Science

Science at Lanchester.

'No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right; a single experiment can prove me wrong' - Albert Einstein.

As a Science and Technology school, we feel that Science is an important subject and provides the foundations for understanding the world and therefore children are given an afternoon for their Science lesson. We teach Science following the National Curriculum guidelines, ensuring that children are taught a range of topics through the specific disciplines of Biology, Chemistry and Physics, whilst developing their scientific language. We encourage pupil led investigation, scientific exploration and for all pupils to explain what is happening including making predictions. Children are encouraged to develop their questioning to stimulate their curiosity.

At the start of a new topic, children are given time to discuss what they already know and then share their ideas with what they would like to learn and explore within the topic.

Science is taught explicitly from Year 1 through to Year 6. In Early Years, Science is taught discretely through their topic of 'Understanding the world.' This includes having the opportunity to discuss the world around them and recognise similarities and differences in relation to objects, materials and living things. They are given many opportunities to make observations of animals and plants and explain why some things occur. They are then encouraged to talk about any evident changes.

Ways to help your child at home with Science.

• Investigate the world around us and use opportunities to ask 'what would happen if...?'
• Children need to know that science isn't just a subject, but it is a way of understanding the world around us.
• Carry out experiments and observe changes overtime e.g. planting and growing bulbs; seasonal changes.
• Identify and classify things, e.g. sorting materials.
• Give them time and space to explore and encourage curiosity!

Science Week 2021

This years Science week theme was innovating for the future. The children watched a video of a real scientist who explained the term 'inventions' and showed us different inventions from the past, present and future. The children were then given the choice of four STEM challenges which were based around space tourism. 

Challenge 1: Design a machine that will transport tourists into space. 

Challenge 2: Design a machine that will move tourists around the moon.

Challenge 3: Design a place where your tourists could stay in space.

Challenge 4: Design a device that will get your tourists home again. 

Children across the school enjoyed the opportunity to get creative. They had to investigate different types of materials, learn scientific vocabulary, plan an investigation, make predictions, use teamwork and problem solving as well. We had a range of different inventions created around the school including rockets, box models, pulley systems, straw planes, moon cars and more.

Cambridge Science Competition.

Cambridge Science Centre held a competition for children aged 6-11 to come up with an idea to improve their communities for the future. Children in every year group took part in the competition for home learning. The school also ran a competition for children who entered and each year group had a winner who took home a Science goodie bag for their inventive ideas. Beatrice Ferguson from year 3 Wellington class won first place in the Cambridge Science competition. Beatrice created a fantastic invention called the Total Access Bus. Her idea was to create inclusive seating in buses that fold down when not used. This would give more access for people in wheelchairs or mothers who had prams to hold on the bus. Beatrice won a prize from Cambridge Science Centre and also won the school an online virtual performance called 'Stronger by Design.' The children thoroughly enjoyed watching this performance, learning about materials used in clothing worn by fire fighters, policemen, snow boarders and even astronauts. They also got to observe different experiments to test the strength of different materials. Well done Beatrice.