At Horton Grange Primary School, science is a key tool for understanding the world, fostering curiosity, and instilling a lifelong love of learning. Through hands-on experiences and cross-curricular connections, our curriculum equips pupils with the knowledge and skills needed to grasp complex scientific concepts. By developing inquiry skills, students enhance their understanding of the natural and physical world.

The Maestro Sequenced Curriculum offers a structured approach, ensuring students progressively build practical, theoretical, and disciplinary knowledge. Each year, pupils undertake essential skills and knowledge projects, forming a foundation for thematic projects that often link science to real-world applications and other subjects like design and geography.

Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)
Science begins in the EYFS, where learning links to the Understanding the World framework. Activities guide children in making sense of their physical environment, laying the groundwork for future science learning. Projects like Exploring Autumn introduce seasonal changes, helping children observe and explore the natural world and through looking at Marvellous Machines, children are exposed to how electronics work and the different machines that are used day to day.

Key Stage 1
In Year 1, pupils study foundational topics such as Everyday Materials, Human Senses, and Seasonal Changes, making connections to real life. They also explore Plant Parts and Animal Parts, linking human biology to the natural world.
Year 2 builds on this with projects like Human Survival, Habitats, and Uses of Materials, encouraging pupils to consider survival needs and material changes. The Plant Survival project fosters observation of plant growth.

Lower Key Stage 2
In Year 3, pupils explore the Skeletal and Muscular Systems, Plant Nutrition and Reproduction, and Light and Shadows, blending theoretical knowledge with practical projects like Greenhouse and Beautiful Botanicals.
Year 4 focuses on the Digestive System and Sound, deepening understanding of bodily functions and sound properties. The States of Matter project ties physical changes to the water cycle, reinforced by thematic projects like Misty Mountain, Winding River. Grouping and Classifying and Electrical Circuits and Conductors expand students’ enquiry skills.

Upper Key Stage 2
Year 5 delves into Forces and Mechanisms, Earth and Space, and Human Reproduction and Ageing. Students revisit material properties in Properties and Changes of Materials, exploring reversible and irreversible changes.
Year 6 covers advanced topics such as the Circulatory System, Evolution and Inheritance, and Electrical Circuits and Components. Light Theory builds on earlier concepts of light and shadow, while cross-curricular projects like Frozen Kingdoms reinforce learning. Pupils also explore natural selection and evolution, tying together key scientific themes.