STEM at Watlington Primary School

The STEM team leads the following subjects: Science, Technology (Computing), Engineering (DT) and Maths.

At Watlington Primary we believe that the STEM curriculum:

• Provides a rich cross-curricular approach to all stem subjects where engaging and purposeful investigations are at the heart of all learning.
• Develops creative planning to ensure cross-curricular teaching that is progressive and challenging. Stem learning is linked to topic planning and enables children to experience a range of inspiring activities. They develop their understanding that skills developed in one area can be transferred into other areas of learning.
• Inspires children with rich learning opportunities to develop competence through progressive skills development in all subjects resulting in children who can work collaboratively to develop independent scientific investigations as part of a county wide-competition, explore maths in real-life context and as part of wider curriculum work, use technology to record, present and analyse findings.
• Maximises life skills to ensure happy, healthy and resilient adults that enjoy and contribute to research and development in new technology, scientific discoveries and engineering.

Science Intent

At Watlington Primary School we want our children to have high levels of science capital and to be naturally curious about the world around them. We have developed our curriculum to ensure full coverage of the Early Years Framework and National Curriculum, underpinning and fostering a sense of wonder about natural phenomena. We are committed to providing a stimulating, engaging and challenging learning environment. Throughout our school children are encouraged to develop and use a range of working scientifically skills including questioning, measuring, researching and observing for ourselves. We want our children to have and use a broad scientific vocabulary. Scientific language is taught and built upon as topics are revisited in different year groups and across key stages. We intend to provide all children regardless of ethnic origin, gender, class, aptitude or disability with a broad and balanced science curriculum.

Computing Intent

Through our computing curriculum at Watlington Primary School we aim to give our pupils the life-skills that will enable them to embrace and utilise new technology in a socially responsible and safe way in order to thrive. We want our pupils to be able to operate in the 21st century workplace and we want them to know the career opportunities that will be open to them if they study computing. We want children to become autonomous, independent users of computing technologies, gaining confidence and enjoyment from their activities. We want the use of technology to support learning across the entire curriculum and to ensure that our curriculum is accessible to every child.  Not only do we want them to be digitally literate and competent end-users of technology but through our computer science lessons we want them to develop creativity, resilience and problem-solving and critical thinking skills.  We want our pupils to have a breadth of experience to develop their understanding of themselves as individuals within their community but also as members of a wider global community and as responsible digital citizens.

DT/Engineering Intent
Design and technology is an inspiring, rigorous and practical subject. Using creativity and imagination, pupils design and make products that solve real and relevant problems within a variety of contexts, considering their own and others’ needs, wants and values. They acquire a broad range of subject knowledge and draw on disciplines such as mathematics, science, engineering, computing and art. Pupils learn how to take risks, becoming resourceful, innovative, enterprising and capable citizens. Through the evaluation of past and present design and technology, they develop a critical understanding of its impact on daily life and the wider world. High-quality design and technology education makes an essential contribution to the creativity, culture, wealth and well-being of the nation.

Maths intent:
We value a maths curriculum that is creative and engaging. As a school, we use a Mastery approach to the teaching of mathematics and our lessons are planned using the Five Big Ideas (variation, coherence, structure and representation, fluency and mathematical thinking).

We believe all children can achieve in mathematics, and teach for secure and deep understanding of mathematical concepts through manageable steps. Our children develop the necessary skills to make them “deep thinkers” and acquire maths skills that can be recalled quickly and transferred in different contexts. They need to be able to make rich connections across the areas of maths and use their knowledge in other subjects. Maths is the foundation for understanding the world and we want our children to know the purpose behind their learning and to apply their knowledge to their everyday lives.

Skills and Knowledge Progression Ladders

These ladders are the basis for our planning, teaching and learning. They draw on Bloom's Taxonomy, the National Curriculum and subject-specific schemes where applicable.  

Maths Journalling 

Maths journalling is used by learners to record their methods, explanations and ideas for solving maths problems and learning of mathematical concepts. 

They can explain their thinking using diagrams, images or written explanantions. Here are some examples of maths journalling, where learners had to explain their understanding of percent.