‘Nurturing Individual Excellence’

Pupil Voice

Pupil Voice- 2023/2024

Miss Taylor spoke to several children across the school to find out what they think about their science lessons. They also shared their books. Please see below for some of their comments:

"We were trying to grow beans in our classroom but the tissue kept going dry overnight so it wasn't growing. We're trying to grow them in soil now and we can see some roots so hopefully they will grow!" Year 1

"I liked it when we used our senses to try and work out what different objects were. Touch and Sight were the most helpful. Some things we couldn't taste and some things didn't smell of anything!" Year 1

"I loved testing materials. They needed to be waterproof and bendy to be used to make an umbrella." Year 1

"I remember learning that evergreen trees don't lose their leaves but deciduous trees do. I like being able to use the long science words." Year 1

"I loved planting the seeds in different places to see what they needed to grow best. I predicted that the seeds with sunlight, water and soil would grow best. I was right!" Year 2

"It's really important to eat a healthy balanced diet. That means little bits from each group- not just loads of one group. We need to eat the least of sugars and fats." Year 2

"I find it interesting to find out what different animals eat. We learned about it when we looked at food chains. You have producers, consumers and predators. A bear would be a predator. The bear eats the fox, the fox eats a rabbit and the rabbit eats grass." Year 2

"I really enjoyed using the feely bags. It was tricky because we couldn't see what was hiding in there. We need the light to see!" Year 3

"My favourite bit was testing whether things were reflective. We shone a torch through a hole in a piece of card so that it was the same shape as a headlight on a car." Year 3

"Yeah headlights need to shine on things that are reflective to keep us safe. Cat's eyes on the road are reflective so you don't go on the wrong side of the road." Year 3

"I really enjoyed exploring magnets. It was nice to just have some time to see what happened with the different materials. The metal ones were magnetic and they were attracted to the magnets!" Year 3

"It was cool when we went outside to hunt for worms. We had to stamp on the ground. The worms thought it was the rain so they tried to come to the surface so that they didn't drown. That's what birds do so that they can hunt and eat them." Year 3

"The egg investigation was gross but it has really stuck in my memory. It's horrible to think what the different drinks do to our enamel. That's the bit that protects our teeth." Year 4

"I thought orange juice would be good for our teeth but it was horrible. It must have loads of sugar or acid in it!" Year 4

"I can't wait to do the drum experiment with rice. I think the rice will jump about. That will maybe be the same as the vibrations when we hear things in our ear drum" Year 4

"I really enjoyed investigating whether circuits were complete or incomplete by testing to see if the bulb lit up. Most of my predictions were right because I knew that the electricity had to flow from the battery cell to the bulb and back to the battery cell." Year 4

"We acted out digestion using different materials. The masher was our teeth and it broke the crackers up into pieces. The tights were the intestines that passed the food through and absorbed the nutrients. It was disgusting but it has made sure that I remember the process!" Year 4

"Did you know that some people think the Earth is flat? We looked at their reasons but I still don't agree with them." Year 5

"No, we know that the International Space Station has taken photos of the Earth and it is definitely round like a sphere." Year 5

"I really enjoy doing experiments. It was cool to look at parachutes and see how they help air resistance so that the jumper can land safely." Year 5

"I found gestation periods much more interesting than I thought I would. The frog has such a short gestation period but can live for up to 20 years!" Year 5

"The heart is so interesting. I find it really amazing that our blood has plasma in it to make the blood sticky and then it forms a scab." Year 6

"I've found it really shocking to see the effects of drugs and alcohol on our bodies. We know that people drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes but I didn't really understand what it was doing to our bodies." Year 6

"It's interesting to learn about how different animals have adapted to suit their environments. The polar bear is white with a thick fur to keep it warm and it blends into the white snow. The giraffe has a long neck so that it can reach the leaves on the branches of tall trees." Year 6

Pupil Voice - October 2022

In October of this academic year, Mr. Hancock spoke to several children across the school to find out what they think about their science lessons. They also shared their books. Please see below for some of their comments:

"I enjoyed sorting food into groups." Year 2

"We learnt about different kinds of animals babies...the chick is in its egg, then it became a chick and then an adult." Year 2

"I liked the magnets. We had to see how many paper clips we could fit on the magnets. I found out that the red and blue bar magnets were the strongest." Year 3

"I liked when we had to find out if it was a pull or a push force." Year 3

"I like how we have been sorting different types of animals, like fish and amphibians in different groups...I also like how we've been looking at vertebrates and invertebrates." Year 4

"I enjoyed when we were figuring out if it was a fish, bird, mammal, amphibian or reptile." Year 4

"I enjoyed the spinners where we learnt about air resistance." Year 5

"We used Newton metres. You put something on the end of it and it measures how much they weigh." Year 5

"I found the insect lesson interesting because I thought they [insects] all went under one category." Year 6

"I enjoyed the plants because I used to think they [plants] all went into one group." Year 6

Pupil Voice - November 2021 and March 2022

In November and March of last academic year, Mr. Hancock spoke to several children across the school to find out what they think about their science lessons. Please see below for some of their comments:

"I like that we get to explore lots of different things. Everything we explorer in science, like gravity." Year 2

"I like that you can explore and find other animals. We are learning about microhabitats. We saw slugs and snails and a bird attack." Year 2

"We learn lots of different things..." Year 4

"I enjoyed the heart dissections because you could actually see the parts of the hearts." Year 6

"We grouped the animals based on what they ate." Year 3

"We looked at the femur and whether it effects how well people jump." Year 3

"I like doing friction and things because it's quite interesting to know. I've always wondered how I get carpet burn but if you learn things you can answer your own questions." Year 5

"I like that we learn and have fun." Year 2

"We had to see what was the best thing for a car to run on. We wondered if pushing or pulling was faster. We tried it on different materials." Year 3

"During our experiment into heart rate, we found out that when we are at rest the heart rate is slower." Year 6

"I found out that if you put a sugar cube in a cup with water for five minutes it [the water] goes clear." Year 5

"I enjoyed looking at Newton and gravity because I put more detail in than anyone else in the class." Year 5

Science Shares - September 2019 to January 2020

Each month during the 2019-2020 academic year, Mr. Hancock met with a different selection of children from across the school to share their science learning from the past few weeks. This gives the individual children the chance to see what exciting activities have been going on so far. Please see below for comments from the Science Shares so far this year:

"My favourite lesson has probably been when we recorded the findings of the plants. We left it for the weekend and when we came back we checked what it looked like." Year 3

"I liked using the identification keys because we broke it down into different sections and found out what it [the animal] was." Year 6

"I liked going on our autumn walk because we got to see things." Year 1

"Learning about the flowers and how they live and move and face the sun when it’s really light. We saw a video about someone taking parts of the plants off and someone told her to stop doing that because of how important it was." Year 3 

"We went on a bug hunt and took pictures – I found a spider web with water on." Year 2

"We learnt about forces like gravity and pushes and pulls. We did about jumping out of an airplane and how a parachute slows you down." Year 5

"I enjoyed finding out about different animals. [We learnt about the] animal name, type, diet and diet facts." Year 4

"I enjoyed doing the experiments because we could find out for ourselves." Year 5

"I enjoyed the heart dissection because it was really hands-on and we got to look at the anatomy of the heart." Year 6

"We have been learning about how celery can suck up coloured water." Year 3 

"We have learnt from a science book to make some colours change and spread. We've been doing some research on it and we found it spread all about. Some [colours] spread a little bit and some spread a lot..." Year 1

"We learnt how to change the colour of the celery. We were trying to see if the food colouring went up the celery." Year 3

"We got a tuning fork, tapped it on the table and dipped it in water. We looked to see whether it vibrated...we had to see which was the lowest pitch and which was the highest pitch...the windpipe and the glockenspiel were the highest pitch." Year 4

"We learnt about natural selection at first. How animals have changed over time which also links into evolution as well." Year 6

 

Excalibur Primary School

Ivy Lane, Alsager, ST7 2RQ

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