At New Scotland Hill:

We know that all children have a natural passion and curiosity about learning. We understand that learning and discovery about the world comes from hands-on experiences through exploration and investigation. We call this the joy of finding out.

Our vision is to offer opportunities that are real, that embrace the outdoors and nurture children’s curiosity and love of learning about the world. We will do this through a science curriculum which enables them to confidently explore and discover the world whilst enabling them to deepen their understanding.

We aim to provide lessons that are firmly rooted in scientific enquiry with practical hands-on experiences that encourage curiosity and questioning to help deepen understanding. These lessons, which consolidate prior knowledge, are rooted in scientific skills and vocabulary that help to avoid scientific misconceptions and encourage children’s meaningful understanding of the world.

Our science curriculum will inspire children to think and consider the world as scientists. We will promote and develop transferrable skills such as observation, data collection and analysis, communication and team work that will support each child as they explore the world as lifelong learners.

As part of our vision of science at New Scotland Hill School, we are constantly thinking about how we can make our curriculum relevant and important to our children and our own local area.

New Scotland Hill School has direct access to Wildmoor Heath. The Heath is a unique ecosystem worthy of our interest and study. Our science scheme of work includes learning about natural environments and we learn how the flora and fauna diversifies and adapts to different environments. In partnership with the Thames Basin Heaths Partnership we are developing Outside Science – taking our science curriculum outside and onto the Heath with the focus on the unique character of the Heath and nature’s adaptation to our local setting.

Outside Science will span all year groups from EYFS investigating what invertebrates can be found on Heathland to Year 6 discovering how plants have changed to survive in this unique local resource.

We hope that Outside Science will be an engaging way to embrace the school's ethos of outdoor learning and further deepen our children’s understanding of science, demonstrating that science is very much about understanding the world immediately around us.