Our science curriculum

Introduction

We’ve worked closely with curriculum partners, subject experts and teachers on our interactive science curriculum plan. You can also download the plan to use offline to help with your planning.

Our curriculum partner for science is:

• Science primary and secondary: The University of York Science Education Group and The Centre for Industry Education Collaboration (CIEC), University of York

You can read more about how our expert groups helped shape our curriculum thinking in our Blog: Collaborating with our science expert group.

Curriculum explainer

We've added a curriculum explainer to our science curriculum to help you understand our thinking when we were making them with our curriculum partner.

For science this will help you understand:

• our overarching curriculum approach and the subject principles we used
• how our curriculum reflects the aims and purpose of the national curriculum
• information on delivering it in your school
• how we use threads to provide curriculum coherence.

More about our science curriculum

In our secondary science curriculum video guide, our science subject lead, Elisabeth Pugh takes a look at some of the key thinking that shaped the curriculum. She is joined by Peter Fairhurst and Alistair Moore, from our secondary science curriculum partner; the University of York Science Education Group.

Are all the science resources available?

All of our lesson planning and teaching resources for primary and secondary science are available on our website.

Our new units and lessons all have a ‘New’ label beside them. 

You can see what lessons we are covering in each unit by clicking into the unit information on the unit sequence page. 

• Science KS1 and 2 unit sequences
• Science KS3 and 4 unit sequences for:
  • AQA
  • Edexcel
  • OCR 

You also have the option of the Foundation or Higher tier at KS4.

FAQs

Why are you using ‘big questions’?

Our Subject Lead Elisabeth Pugh discusses why the Oak science curriculum explores ‘big ideas’ in her Blog: Exploring ‘big ideas’ through ‘big questions’ in science.

How can you use the same ‘big question’ focus for a child in KS1 as KS4?

The content of each science unit determines the type and depth of answers to each question at each stage of learning, and each lesson guides the teacher and pupils accordingly. 

The answers to the overall big questions are ambitious, but each unit adds more detail in an age-appropriate way enabling increasingly more complex answers to the big questions by the end of the secondary phase.

Are practicals included in all year groups?

Practical lessons are included in all year groups. These are tagged so you can recognise them easily.

Why are there optional units in Year 6?

We used the non-statutory guidelines when producing our optional units and lessons. Whilst they aren't compulsory elements of the national curriculum they offer more breadth to the curriculum. In choosing to deliver these optional units and lessons you will help children to develop a more comprehensive range of science knowledge during their time in primary, which will support in an effective transition to secondary. Many of the units at both KS1 and KS2 have optional lessons with the only optional whole units in year 6.