Science Capital! What is it and why is it important?
The concept of science capital can be imagined like a bag, containing all the science-related knowledge, attitudes, experiences and resources that you acquire through life. That is, the more a young person has, the more likely they are to plan to continue with science in the future. With jobs within the field of science being more important than ever, we aim to provide our children at Christopher Pickering with the knowledge, skills and experiences to science to have a positive impact on choices they make in the future.
Careers Links:
Science can lead to a wide range of careers. Such as:
- Teacher
- Astronaut/ astronomer (study or conduct experiments about space and the universe)
- Biologist (study living things and plants)
- Animal technician/vet/ rescue worker
- Acoustic consultant (manages noise and sound)
- Biochemist (investigating viruses and bacteria)
- Chemical Engineer (turns raw materials into everyday objects)
- Climate Scientist( study the influences on Earth’s climate and how it’s changing)
- Electronics Engineer (design and develop systems such as mobile technology and aerospace.)
What we do at Christopher Pickering!
Science Week 6th – 15th March 2026
Theme – “Curiosity: what’s you question?”
Come back to see how we celebrate this fabulous week of the school year!
Links with the Community
Sirius Academy West
We are very lucky to have a good relationship with the local secondary school. Every year during science week our Y5 children walk across to Sirius Academy West to attend a biology, a chemistry and a physics workshop ran by some of the secondary teachers. The children love this opportunity and have
We are fortunate to be around the corner from Pickering Road Orchard. This is a project that was opened in 2004 with grants from the National Lottery and Hull City Council. The orchard is abundant with a wide variety of apples. Over the years, children from the school have visited the orchard, had the opportunity to pick and taste the apples and apple juice whilst learning about how things grow and the variety of living things within this habitat.
Educational Visits
EYFS Biology – Farm Trips
Summer Term
During the summer term, the children in EYFS have the opportunity to visit a farm. There are that many fantastic farms nearby that we tend to alternate between Honeysuckle Farm and Pink Pig Farm. In summer 2021, due to COVID we had the Purple Pig mobile farm come and visit.
Year 1 Physics – Seasonal Changes at Pickering Park
A visit each term for each season!
We are very lucky at Christopher Pickering to have such a fantastic park on our doorstep. In Year 1 children have the opportunity to visit the park on four occasions over the year to observe the changes that take place during each different season.
Every time we visit we carry out some Scientific Enquiries:
Identifying, Classifying and Grouping – Using magnifying glasses, children are given a list of things they need to find identify and classify.
Pattern Seeking – We ask the question ‘Do trees with the biggest leaves loose their leaves first in autumn?’ The children will need to investigate as they are walking around the park.
Observation over Time – We have a chosen Oak tree that children observe and sketch during every visit, we study the changes that have and are taking place over time and think of reasons why.
Year 3 Physics and Chemistry – Magna
Summer Term
Children have the fantastic opportunity to visit Magna in Rotherham. During this trip, the children go into four exhibits, Air, Earth, Fire and Water, all natural elements but also all linked to steelmaking which took place at the centre. All elements are split into pavilions which provide interactive, hands on links to many scientific studies. In the air pavilion, children explore how much force moving air exerts and the impact of air on structures, in the earth pavilion, children go underground to learn about stories of rock formation and mining and quarrying. In the water pavilion, children explore its properties and uses and learn about water management, then in the fire pavilion they explore what happens when different materials are heated up and cooled down and they get to experience a fire tornado!
Year 4 – Biology – Dalby Forest
Summer Term
During the summer term, Year 4 visit Dalby Forest. The main aim of this is to compare a tropical rainforest ecosystem to the dense deciduous woodland that is found in this area and to find out how living things adapt to survive in each. Children are encouraged to identify plant and tree species using a leaf key and to look at the variety of habitats and living things, the children use their prior knowledge of animals and classification to find various components of the food chain.
Year 5 – Physics – Earth and Space
Autumn Term
In the autumn term, Lab Rascals come into our school with the fabulous Planetarium. They take us on a journey through our solar system. From the sun at the centre of the solar system to Pluto in the Kuiper Belt. They learn a bit about each planet along the way and even visit some moons that they may not have seen before. This is a great general space show with lots of “wow” moments!
