Science
Science at St. George's Church of England Academy
In our rapidly evolving world science is a vital part of our curriculum. At St. George’s Church of England Academy, our intent is for children of all abilities and backgrounds to believe in themselves as scientists. Scientific learning will encompass expanding the children’s knowledge and understanding of the world, and the development of skills associated with Science as a process of enquiry. Children understand what science is, what it is for and how it is relevant to their lives.
It is our intention to develop the natural curiosity of every child and encourage them to use scientific vocabulary to investigate and explore God’s world around them in their day-to-day lives. Children will make predictions and test their theories by carrying out practical experiments and observing the natural world. They will gather and analyse data using a variety of methods to draw their conclusions. Children are given regular opportunities to share and present their findings among peers to develop confidence and encourage scientific discussion and debate.
Our staff are passionate about delivering inspirational and exciting sequences of lessons that embed scientific learning and make links between topic areas. We are passionate about raising the profile of women in science and accessing opportunities for STEM in our local area. We approach science with a positive ‘can-do’ attitude, resilience and perseverance. Our inclusive lessons ensure the equality of teaching and that children are exposed to a diverse array of past and current scientists including female and local scientists. Children learn to question and discuss science-based issues that may affect their own lives, the direction of society and the future of the world. Our aim is for children to leave St George’s Academy inspired and motivated to continue on their scientific learning journey and with a passion to pursue a role in a scientific field.
Progression in Knowledge Science
Progression in Working Scientifically Skills
Science in the Early Years Foundation Stage
11.10.24 - Cummins Trip
A brilliant start to STEM for the academic year 2024-25 as 10 year 6 girls were invited to attend a day at Cummins Factory to celebrate 'The Day of the Girl'.
The girls had a fantastic tour of the factory floor looking at how STEM is required in this industry and the different departments within the factory. The girls also had a go at building a race car from lego and thinking about what would make the car go faster to help win their race.
12.07.24 - Careers Fair
We have had a fantastic day welcoming different companies and ventures to our school as part of our career fair! Each year group has walked round and spoken to lots of people in different careers asking questions about how they became what they did, what they needed to do to and what the best part of their job is.
The children have loved trying on equipment from construction comany GMI, using real equipment to clean ears with Specsavers audiology department, practicing mindful breathing and visualisation with a child psychologist, speaking with our Air Cadettes representative and many more!
Thank you to all our volunteers for speaking with the children, bringing in lots of equipment and resources and representing your field.
20.06.24 - STEM - Cummins Visit
For International Women in Engineering day, 10 year 6 girls were invited to local engineering factory Cummins. In order to celebrate and promote women in STEM, Cummins hosted a fantastic day for the children to gain an understanding of what Cummins do, the possible opportunities and to promote engineering as a career option.
The girls had a brilliant time and have gained a great understanding of what being an engineer could entail. The girls built lego race cars and raced them on a track, each time trying to rebuild to make their product faster, they listened to female guest speakers who worked in Cummins and then had a tour of the factory floor, seeing the process of different engines being built.
13.03.24 - British Science Week
St. George's have had a fantastic week celebrating British Science Week. All classes have joined a live Zoom Call at a farm and looked at what life is like for the animals and vets there.
Nursey
Nursery - British Science Week
Reception
Reception - British Science Week
Year 1
Year 2 joined Farmer Fiona to learn how she cares for her sheep, cows and pigs at each stage of their lives. They also learnt about some of the jobs that a farmer does in a day. This was a great opportunity to find out about looking after farm animals, before our visit to Hall Hill Farm.
Year 4
4S thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the live lesson from the farm today! Lots of interesting facts about cows and their digestive system, we even saw a calf being born live on air! The children found out how to find their pulse and even check their hydrations levels in their body by pinching their skin!
Year 6
Year 6 had a brilliant time joining the farmers in Cheshire to learn about a vet's role on a farm. The children were lucky enough to witness a live birth of a calf and learned the calf would be on it's feet and walking within that first day. We also looked at how farmers ensure cow's hooves are well looked after to prevent infection. Year 6 then completed a life cycle loop comparison activity where we thought carefully about the stages in different animal's livecycles.
06.03.24 - YEAR 6 STEM trip
Some of the year 6 children had a fantastic opportunity to attend the 2024 STEMfest event at Mowden Rugby Club. The aim of the event was to enthuse students in STEM within the region, The North East STEM Hub in conjunction with Darlington Borough Council, delivered a brilliant ‘hands-on’ event for local school children. The event was filled with local businesses, helping children know what career paths are out there. We had a fantastic time at the different workshops, designing and building bridges, trying VR headsets, looking at drones and robots, programming and cyber-security, trying on fire-safety kit, playing the latest games on the Gaming Bus and so much more!
Below are photos capturing what the children got up to!
26.02.24 - Year 6 Science Experiment
Year 6 have been studying microorganisms in our Science topic this half term. We have been looking at the different types of microorganisms and the environments in which they grow and spread. We have identified a lot microorganisms are helpful and can be used in medicine and food but some can be also be harmful.
To explore the environments we see microorganisms grow, 6S have conducted a Science experiment to see how fungi grows on a slice of bread and observe the change in mould developing in the different locations we place a slice of bread over the 3 weeks. We have also put one damp slice of bread one dry to see if that effects the fungi as well. Here are some photos of us setting up the experiment and the places we selected to test. Watch this space to see how we get on!
26.02.24 - Update
Observing growth of mould after half term. The children recorded their observations and tried to make comparisons and similarities regarding results so far.
11.01.24 STEM Workshop
Today Year 6 were joined by a team of engineers from a company called RED. The children learned about their career paths and how they became engineers. The children were then tasked with creating a house, with an LED light, powered by a solar pannel. 6S had great fun building and applying their knowledge from their Science topic circuits. We had great success after some problem solving and teamwork.
Miss Parkington
15.01.24 - Scientist Visit
04.01.24 - Year 6 Science
The children in 6S have been learning about electricity, they have been looking at how circuits work and what components are needed to make a circuit successful.
After the children established what was need to light up a bulb, the children then created a game. The children needed to build a loop wire game. This meant the children needed a cardboard hook and loop wrapped in foil in order to allow electricity to pass through. The aim of the game was for the hook to travel across the loop without touching it. If the hook and loop made contact the light bulb would light up.
Have a look at the images below to see how we got on -
24.11.23 - STEM Activity
6S were joined by Pam from GMI Construction Company for a brilliant STEM challenge this afternoon. The children were given cups, some water and sheets of paper. They needed to create a bridge that could withstand weight and hold gems. Once the children had mastered this challenge, they were asked to use less cups or to increase the span of the bridge. The children worked together to communicate ideas, problem solve and use elements of science and mathematics to successfully complete the challenges.
Years 5 and 6 Visit Teesside Airport
Children from year 5 and 6 had an excellent visit to Teesside Airport alongside construction company GMI. We were very fortunate being the first school invited to visit the new site and speak with the construction company's Project Manager, Glen. We looked at the site and what the GMI had been building and discussed future plans for the area. We even got to see some aeroplanes taking off and landing as pilots were being trained.
World Animal Day 4th October
St. George's celebrated World Animal Day on Wednesday 4th October with the theme "Great or small, love them all!"
The whole school participated in the celebrations and it was great to see children learning about animals that are endangered, the issues that contribute to this and how we can help. Year 6 created some fantastic posters raising awareness of animal rights.
Nursery also celebrated World Animal Day...
"We celebrated World Animal Day by singing along and dancing to The Animal Boogie with our favourite cuddly animals. Then it was off to paint an animal mask. We could choose which animal we wanted to create a mask for. We also watched Andy’s Animal safari and learnt some fun facts about the animals we brought into nursery. At the end of our Nursery session we had a tea party and our animals enjoyed a drink of juice and biscuit too! We had lots of fun celebrating the animal kingdom."
Year 6 Light Investigation
6S had a great time investigating shadows and how distance from the light source can effect their size. The children needed to measure the size of the shadow after increasing the distance from the light source by 10cm at a time.
We also wanted to show a visual representation of how light travels and how we are able to see things in a mirror. We used string to represent the straight lines and the direction light travels in.
Key Stage 2 Careers Fayre 18.07.23
On Tuesday 18th July, the school hosted a careers fayre for the Key Stage 2 children. Parents and local businesses were invited into school to talk about their jobs and what it involves and how to get into that line of work. We were visited by the mayor, the fire and police departments, social care teams, unison representative, Royal Air Force air cadets, scientists, architects and many more. The morning was a great success and the children had a great time and certainly came away inspired.
Careers Fayre.
GMI Construction Visit 08.06.23
Reception and Year 3 had a brilliant time working with Pam from GMI Construction. The children looked at PPE equipment and how it protects people on site. They then used spaghetti strands and marshmallows to create different shapes and towers. They worked together and independently. The year 3 children had a go at adding more spaghetti to make their structures stronger.
Nursery Celebrating Earth Day
In Nursery, as part of our Earth Day Celebrations, we thought about simple and every-day things that we can do or help our mummies and daddies to improve the world we live in and to help our planet become more sustainable.
“Turn off the tap when we brush our teeth.” Theo
“Take a bag to the shop.” Ava
“I would wear my Superman costume. That would save the planet.” Thea
“I can put plastic bottles and tin cans in the bin to be used again.” Katelyn
“I would give lots of love to it. We grow vegetables Mummy and me.” Molly
“I would plant more seeds because the bees drink nectar out of the flowers to make honey.” Lani
“We should turn off the lights when we are finished” Evelyn
STEM Trip to Tees Works 27.02.23
On Monday, 10 students from year 5 had the opportunity to meet with Andrew from Spark at Tees Works. The children learned about the history of this site and the steel works that were once a huge employer of the area. They also discussed what the future now looks like for the area. The children learned about why this location was a good one for international links and why companies from all over the world were choosing to locate their factories and offices right here in Tees Valley. We were able to research some of the companies and found out about which companies specialised in green energy and how this could effect employment in the local area and the knock on effect this will have to the local economy.
Here are some pictures from the afternoon -
STEM - KAPLA Clubs Visit - 15.02.23 - 16.01.23
Year groups 3, 4 and 5 were visited by KAPLA Clubs this week, the children had a fantastic opportunity to build on a huge scale using Kapla blocks. Starting with class 3S, the children began building and had 1 hour to construct boats, an octopus and towers. The next classes then came in one by one and continued to build and add to the project, resulting in a 'mini town' with 2 bridges, 2 palaces, 2 giraffes and much more! The children listened carefully to Jennifer's instructions and worked together to create their structures. This developed their skills in communication, engineering, teamwork, perseverance and mathematics. Parents were invited to come along and help during the workshop and then at the end of the workshop, our project was showcased to the whole school and families and eventually demolished!
For more photos, please follow the link below -
https://stgeorgecoea.greenhousecms.co.uk/News/Galleries/?SSID=2360&password=#GalleryListHolder
Visit from a Scientist 30.01.23
Ian is a Chartered Environmentalist/Ecologist. He has a wide range of interests in natural history but particularly in mammals. He was the editor of the book, “Mammals, Reptiles & Amphibians of the North East” and has written for numerous North-East newspapers. He has been a licensed bat worker for over 20 years. Recently, he has had a significant role in identifying a species new to the environment and has to use his scientific knowledge in order to do this.
The children discussed how to classify different animals, thinking about similarities and differences between species such as bats, ladybirds and cats. They were all interested in finding out how he was able to identify the white-toothed shrew and the importance of this as the shrew was an invasive mammal and the impacts that this may have on an ecosystem.
MC2215-WhiteToothedShrew_FinalLayout.pdf (mammal.org.uk)
STEM Trip WB 09.01.23
Year 4 children enjoyed a fantastic trip out to Tees Valley this week. The children learned all about how this area, once used to provide thousands of jobs making and shipping steel to other areas. Since this was closed and jobs lost, new industries are beginning to move to the area, in turn creating thousands of new jobs. These jobs will need skilled workers in all different departments. The children were able to learn about the different industries planning to move to this area and the different careers that will be offered here. This trip has also enhanced our cultural capital and the children are looking forward to sharing their new knowledge with their peers.