Science

Through practical activities, both in and out of the classroom and outside on trips across the island, children are taught how to respond to suggestions and learn how to put forward their own ideas about finding the answer to a question. They learn to use simple texts to access information and to use simple equipment to make observations related to a task. Children observe and compare objects, living things and events. They find out how to describe their observations using the correct scientific vocabulary and record them, using simple tables when appropriate. They learn to say whether what has happened was to be expected.



Our children use the local environment to further their knowledge and understanding of basic life processes. By visiting wildlife in its natural habitat in the grounds or at the seashore, they learn to describe differences between living and non-living things. They learn to provide simple explanations for changes and how to identify ways in which an animal is suited to its environment.

Children use their senses to build up a knowledge and understanding of materials, which they describe in a variety of ways; sorting them into groups according to their properties. Through practical activities, they explain in simple terms ‘why’ some materials are particularly suitable for a particular purpose. They learn to recognise that some changes can be reversed and some cannot and they classify changes in this way.

Children learn about a range of physical phenomena and to recognise and describe similarities and differences associated with them. They compare the way in which devices, such as bulbs, work in different electrical circuits. Children compare the brightness or colour of lights, and the loudness or pitch of sounds. They observe and explain the movement of different objects in terms of speed and direction.