Science

All students study science from year 7 and throughout each academic year will develop their understanding in biology, chemistry and physics following the National Curriculum. During KS4 all students study Science and will work towards 3 separate science GCSE grades.  The science GCSE will prepare students to be scientifically literate and develop skills such as problem solving.

Aims

Within the science department, we aim to guide the students through the various elements of the science curriculum to provide a strong foundation of knowledge and skills. This enables the students to pursue their future goals in any direction they choose.

Our curriculum designed to enrich their knowledge and passion for Science through understanding its impact and influence, locally, nationally and globally. Its gives all students a better understanding of the world we live in.

Whilst we focus and drive success during their time here, we also promote and support independent enquiry skills and the moral and social implications of Science, in order to develop our students holistically.

 

KS3 Curriculum

The Activate course is designed to match the new key stage 3 programme of study and to help prepare students for success in their GCSEs. It has a flexible route of study with an engaging and contemporary approach to Science. Pupils will be actively involved in lessons incorporating practical’s, maths and literacy along with fun facts, quizzes and questions to engage students. In year 7 students will study topics such as cells, structure and functions of body systems, reactions, particles and their behaviour, forces and space. In year 8 students will study topics such as health and lifestyle, ecosystems, the Earth, the periodic table and energy.

	Year 7	Year 8
Biology	Cell Biology Plant Biology Human Biology	Healthy Lifestyle Ecology and Evolution
Chemistry	Particle Model of Matter Chemical Changes Atomic Structure and the Periodic Table	Reactions The Earth and Resources
Physics	Space Sound and Light Forces	Energy Waves

For a full breakdown of the learning objectives for each topic please use these links…
Yr 7 Science Curriculum Objectives
Yr 8 Science Curriculum Objectives

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KS4 Curriculum (Exam board- AQA)

All students study science at GCSE. All students study the Triple Science course, students work towards achieving 3 GCSE’s, one in each of the separate sciences.

Combined Science: AQA Trilogy– CURRENT YEAR 11 ONLY (2019)

Students studying Combined Science: Trilogy will cover the three science disciplines in the traditional fashion. Combined Science takes a logical and coherent journey through the familiar and new content.

Engaging practicals

• Practicals are essential for students’ understanding of scientific theory.
• There are 16 required practical’s that students must study for the exams.

Exams

• Six papers: two biology, two chemistry and two physics.
• Each will assess different topics.
• Duration: all the papers are 1 hour 15 minutes.
• Tiers: Foundation and Higher.
• Weighting: the papers are equally weighted. Each is worth 16.7% of the grade and has 70 marks.
• Question types: multiple choice, structured, closed, short answer and open response.

Separate Sciences – AQA Triple Science

Studying the separate sciences means students will achieve 3 Science GCSE’s.

GCSE Biology, Chemistry and Physics will provide great preparation for AS and A-level, without overlapping content.

Exams

• Each of the Separate GCSE Science Subjects will have the following;
• Two papers: each paper will assess different topics.
• Duration: both papers are 1 hour 45 minutes.
• Tiers: Foundation and Higher.
• Weighting: the papers are equally weighted. Each is worth 50% of the grade and has 100 marks available.
• Question types: multiple choice, structured, closed short answer and open response.

For a full breakdown of the grade descriptors for each topic please use this link
Grade descriptors for GCSE Science

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Trips and Activities:

We run a variety of different trips during the year- ranging from STEAM focused trips to local Universities, a forces focused trip to Paulton’s Park for year 7 students, and a Space and engineering focused trip for year 8 students to Winchester Science Centre and Planetarium. The dates of these vary every year, and new opportunities to enrich the students learning come up all of the time. We will endeavour to provide these activities for the students whenever possible.

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Staff

Miss J Church BSc (Hons) – Curriculum Leader of Science
Mrs J V Walt BSc (Hons) – Teacher of Science
Mr A Clarke BSc (Hons) – Teacher of Science
Mr N Griggs BSc (Hons) – Leader of Year 10 and Teacher of Science
Mr T Ratcliffe BSc (Hons) – Teacher of Science
Mr C Colley BSc (Hons) – Assistant Headteacher, Teacher of Science
Mrs C Gamble BSc (Hons) – Teacher of Science
Mrs T Midwinter (BSc (Hons) – Assistant Leader in Science and Lead Practitioner
Mr I Salisbury BEng & MSC – Teacher of Science
Ms M Perry – Senior Science Technician & STEAM Activity Co-ordinator
Mrs H Dent – Technician

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Useful Website links:

ww.doddlelearn.co.uk
www.bbc.co.uk/education
www.go4schools.com

Revision links

KS3:

www.bbc.co.uk/education/subjects/zng4d2p
www.educationquizzes.com/ks3/science/
www.cgpbooks.co.uk/interactive_ks3_science
www.docbrown.info/ks3science.htm
http://ntscience.co.uk/powerpoint/index.html
www.darvill.clara.net/myon.htm

KS4:

www.bbc.co.uk/education/subjects/zrkw2hv
www.my-gcsescience.com
www.docbrown.info/page20/AQAscience2.htm
www.cgpbooks.co.uk/interactive_gcse_science
www.hodderplus.co.uk/myrevisionnotes/gcse-science/
www.gcse.com/science/AQA_ISA.htm
www.pinterest.com/tesscience/aqa-gcse-revision/
www.pinterest.com/tesscience/aqa-gcse-revision/

Interesting news etc……..

http://newsrss.bbc.co.uk/rss/newsonline_uk_edition/sci/tech/rss.xml
http://www.theguardian.com/science