Science

To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks real advance in science.

Albert Einstein

Science is central to a Dolphin child’s education and is carried out with great energy. From the earliest years, through to the upper years, we try to foster and develop a passion for the subject. We aim to develop the tool kit of skills required for a young scientist to become an independent, practical scientist.

This includes hypothesis development, experimental planning, preparing and using scientific equipment, data collection and reporting and the drawing of conclusions. This is done in a stepwise manner, often focussing on one skill in each experiment. A wide set of resources are used and this may be in our new science laboratory, outside in the school grounds or on one of our many science based trips. Combining this hands on approach with plenty of lively discussion, the children gain a thorough understanding of a wide range of physics, biology and chemistry topics that allows them to succeed in the exams they may encounter.

Our students learn Science through trips to local nature reserves, The Look Out, Kew Gardens, Greenwich Observatory, Oxford Botanical Gardens, Natural History Museum, Baylabs, South Downs Sustainability Centre and Waltham place. This alters each year depending on the children's guidance and interests in different parts of the curriculum.

Alice Baker, Head of Science