities for this age group might be hunting for minibeasts; or investigating changes, by baking or making ice balloons. Recording at this stage would be oral or through pictures.
Many thanks to Christine Fishburne and Anne Tomlinson of Whitgate CE Primary School, Cheshire, for information in this article.
Websites for further information:
www.qca.org.uk - for details of National Curriculum at these stages
www.ncaction.org.uk/subjects/science - website with examples of children’s work at different key stages
