At Kinross Primary School, Science is taught explicitly from Pre-primary to Year 1 with Kindy taking part in pre-science curriculum engagement lessons. Teachers plan, teach and assess using the Western Australian Curriculum: Science version 8.1. Science plays a critical role in assisting children to think abstractly, and to prepare them for a future where technology is prevalent and jobs will be dependent on these certain skills.

At KPS, Science lessons are based upon Primary Connections units of work which provide a scaffold for planning and conducting investigations with a common language used throughout the school. There are three interrelated strands in the Science Curriculum; Science Understanding, Science Inquiry Skills and Science as a Human Endeavour. Science Understanding is comprised of four substrands; Biological Science, Chemical Science, Physical Science and Earth and Space Sciences. Where possible, Science is integrated with other learning areas, specifically Technologies and Mathematics to create lessons commonly referred to as STEM.

The Western Australian Curriculum: Science aims to ensure that students develop:

• an interest in science as a means of expanding their curiosity and willingness to explore, ask questions about and speculate on the changing world in which they live
• an understanding of the vision that science provides of the nature of living things, of the Earth and its place in the cosmos, and of the physical and chemical processes that explain the behaviour of all material things
• an understanding of the nature of scientific inquiry and the ability to use a range of scientific inquiry methods, including questioning; planning and conducting experiments and investigations based on ethical principles; collecting and analysing data; evaluating results; and drawing critical, evidence-based conclusions
• an ability to communicate scientific understanding and findings to a range of audiences, to justify ideas on the basis of evidence, and to evaluate and debate scientific arguments and claims
• an ability to solve problems and make informed, evidence-based decisions about current and future applications of science while taking into account ethical and social implications of decisions
• an understanding of historical and cultural contributions to science as well as contemporary science issues and activities and an understanding of the diversity of careers related to science
• a solid foundation of knowledge of the biological, chemical, physical, Earth and space sciences, including being able to select and integrate the scientific knowledge and methods needed to explain and predict phenomena, to apply that understanding to new situations and events, and to appreciate the dynamic nature of science knowledge.

At KPS, regular celebrations of Science are held throughout the year to raise the profile of the subject. In 2019, we celebrated a fortnight of Science where all students from Pre-primary to Year 6 attended an incursion from Science Alive and went on an excursion to Scitech. Students took part in STEM rotational activities in their phase levels and our Year 5 students went across to Kinross College to participate in lessons hosted by the Science Department.