Departments & Subjects

Our mission is to work with parents and the local community to provide a broad curriculum and a creative approach to learning. Our intent is to enable all students to fulfil their unique potential and make the world a better place through their informed choices and actions.

Our curriculum meets the requirements of national guidelines and explicitly intends to support students to become :
SCHOLARLY
LITERATE
NUMERATE
SAFE
RESILIENT
REFLECTIVE
INDEPENDANT
COLLABORATIVE
CREATIVE
PASSIONATE
ACHIEVER
AMBITIOUS
OUTWARD-LOOKING
TOLERANT
UNDERSTANDING

 

Science

In Science we cover all 3 main aspects, Biology, Chemistry and Physics. We look to help the students learn and understand science so that they can apply their knowledge and emerge as students who are informed about the science around them. At KS4 some students with a particular interest in science can choose to study Triple Science as part of their options.

Science KS3
Aims:
  • To provide a high quality science education that provides the foundations for understanding the world through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics.
  • To develop understanding of the nature, processes and methods of science through different types of science enquiries that help students to answer scientific questions about the world around them.
  • To equip students with the scientific knowledge required to understand the uses and implications of science, today and for the future.

 

Content:
Year 7
Year 8
  • Biology Cells, Ecosystems, Skeletal and Muscular Systems, Gas exchange and Reproduction
  • Biology Inheritance, Cellular Respiration, Nutrition and Digestion, Photosynthesis, Drugs and the Human Body
  • Physics Forces, Astronomy, Magnetism, Static and Moving things
  • Chemistry Chemical Reactions 1 and 2, Earth & Atmosphere, Materials
  • Chemistry Particle Model, Atoms, Elements and Compounds and Separating Substances
  • Physics Energy, Electricity, Waves, Light, Pressure, Fuel
  • How Science works – experimental skills and methods of analysis
  • How Science works – experimental skills and methods of analysis

 

Key assessment details:

Students’ progress will be continually assessed by their responses in class, their written classwork and their homework tasks. In addition, a facts test will be set at the end of each half term and an examination will be sat at the end of the year. The tests assess factual recall of the knowledge defined in the programme of study. The end of year exam will test both factual knowledge and scientific skills ie experimental design and data analysis. The end of year school grade will be given based on the students’ performance in the tests and in the examination.

Grades will range from 1 to 7 in year 7 and 1-8 in year 8 (with 8 being the highest grade obtainable).

Science KS4
Aims:
  • To provide a high quality science education that provides the foundations for understanding the world through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics.
  • To develop understanding of the nature, processes and methods of science through different types of science enquiries that help students to answer scientific questions about the world around them.
  • To equip students with the scientific knowledge required to understand the uses and implications of science, today and for the future.

 

Content:
Year 9 – Combined Science
Year 10 – Combined Science
Year 11 – Combined Science
  • Biology A deeper look at cells, and aspects of health including STDs, HIV, smoking and alcohol.
  • Biology The human body and how it reacts, plants and ecology.
  • Biology Genetics and evolution
  • Chemistry Atomic structure, separation techniques including crude oil and the atmosphere.
  • Chemistry Bonding, reactivity, acids and energy in reactions.
  • Chemistry Quantitative chemistry, using resources and rates of reaction
  • Physics Particle model of matter, energy and resources
  • Physics forces, electricity, waves
  • Physics Radioactivity, magnetism
  • How Science works – experimental skills and methods of analysis
  • How Science works – experimental skills and methods of analysis
  • How Science works – experimental skills and methods of analysis

 

In Years 9, 10 and 11 students will be assessed regularly using end of topic tests in which they are expected to reach their target grade. Informal assessment is also done through exam style questions as well as through homework. There will also be a formal exam at the end of Yr 9 and Yr 10 where all content covered in the year will be tested. In Year 11 students will sit a formal mock examination in the autumn term.

In May and June they will sit their written examinations, which consist of 6 1 hour 15 min papers, 2 in Biology, 2 in Chemistry and 2 in Physics. These scores are combined to give them 2 grades. Students will be entered at either Foundation or Higher Tier across the four skill areas. Foundation Tier will give access to grades 1-1 to 5- 5 and Higher Tier to grades 4- 4 to 9 -9.

Triple Science:

Those students following the purple pathway will be able to take triple science as one of their options. They will have 15 lessons of science over 2 weeks, 5 Physics, 5 Chemisty and 5 Biology and will be awarded 3 separate GCSEs at the end of Year 11.

Additional content:

Alongside the content covered in Combined Science, at KS4 students also study:

  • Biology The brain, DNA, speciation, food production and plant disease.
  • Chemistry Analytical chemistry, Polymers, Industrial context of reactions
  • Physics Advanced mechanics, pressure, electromagnetism, space

 

Key assessment details:

Alongside the same testing as students who follow Combined Science, in Year 11 students will also sit 6 papers, (2 for Chemistry, 2 for Biology and 2 for Chemistry) but each will be 1 hour 45 minutes.