Science at West Island School is a core subject. This means that all students from Year 7 to Year 11 study it.

We believe that young students are natural scientists who show great curiosity about the world in which they live. They are always looking for ways to investigate why things happen. They are always looking for explanations. In order to learn about their world effectively students must learn the skills of science. They must learn the skills of inquiring, arguing and communicating in a way that is unique to the scientific method. They must be able to make and test hypotheses by observation, experimentation and evaluation of results. Students also need a body of scientific knowledge to enable them to make interpretations and conclusions and to formulate hypotheses.

At West Island School students learn scientific skills and knowledge in parallel. The students' investigative skills are gradually developed so that those who continue to study science in the sixth form are able carry out detailed individual projects and communicate their findings in a format expected in a scientific journal.