At St Oswald's we use The Engaging Science scheme. The scheme contains a scope of high-quality investigative tasks and activities that cover every area of the Science National Curriculum from Year 1 to 6. The program is progressive throughout in that it allows for cumulative knowledge and skills to be built. The scheme is based on the principles that:

• Science is best taught through practical tasks and investigation
• Pupils should be encouraged to think both scientifically and creatively
• Curiosity, wonder, humour and even disgust are emotions that build engagement in science
• Science should take advantage of the many opportunities the outdoor environment offers to learn science in context
• The teaching of science should be rigorous and ensure that pupils of all abilities make progress
• Assessment in science should be based on what pupils demonstrate they can do in lessons rather than in tests.

Lesson plans encourage high outcomes for all pupils by offering ideas for appropriate scaffolding; ensuring that every child is exposed to the correct scientific vocabulary; and supporting children to use high quality, engaging resources.

At St Oswald's, teachers are provided with adapted lesson plans. These have been created to reflect the needs of the pupils and to support staff in delivering high-quality, engaging science lessons. These lessons plans are used alongside the original Engaging Science Lesson plans. 

Lessons begin with a ‘3 in 3’ task to embed key concepts and vocabulary. It requires pupils to reflect and build upon prior learning. Each lesson ends with a ‘Point to Ponder’. This encourages higher level thinking by asking pupils to be evaluative, analytical, and innovative.  

Teachers model using key scientific vocabulary repeatedly throughout lessons. These are displayed in the classroom for children to refer to. There is a clear expectation that children use the correct, scientific vocabulary to articulate their ideas.

All lessons promote thinking and discussion through: ‘Key Questions’, hands-on activities, and appropriately timed tasks to maintain pace. The scheme supports teachers in creating an environment where independent learning and resilience is fostered. Pupils carry out individual and group investigations that encourage scientific thinking and discussion. To avoid cognitive overload, lessons are broken down into steps. These give children a clear pathway to successfully completing a task.

Each new topic has a title page with learning objectives and key vocabulary. These are dated by teachers to show where evidence of coverage is in each child’s science book. Throughout the topic, teachers use targeted questioning and refer to children's responses to the '3 in 3' and 'Point to Ponder' questions to assess the learning. Common misconceptions are addressed throughout the lessons and teachers can adapt subsequent lessons to revisit concepts. Assessment information for science is uploaded onto OTrack at the end of each half term.