In our Science lessons we aim to stimulate our children's curiosity in finding out why things happen in the way they do. Topics are taught and built upon in more depth as the children get older. Two topics from each of the following three sections are taught each year:

• Know and understand the life processes of living things
• Know and understand the physical processes of materials, electricity, light, sound and natural forces
• Know about the nature of the solar system, including the earth.

Children are encouraged to plan and carry out scientific investigations using the available equipment, including computers, for each topic. Wherever possible, we involve the pupils in ‘real' scientific activities, such as researching a local environment problem or carrying out a practical experiment and analysing the results.

We visit a variety of locations to make science more fun and meaningful, for example, the Science Museum, Railway Fields (a local wildlife sanctrary), Lea Valley or even simply our school pond area. Theatre productions come to the school and teach scientific facts in an entertaining way. We have also, for our topic on Growth, included tadpoles, caterpillars and egg/chicks in our classroom for observations.

There is a planned six week block during which the Science coordinator teaches the more able scientists in small groups. We also organise a science week most years in which we encourage parents to get involved by carrying out an investigative task with their children at an evening gathering where we supply soft drinks, wine and savoury titbits; an event enjoyed by all!