Science Curriculum
Curriculum Intent – Content and Structure
The intended outcomes of what we teach:
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Curriculum Implementation
Curriculum Content and Sequence
Year 7
Autumn | Spring | Summer |
| 7.1 Working scientifically, Part 1. 7.1 Working scientifically, Part 2 7.2 Matter 7.3 Forces 7.4 Organisms | 7.5 Reactions 7.8 Electromagnets 7.7 Energy 7.6 Ecosystems | 7.10 Genes 7.11 Waves 7.9 Earth |
Year 8
Autumn | Spring | Summer |
| 8.1 Working scientifically 8.2 Matter 8.4 Organisms 8.3 Forces | 8.6 Ecosystems 8.7 Energy 8.5 Reactions 8.8 Electromagnets | 8.10 Genes 8.11 Waves 8.9 Earth |
Year 9
NB – The Year 9 Curriculum is currently being developed to maximise the breadth and depth of coverage. We are piloting new material in the current Year 9 for full implementation in the 2023-24 Academic Year. This involves collaborative work with Wren Enfield and for greater alignment with a vision for Science in the Academy Trust.
Autumn | Spring | Summer |
| 9.1 Cells 9.2 Atoms 9.3 Balanced and unbalanced forces 9.4 Movement between cells and tissues 9.5 Separating techniques 9.6 Conservation and dissipation of energy | 9.7 Organs 9.8 Periodic table 9.9 Electric circuits 9.10 Pathogens and disease | 9.11 Types of bonding 9.12 Molecules and matter 9.13 Preventing disease 9.14 Materials in nature 9.15 Wave properties |
Year 10
Autumn | Spring | Summer |
| 4.7 Ecology 5.3 Quantitative Chemistry 6.4 Atomic Structure 4.4 Bioenergetics | 5.4 Chemical changes 6.6 Waves 5.5 Energy changes | 6.2 Electricity 5.6 The rate and extent END OF YEAR EXAM |
Year 11
Autumn | Spring | Summer |
| 4.7 Ecology 6.5 Forces 6.7 Magnets Revision | Mock Prep and Mocks 4.6 Inheritance 5.7 Organic Chemistry 5.8 Chemical analysis 5.6 Rate and Extent | Revision and Public Examinations |
Year 12
Autumn | Spring | Summer |
| Biology Biological molecules Enzymes and digestion Cells
Physics Forces in Equilibrium Matter and Radiation Waves Electric Current Materials On the Move
Chemistry Introduction to organic chemistry Alkanes Halogenoalkanes Alkenes Alcohols Organic analysis | Biology Genetic diversity Exchange ass transport
Physics On the Move Quarks and Leptons Newton’s laws of motion Optics DC circuits Work energy and power
Chemistry Atomic structure Amount of substance Bonding Energetics Kinetics Chemical equilibria & le Chatelier’s principle Oxidation, reduction and redox | Biology Mass transport continued Biodiversity End of year review topics: Statistics Maths skills Required practical skills Essay skills Start the Year 13 course content on photosynthesis and respiration.
Physics Quantum Phenomena Circular Motion Force and Momentum Electric Fields
Chemistry Periodicity Group 2, the alkaline earth metals Group 7 (17), the halogens |
Year 13
Autumn | Spring | Summer |
| Biology Photosynthesis Respiration Energy and Ecosystems Inherited changes Response to stimuli Populations and evolution
Physics Electric fields Thermal Physics Radioactivity Gravitational fields Nuclear energy Magnetic fields Optional section (turning points)
Chemistry Optical isomerism Aldehydes and ketones Carboxylic acids and esters Aromatic chemistry Amines Polymers Amino acids, proteins and DNA Organic synthesis Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy Chromatography | Biology Nervous coordination and muscles Homeostasis Gene expression Recombinant DNA technology
Physics Magnetic fields Gases Capacitors Electromagnetic induction Waves on a string required practical
Chemistry Thermodynamics Rate equations Equilibrium constant Kc Electrode potentials & electrochemical cells Acids and bases
| Biology Revision and Public Examinations
Physics Review and Exam Preparation
Chemistry Properties of period 3 elements and their oxides Transition metals Reactions of ions in aqueous solution |
The Rationale for the Content and Sequence of what we Teach
Year | Why we Teach this Content and how the Content and Sequence of Topics Benefits our Students. |
Year 7 | We start with a transition unit which serves to bridge the gap between primary Science and Secondary Laboratory based Science. There is a focus on Literacy in Science, Maths for Science Skills and an introduction to practical work. We want students to enjoy the hands on and practical aspects of Science. Matter, Forces and Organisms contain the most fundamental content from the three sciences and as such are the first units to be taught following working scientifically. |
Year 8 | Students build on their learning in Year 7 by developing their key scientific ideas further and developing their practical skills to use more complex equipment and collect more complex data. There is a focus on further developing their extended writing in Science and Maths for Science skills using more complex formula and manipulation of data. |
Year 9 | This Year is a transition between Key Stage 3 and 4. We start the year with the fundamentals of Science such as Cells, Atoms and Forces, building upon the content covered in Year 7 and 8, going into greater depth and developing new skill sets, such as conversion of units and carrying out more in depth practical investigations. The units are purposely kept short and have opportunity for students to explore the big ideas in Science whilst developing key investigative, practical and Maths based skills. All content taught in Year 9 covers the fundamentals of Science required for both GCSE Combined Science Trilogy and Separate Sciences, allowing students to opt for the latter during the Year 9 Preferences process. |
Year 10 | GCSE Combined Science Trilogy Following on from Year 9, students who have opted for separated sciences are placed into independent teaching groups and the remaining students are set based on ability. Aim One: Complete teaching of all Paper 1 units so student can sit full papers during their end of year examinations. Aim Two: Assessment Points are to include content covered in Year 9 to ensure retrieval practice. |
Year 11 | GCSE Combined Science Trilogy: Teaching in the Autumn Term is such that students will have completed two out of the three disciplines (Biology, Chemistry and/or Biology) by Christmas so they can sit paper 2 for those subjects in their mocks. The discipline with content still to be taught is examined via paper 1 (content covered in Year 9 and Year 10) to encourage retrieval and prepare students for terminal assessment. Post Year 11 Mock exams, we complete any outstanding teaching and the shift towards revision for the second set of mocks, which occur just before the Easter Holiday. Performance in December mocks along with question by question analysis is used to drive the next steps and which content to focus on in revision lessons. |
Year 12 | A Level Biology, Chemistry and Physics Teaching is based around building upon the skills and content taught at Key Stage 4 and go into greater depth in terms of content and complexity. There is unpicking of the simpler forms of theory taught in Key Stage 4. The Year builds in complexity and challenge and to provide a foundation for Year 13 content, which starts to border on University Level content. A Level Biology – Students build upon their KS4 understanding with further exploration of a range of biological concepts, including cells, infection, bioenergetics and biological molecules. The course delves into biochemical pathways and the transcription and translation of DNA. At the end of Year 12, students start to consider the core concepts necessary for the Year 13 course, including statistical analysis of results. During their first year of the A Level, students complete six of their 12 required practicals, being assessed on specific CPACs throughout. Year 12 are invited on a trip to London Zoo to consider evolutionary relationships and courtship behaviour and have the opportunity to compete in the Biology Olympiad. A Level Chemistry – Students develop their knowledge from GCSE (beginning with a recap of the GCSE content, for example, the Atomic structure topic the students start off with is a lot of GCSE repetition and so is the Amount of substance topic). As the course continues the students delve deeper into the scientific concepts that they may have touched on in GCSE learning more in depth why the scientific concepts work the way they do and why chemical reactions happen in the way they do. They delve into the nanoscape, looking at atoms and their behaviour as well as reactions and their behaviour. Students in Year 12 have the chance to compete in the Chemistry Olympiad. A Level Physics - Follows on from the five year program in lower school where students are introduced to the big ideas of Physics – energy, forces, matter, waves and fields. Students learn a larger variety and more complex concepts within these big ideas, building on their existing knowledge from Key Stage 4. Leaners are able to further challenge their problem solving abilities through the optional Physics Olympiad program of study and enhance their study of matter through a trip to CERN in Geneva. Enquiry processes learned at Key Stage 3-4 are also studied in further detail and applied to more complex practical experiments with emphasis placed on the rigour of applying the scientific method and reporting associated uncertainties with any results. A large emphasis is placed on analysing linear graphs to obtain accurate results which can be compared to referenced values. Within this, computational techniques are greatly built upon using Excel. |
Year 13 | A Level Biology, Chemistry and Physics The Challenge in this year is to build upon the content taught in Year 12 and then being able to go into further depth and apply it to subject specific skills. A Level Biology – During Year 13, students focus upon a range of topics including homeostasis, ecology and nervous responses. These topics develop the knowledge acquired during Year 12 and often feed back to the learning from the five year Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 scheme of work. A further six practicals are completed, including a trip to Hampstead Heath to study ecological concepts in the field. Wider reading and learning beyond the specification are enriched by trips to a live lecture event and a Chemistry / Biology trip to the Natural History Museum. A Level Chemistry – Students develop their knowledge from Year 12, looking further in detail into the concepts they covered (for example, looking at Born Haber cycle as an extension of Hess’s law). As the course continues the students delve deeper into the scientific concepts that they may have touched on in Year 12 learning more in depth why the scientific concepts work the way they do. Students in Year 13 also have the chance to compete in the Chemistry Olympiad and have the opportunity to visit the Natural History Museum in a Chemistry / Biology trip to see further the different colour substances that transition metals form. A Level Physics - Follows on from the five year program in lower school where students are introduced to the big ideas of Physics – energy, forces, matter, waves and fields. Students learn a larger variety and more complex concepts within these big ideas, building on their existing knowledge from Key Stage 4. Leaners are able to further challenge their problem solving abilities through the optional Physics Olympiad program of study and enhance their study of matter through a trip to CERN in Geneva. Enquiry processes learned at Key Stage 3-4 are also studied in further detail and applied to more complex practical experiments with emphasis placed on the rigour of applying the scientific method and reporting associated uncertainties with any results. A large emphasis is placed on analysing linear graphs to obtain accurate results which can be compared to referenced values. Within this, computational techniques are greatly built upon using Excel. In Year 13, there is an optional component which in recent years has been chosen as Turning Points. Here, students learn in detail about historical experiments undertaken to determine fundamental concepts at the root of Physics such as wave particle duality, the discovery of the electron and its properties and the effects of special relativity. The Year 13 course has a particular focus on matter and fields in comparison to the Year 12 course. However, concepts from energy, forces and waves are fundamental in understanding these aspects of the Year 13 course. |
Key Stage 4 (KS4) and Key Stage 5 (KS5) only:
What exam board/syllabus do you teach?
AQA GCSE Combined Science Trilogy
AQA GCSE Biology
AQA GCSE Chemistry
AQA GCSE Physics
AQA A Level Biology
AQA A Level Chemistry
AQA A Level Physics
Why have you chosen this syllabus?
Most widely used exam board for Science and therefore has greatest choice of resources.
Annual examination feedback meetings are insightful and guide future practice.
Termly AQA provided Hub Meetings provide insights in current developments and how to improve teacher practice, provided with useable resources, which can be delivered internally during P&E.
AQA backed Exampro, provides extensive databank of examination questions, mark schemes and examiner commentary, which can be shared directly with students using URL links.
Curriculum Implementation
The subject specific habits and behaviours we develop (or intend to develop) in our students
Subject Specific Habits and Behaviours | How we embed these in our students |
| Disciplinary Knowledge
| General
Specific
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Academy Ethos
Academy Curriculum Intent | How our department’s curriculum content and teaching approaches reflect the whole Academy ethos |
| A Curricular and Pastoral commitment to Micah 6v8: Do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with your God.
A commitment to make learning enjoyable, engaging, relevant and challenging.
Recognising and rewarding effective use of learning habits as well as academic achievement. |
Real world examples to make abstract scientific theory relatable for students.
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Implementation
Academy Ethos
Micah 6v8: Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God | ||||
Curriculum Content Opportunities | Curriculum Delivery Opportunities | |||
| Justice | Space - Years 7 - 13
DNA - Years 8 - 13 | Evaluate – no correct final answer. Can get full marks whatever your decision. Discussion of Galileo discovery and treatment of him after his discovery. Discussion of Rosalind Franklin and her discovery of DNA and Watson and Crick’s contribution. Genetic fingerprinting – not saying who is guilty, just who is found. | ||
| Kindness | Years 7-13 Ethics in stem cells, nature v nurture, genetic counselling, and genetic engineering/screening, animal rights. Years 7 -13 Climate change, taking care of the environment, discussing strategies to help conserve our environment for the sustainability of the Earth. | Discussing and debating the ethics of each of these parts of the specification. Focus day on plastic pollution to help look at the environment.​ | ||
| Humility | Year 7 - 13 Particle model- showing that theories can evolve and change- Experiments on how Rutherford discovered that there was a positive charge in the middle of the atom Year 8 - 13 Lemark/ Darwin –showing humility from other scientists to accept the fact that theories and evolve and change perspectives. A Level - Dr Andrew Wakefield – should he be more humble considering the incorrect science A Level - Martin Shkreli raising price of medicine so people cannot afford it any more. ​ | Discussing the theories and the steps taken to develop these theories and the people involved.
Discussing the ethics of this and whether he should be humbler. | ||
Please click here to access the full Science curriculum document.