The Subject Leader is: Mr T. Rush

Current News, Notices or Resources

• British Science Week 2024 approaching fast. We celebrate BSW on the week of 18th March 2024. Read below to find out what we're doing to celebrate this exciting time at school.
• We have been awarded the prestigious Green Flag Award (with Merit) for our commitment to developing and running our school in an environmentally friendly way. Thank you to all of last year's eco-councillors who worked tirelessly to make this happen. We are flying our Green Eco-School Flag with pride on our new flag pole, situated in the KS2 playground.

At Fairhaven Primary School, our vision is to develop children’s ideas and ways of working that enable them to make sense of the world in which they live. By strengthening the children’s scientific knowledge, investigative and practical skills and their ability to make enquiry we aim to develop a culture of independence, self-discipline and a deep-rooted love of learning.

We aim to make our Science curriculum as engaging and practical as possible to give the children the best opportunity to maximise their learning potential, whatever their preferred learning style.

When our children talk about Science at Fairhaven Primary School we want their words to be full of enthusiasm and excitement.

Click the link to view the National Curriculum for Science document that outlines the knowledge and skills learned throughout Key Stage 1 and 2.

Our robust curriculum has been designed to ensure a full and comprehensive coverage of all the statutory skills as well as providing opportunities for children to take their learning beyond the curriculum by attending science-themed school visits, engaging in exciting workshops and embarking on projects of research and self-discovery.

Science in EYFS

At Fairhaven Primary School children in our Foundation stage will be introduced to science through the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Curriculum Guidance. The Early Learning Goals (ELGs) for ‘Knowledge and Understanding of the World’ forms the foundation for later work in Science, (Design and Technology, History, Geography and Computing). Wherever possible, the children are provided with activities based on first-hand experience that encourage exploration, observation, problem solving, prediction, critical thinking, decision making and discussion. We provide an environment with a wide range of indoor and outdoor experiences that stimulate their interest and curiosity. At Fairhaven Primary School children are provided with a broad range of opportunities and experiences in science, enabling them to work towards their early learning goals.

At Fairhaven Primary School, children develop their understanding of the world around them on a daily basis, using their senses to explore and learn about objects and materials. Children are given holistic learning experiences, incorporating elements of science in their everyday activities.

Science in Key Stage 1

In Science at Key Stage 1, the children are given immersive learning experiences, opportunities to observe scientific phenomena in the natural world around them and to contextualise their learning with real-life examples. They are encouraged to be inquisitive by asking questions and to discuss their own ideas. They are introduced to simple scientific language and, with this vocabulary, develop simple explanations of why things happen. The children's learning, throughout Key Stage 1, is taught heavily through practical investigation with age-appropriate theory taught in conjunction.

Science in Key Stage 2

In Science at Key Stage 2, the children's knowledge and skills are developed by building on those concepts taught at Key Stage 1 in a progressive and timely manner. Throughout the learning journey in Key Stage 2 the children are taught to think like scientists, whereby they ask questions, hypothesise, plan and carry out investigative work and finally conclude their findings. We encourage our children to think outside the box and to challenge what they already know and the work of others. Through the exploration of famous scientists our children learn to see science in the real world and to understand where some of our most common every-day objects originate. The children's learning, throughout Key Stage 2, is taught through a balance of practical and theoretical activities that are supported by extra-curricular experiences that extend beyond the classroom.

To see how we map our Science curriculum across the school, click the links below: 

Pupil Voice

Here you can see some of the answers our children gave when asked questions about their science learning at school. 

British Science Week 2024

British Science Week 2024 is fast approaching and in true Fairhaven style, we shall be celebrating it, here at school, as passionately as ever. Our theme this year is BIODIVERSITY.

This year our children will be focussing their learning on varying themes of sustainability. They will be exploring ways in which we can all help to reduce our carbon footprint and help to save the planet.

In addition, we shall be running three whole school events to help mark the occasion and celebrate the wonders of science in school. These are extra-curricular activities and so the children can take part in as many as they choose.

1) Fairhaven's 4th Science Fair

In the week commencing 18th March, we will be holding three science fairs. One each for KS1, lower KS2 and upper KS2. To enter the science fair the children are challenged to make a bird or animal feeder that can be used to hep feed wildlife in our school grounds. The children have already been introduced to this in a school assembly and this presentation can be viewed below. Entries for the fair must be brought in on the week of the 18th March and not before. 

Dates of the fairs are:

• Years 1 & 2 - Monday 18th March 2024 (PM)
• Years 3 & 4 - Tuesday 19th March 2024 (PM)
• Years 5 & 6 - Wednesday 20th March 2024 (PM)

2) Science Week Raffle

Between the 11th-22nd March raffle tickets will be on sale for the children to purchase from their class teacher. There will be some great science themed prizes to be won, which will be announced nearer to the time. Last year, the top prize was a digital microscope. Tickets cost 30p each or 5 for £1. 

3) Design a Lab Coat Competition

For the 5th year running, we will take pat in Bayer UK's national competition where children draw an interesting and original design for a scientist's laboratory coat in a particular theme. This year, their theme is GOING DIGITAL. More information can be found here

As a school, we will also be running our own design a lab coat competition, in exactly the same way, but using our own annual theme of BIODIVERSITY. Children are challenged to design their own lab coat by drawing what biodiversity means to them. This could be a combination of trees, flowers, animals, insects etc.

All children will have been given their entry sheet by 23rd February.

The deadline for submissions is on Tuesday 19th March.  

British Science Week 2023

March 2023

British Science Week (fortnight) runs from Monday 13th March - Friday 24th March at Fairhaven Primary School. In the second week our annual Science Fairs will run (see dates and times at the top of this page).

See below for information and documents relating to this event.

British Science Week 2022

March 2022

Thank you to everyone who helped to make British Science Week at Fairhaven Primary a huge success. The projects made for our science fairs were outstanding and the children said they had the most enjoyable time making things at home, exploring real-world applications of science in lessons and taking part in whole-school competitions.

Update: Thank you to everyone who entered the competition. Sadly, our school was not chosen for a prize. The winning entries can be viewed HERE.

Here is a sample of the children's science fair entries, centred around this year's theme of Growth. 

British Science Week 2021

We have signed up to Bayer UK's annual poster competition. Bayer UK is a free laboratory service for school children, based in Reading. Every year they host a national competition where children are invited to design a new lab coat for a scientist. The winning entry will receive a prize for their school. This year the prize is a set of lab coats for the winning school as well as a range of other prizes. To enter, you must design a lab coat using the template below. Once it's complete, hand it in to your school before Friday 21st March.

Update: Thank you to everyone who entered the competition.

KEY DOCUMENTS