Home Page

St Robert Bellarmine Catholic Primary School

We are God’s work of art

Get In Touch

0151 922 1216

Search Search
Translate Translate


Science at St Robert Bellarmine




At St Robert Bellarmine, we believe that high-quality science education provides the foundations for understanding the world through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics.  Science has changed our lives and is vital to the world’s future prosperity, and all pupils are taught the essential aspects of knowledge, methods, processes and uses of science. Through building up a body of key foundational knowledge and concepts, pupils are encouraged to recognise the power of rational explanation and develop a sense of excitement and curiosity about the natural world. They are encouraged to understand how science can be used to explain what is occurring, predict how things will behave and analyse causes. 


Science at St Robert Bellarmine is about developing children’s curiosity, ideas and questions about the world around them. Planning meets the aims of the National Curriculum for Science and covers the required knowledge, conceptual understanding as well as the range of scientific enquiry types identified in the Programmes of Study. At St. Robert Bellarmine it is through working scientifically that children develop an understanding of the nature and processes of science and the key scientific concepts. We intend to provide all children, regardless of ethnic origin, gender, class aptitude or disability, with a broad and balanced science curriculum. 



In ensuring high standards of teaching and learning in science, we implement a curriculum that is progressive throughout the whole school. Planning for science is a process in which all teachers are involved to ensure that the school gives full coverage of, ‘The National Curriculum programmes of study for Science 2014’ and, ‘Understanding of the World’ in the Early Years Foundation Stage. Expectations of all pupils are high and lessons are deliberately planned to ensure that there are opportunities for pupils to progress from basic procedural and sematic knowledge to advanced and deep knowledge. 


We use a range of pedagogical strategies, based on cognitive science, to ensure that lessons are high-quality, learning is effective and retained over time, ensuring new information has been transferred to long-term memory.

Each topic begins with a pre-learning task to provide children opportunities to activate their prior knowledge and develop their own curiosity around the topic. These tasks also inform schemes of work and ensure that lessons are relevant and take account of children’s different starting points. 

Knowledge organisers are used at the beginning and throughout a topic so pupils and parents know what knowledge and vocabulary is required and they can be referred back to throughout the topic, aiding retention of knowledge. Low stakes quizzes are also used regularly providing children with opportunities to recall their new learning and therefore encourage retention of what has been learnt. 


Particular attention is given to the development of scientific vocabulary by including key words on knowledge organisers and making them explicit in lessons. This enables the children to articulate scientific concepts clearly and precisely, assisting them in making their thinking clear, both to themselves and others. During planning, tasks are designed carefully depending on what stage of learning the pupils are at. Basic understanding involves standard, routine thinking to acquire the fundamental foundations of the science concepts being studied.  Advancing understanding requires pupils to make decisions and begin to apply the fundamental foundations and deep understanding goes further, involving non-routine thinking, which requires inventive application of the fundamental foundations. 

Organisers and Think Charts (Lane Clarke) are used, where appropriate, to enable pupils to acquire these fundamental foundations in the science topic they are studying and are also used to advance and deepen pupils’ understanding by encouraging them to make connections in their learning.  

At St Robert Bellarmine we also recognise that science provides rich opportunities to develop the cultural capital of our pupils. This is encouraged by challenging pupils to find out about eminent scientists during their prior learning tasks, including them on knowledge organisers and making reference to them during lessons. There are also a range of carefully planned activities to enhance the teaching of science for example relevant trips and visitors to school. 



The impact and measure of science teaching at St. Robert Bellarmine is that children develop an understanding of the nature, processes and methods of science through different types of science enquiry that help them to answer scientific questions about the world around them. They are also equipped with the scientific knowledge required to understand the uses and implications of science, today and for the future. 

Pupils also develop a secure understanding of each key block of knowledge and concepts, meaning that they can progress successfully to the next stage in their learning (e.g. from one year to another) and between key points of transition (such as between primary and secondary school). 

Assessment is crucial in improving learning. Formative assessment is used regularly to inform teachers of on going progress and allows timely adjustments or intervention to be made that reflect the learning needs of all children in our school. Feedback is continually given to children, which leads to better outcomes in science. In line with our school assessment policy, summative assessment, in the form of an end of unit test is carried out at the end of each topic to inform teachers and aid their own teacher assessments.  


We want the children to be passionate about science and understand its importance in our world and for our future. We want them to have a better understanding of the world around them and know that they can find answers to their own scientific questions. It is important that all children in St. Robert Bellarmine will be able to communicate confidently about their science learning, knowledge and skills.