STEM
At Seymour Park Community Primary School, our rigorous and aspirational STEM curriculum has been designed to grow the minds of our children. STEM includes Science, DT and Maths. We inspire their curiosity and challenge their prior learning to enable them to become critical thinkers and knowledgeable/skilled learners. By encouraging our children to be innovative and providing them with inspirational opportunities, we make a world of difference to both our children and our community’s futures.
Our Vision
Maths
We provide our children with the opportunity to develop their critical thinking, to challenge themselves and to further develop their mathematical ability and knowledge. Applying these integral skills will form a solid foundation for future learning and give the children confidence when faced with real world challenges throughout their adult lives.
Science
At Seymour Park, our Science curriculum helps our children gain the knowledge and skills they need to understand their environment and the world around them. We nurture our children’s curiosity and provide them with real-life opportunities to explore scientific concepts practically. Children vocabulary is integral to our teaching of Science, it enables the children to actively participate in deep discussions and to grow as critical thinkers.
Design and Technology
We provide practical learning opportunities that will ensure children use creativity, imagination and a wide range of skills by designing and making products that solve real and relevant problems. We want our children to recognise that Design and Technology draws on their knowledge from other subject areas including Maths, Computing and Science and that they utilise this knowledge to evaluate, adapt and improve their work.
Aims and objectives
Maths
The national curriculum for mathematics aims to ensure that all pupils:
- become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including through varied and frequent practice with increasingly complex problems over time, so that pupils develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately
- reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, conjecturing relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language
- can solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of routine and non-routine problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions
Alongside the national curriculum aims at Seymour Park we also aim to:
- ensure that our children are confident mathematicians who celebrate and respect the different methods and learning which take place within the classroom
- encourage our children to use the correct terminology and ask them to give reasoning for their answers
- solve problems in a variety of ways to develop their understanding of a Mathematical concept and ask them to orally explain their method to others
- provide a concrete - pictorial - abstract approach to Maths learning in order to build upon prior knowledge and support our children’s understanding of a concept
Science
The national curriculum for science aims to ensure that all pupils:
- develop scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics
- develop understanding of the nature, processes and methods of science through different types of science enquiries that help them to answer scientific questions about the world around them
- are equipped with the scientific knowledge required to understand the uses and implications of science, today and for the future
Alongside the national curriculum aims at Seymour Park we also aim to;
- Build vocabulary and spark interest, using stories, tactile hook activities and eliciting prior learning.
- Encourage the use of scientific terminology, so that children can explain their learning fully, with confidence and make connections with the world around them.
- Provide a safe forum for sharing ideas about science, so that the children can use reasoning and listening skills to unpick misconceptions.
- Provide practical experiences for the students to apply their scientific knowledge, while developing their enquiry skills, which include observing over time, recording results, pattern seeking, research, fair and comparative testing.
Design and Technology
The national curriculum for design and technology aims to ensure that all pupils:
- develop the creative, technical and practical expertise needed to perform everyday tasks confidently and to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world
- build and apply a repertoire of knowledge, understanding and skills in order to design and make high-quality prototypes and products for a wide range of users
- critique, evaluate and test their ideas and products and the work of others understand and apply the principles of nutrition and learn how to cook.
Alongside the national curriculum aims at Seymour Park we also aim to:
- Use a cross-curricular approach to encourage our children to use the knowledge and skills they have already acquired to help them design and make a suitable product.
- Encourage our children to develop their use of the correct language of Design and technology through hands-on exploration of products and skills.
- Consider the impact of sustainability, in our changing world, and how we could incorporate this into our lessons e.g through the use of recycled materials.
- Emphasise the importance of collaborative learning in this subject and recognising the value and benefits of discussion with others.
Curriculum Overviews & Organisation
Maths
Our Maths curriculum shows a clear progression of skills as children move through our school. Each year group begins with place value, as a secure understanding of place value is essential when ensuring children are ready to progress to the next unit of study. The way our Maths curriculum is designed ensures that all prior knowledge is regularly recapped as each small step builds upon the previous. We provide lessons where all pupils take part in practical hands-on learning, which builds upon their prior knowledge. We feel that it is our responsibility to give all children the same opportunities and experiences within our Maths curriculum to ensure that they are all engaged with all aspects of Maths. Therefore, all of our children complete the same learning in Maths lessons with the teacher’s questioning and the support given differentiated towards the needs of our children. We provide daily same day interventions for children who have wobbled during their Maths lesson, this ensures that the wobbles are addressed during the same day and that our children are all ready to access the next learning objective in their following Maths lesson.
Science
Our Science curriculum shows a clear progression of skills and knowledge as children move through our school. In EYFS the children begin their journey with ‘Understanding the World’ topic. This branches out into many areas of the curriculum, including Science and DT. From Year 1 the children study biology, chemistry and physics, through carefully selected topics. The topics have been arranged carefully like stepping stones, to ensure new learning is built upon prior knowledge. Reading stories with scientific themes is important, as it builds bridges between the real world and the more complex scientific concepts. To promote deep thinking and quality talk we use concept cartoons. Children are encouraged to share their learning in a variety of mediums including circle time, drama, dance, drawing and through song. Our curriculum ensures that the children have time to use and apply a broad range of enquiry skills, which include observing over time, recording results, pattern seeking, researching ideas, comparative and fair testing
Design and Technology
At Seymour Park Community Primary school, we adopt a skills based, creative and cross-curricular approach to teaching and learning. In our Early Years team, we use Development matters to provide opportunities for our youngest learners to explore and make products with an emphasis on creativity and developing early skills such as cutting and joining. In KS1 and 2 we use ‘Projects on the page’ scheme as a tool to support our own planning and ensure progression as well as following the guidance from the National Curriculum. Discrete Design and Technology lessons are taught, when required, to address new skills with the children. There is an expectation that all children, across their time in KS1, will be taught textiles, mechanisms, structures and cooking and nutrition. Whilst this is repeated in KS2 there is also the expectation that children will learn about electrical systems and computer aided design.