Curriculum Overview:
We consider that science is not just a subject; it is an opportunity for students to be enthusiastic and engaged with the world around them and the way it works. Students will think critically, challenge and be challenged and develop confidence in their own ideas and abilities. The science curriculum will inspire our students to seek out the different pathways a well-developed science education can take them.
Key Skills and Dispositions:
To understand different types of data and how it is presented: Through life students will be faced with a wide range of data sources e.g., market samples, finance, consumer studies, political data. They will need to be able to understand these to make informed decisions and anticipate outcomes. Our children and young people will develop the ability to navigate through the mass of information that is presented in the mainstream and social media. By doing this they will be able to separate out what is fact from deliberately skewed information to make informed decisions e.g., when shopping or voting.
Critical Thinkers: Our students will develop their ability to think critically about the information that they come across. They will be able to make inferences and form opinions based on the content, credibility, and value. Students will actively seek out a depth of information with different viewpoints on a subject to enable them to have an informed opinion. (e.g., looking past headlines, ensuring their opinion is not based solely on those of others).
Key Themes:
- Working scientifically
- Living organisms and their habitats
- Inheritance and genetics
- Disease and response
- Properties of materials
- Chemical changes and reactions
- The Earth and the Atmosphere
- Forces
- Waves
- Energy
- Electricity
Key Stage 3 Overview:
In Key Stage 3 science, students study a broad curriculum of topics to develop an appreciation of how the world around them works and how they as individuals interact with it. The curriculum revolves around students being able to solve problems an interpret evidence and data using a variety of ‘real world’ situations. This approach not only gives our learners some ‘concrete’ examples to work from but also introduces them to the variety of situations scientist work in and the extent that science (and the understanding of it) can impact upon their lives.
Key Stage Four Overview:
The GCSE course in either combined (all students) or triple sciences (Option) allows students to build on the concrete examples they have learned in Key Stage 3. They will be exposed to a greater range of situations and work to apply their understanding to explain these as well as the ethical challenges that may be posed. By the end of the course students should be in a position where they not only have a wider understanding of scientific concepts, but a greater ability to think critically and apply what they have learned and navigate the world.