At Brierley Hill Primary School, we believe that science is the lens through which children explore, understand, and question the world around them. Science fuels curiosity, fosters critical thinking, and enables pupils to develop a deep understanding of the natural world, physical phenomena, and the processes that govern them.
Our science curriculum is underpinned by CUSP (Curriculum with Unity Schools Partnership), an evidence-led, knowledge-rich approach that ensures pupils develop:
🔬 Substantive Knowledge – Core scientific concepts in biology, chemistry, and physics, sequenced for long-term retention.
🧠 Disciplinary Knowledge – Scientific enquiry skills, including working scientifically, investigating, analysing, and interpreting data.
📖 A Vocabulary-Rich Approach – Explicit teaching of tiered vocabulary, enabling pupils to articulate scientific concepts with precision.
🔄 Cumulative Learning – Knowledge builds progressively, interweaving prior learning and new concepts for a coherent understanding.
🌍 Real-World Application – Science in the classroom is linked to the wider world, careers, and everyday life, making learning relevant and inspiring.
Our ambition is that every child leaves Brierley Hill as a confident, analytical thinker who can apply scientific knowledge to real-world situations, ask critical questions, and seek solutions to problems.
The CUSP Science Curriculum ensures a coherent, structured approach to science, with knowledge carefully sequenced and interleaved to secure understanding and retention.
✅ Three Distinct Scientific Disciplines – Biology, Chemistry, and Physics are explicitly taught, ensuring depth and rigour.
✅ Conceptual Coherence and Progression – Scientific knowledge and skills build cumulatively from EYFS to Year 6.
✅ Working Scientifically – Pupils develop skills in questioning, observing, classifying, testing, researching, measuring, and analysing data.
✅ Common Misconceptions Addressed – Explicitly teaching scientific truths vs. misconceptions ensures a secure understanding.
✅ Scientific Literacy and Vocabulary Development – Teaching and applying scientific vocabulary in context supports articulate expression.
Through this approach, pupils not only learn scientific facts but develop the ability to think, reason, and work scientifically
In EYFS, children develop foundational scientific knowledge through "Understanding the World", focusing on:
🔹 Observing the Natural World – Noticing plants, animals, weather, and seasonal changes.
🔹 Early Scientific Vocabulary – Developing language to describe objects, materials, and living things.
🔹 Cause and Effect Exploration – Investigating how things change, grow, and react (e.g., mixing substances, watching seeds grow).
🔹 Encouraging Curiosity – Structured play-based activities designed to promote questioning and exploration.
These foundations ensure that children enter Key Stage 1 with a strong scientific awareness and curiosityCUSP-UTW-Science-Early-….
Each science lesson follows a structured, research-informed model, ensuring systematic teaching, deep understanding, and scientific thinking.
1️⃣ Connect – Activating prior knowledge, linking new concepts to what pupils already know.
2️⃣ Explain – Explicit vocabulary instruction and teacher-led explanations of new concepts.
3️⃣ Example – Modelling scientific thinking, processes, and practical investigation techniques.
4️⃣ Attempt – Guided practice, with scaffolding and questioning to deepen understanding.
5️⃣ Apply – Independent scientific investigation, analysis, or explanation of concepts.
6️⃣ Challenge – Higher-order thinking, including evaluating scientific ideas, drawing conclusions, and discussing real-world applications
This approach ensures pupils actively engage in scientific discovery, developing confidence in their knowledge and investigative skills.
Science is not just knowledge acquisition; it is about thinking and working like a scientist. Our curriculum ensures that pupils develop disciplinary knowledge by engaging in:
🔬 Observing and Classifying – Identifying patterns, differences, and relationships in scientific phenomena.
📊 Measuring and Testing – Conducting fair tests and comparative investigations to explore cause and effect.
🧪 Experimenting and Predicting – Forming hypotheses and testing ideas through structured investigations.
📖 Researching and Explaining – Using secondary sources to deepen understanding and communicating findings clearly.
🔄 Interpreting Data and Drawing Conclusions – Recording, analysing, and presenting findings in charts, tables, and written explanations
These skills are explicitly taught and progressively refined across all year groups, ensuring pupils become confident scientific thinkers.
📌 Biology – Animals including humans, plants, habitats, and life cycles.
📌 Chemistry – Everyday materials and their properties.
📌 Physics – Seasonal changes, light, and simple forces.
📌 Working Scientifically – Observing, classifying, simple testing, and recording results.
📌 Biology – Nutrition, skeletons, muscles, plants, and ecosystems.
📌 Chemistry – Rocks, materials, and states of matter.
📌 Physics – Forces, magnets, sound, and electricity.
📌 Working Scientifically – Comparative testing, predicting, measuring, and using data to explain findings
📌 Biology – Circulatory system, evolution, classification, and adaptation.
📌 Chemistry – Properties of materials, irreversible changes, and separation techniques.
📌 Physics – Electricity, light, Earth and Space, and complex forces.
📌 Working Scientifically – Designing investigations, identifying variables, analysing patterns, and making evaluations
This structured approach ensures systematic development of scientific knowledge and skills, preparing pupils for KS3 and beyond.
We ensure that pupils see science as a pathway to real-world opportunities by embedding:
🧑🔬 Careers in Science – Learning about scientists, engineers, and innovators who have shaped our world.
🌍 Environmental and Ethical Science – Understanding climate change, sustainability, and the role of science in society.
🚀 STEM Opportunities – Engaging with engineering, computing, and medical sciences, inspiring future aspirations.
🧩 Cross-Curricular Connections – Linking science with history, geography, and technology to deepen understanding.
Our curriculum fosters curiosity, problem-solving, and innovation, ensuring pupils see science as a living, evolving discipline with real-world impact.
📊 Formative Assessment – Daily questioning, discussion, and feedback during lessons.
📝 End-of-Unit Knowledge Checks – Structured retrieval quizzes to assess cumulative learning.
📖 Practical Investigations – Pupils demonstrate working scientifically through hands-on tasks.
🗣 Pupil Voice and Explanation – Encouraging pupils to articulate their understanding in verbal and written responses.
This approach ensures all pupils make sustained progress, with targeted support for those who need it.
By the time pupils leave Brierley Hill Primary, they are:
🎓 Scientifically literate – Equipped with knowledge and skills to engage with science confidently.
🔬 Curious and analytical thinkers – Able to ask questions, investigate, and solve problems.
📖 Articulate communicators – Using scientific vocabulary to explain, reason, and justify their ideas.
🚀 Prepared for the future – With the foundation to succeed in KS3 science and beyond.
For more details, including:
📌 CUSP Science Knowledge Documents
📌 Curriculum Overviews
📌 Home Science Activities
Please contact our Curriculum Lead, Tom Amphlett, at info@brierleyhill.dudley.sch.uk.