Science

KEY STAGE 3

Y7

Students are taught in mixed ability form groups. They are studying a course that uses the Pearson Exploring Science scheme. They will cover a total of 12 units in year 7The details for each unit are accessible using SharePoint when students are logged on to Office 365. They also have access to the Pearson active learn portal that contains all the resources used in the scheme. Assessment is done in a variety of ways including homework, in class and end of unit mini tests. The main assessments however are the core tests which take place at 12 week intervals and test all the units taught prior to the test.

Y8

Currently in year 8 the students are taught in two half year groups based on their forms. 8C and 8F are combined and then split into three groups A to C based on the assessment data collected in year 7 core tests. 8G, 8L and 8W are combined and then split into four groups A to D in the same way as before. This year the students continue to study the course based on the AQA 11 to 16 curriculum. This consists of nine short units (3 biology, 3 chemistry and 3 Physics). Assessment is done in a variety of ways including homework, in class and end of unit mini tests. The main assessments however are the core tests which take place at 12 week intervals and test all the units taught prior to the test.

Y9

In year 9 the students are taught in two half year groups based on their forms. 9C and 9F are combined and then split into three groups A to C based on the assessment data collected in year 8 core tests. 9G, 9L and 9W are combined and then split into four groups A to D in the same way as before. During this year the students are taught a series of units that bridge the work covered in the key stage 3 National curriculum and start the content of the key stage 4 curriculum. The units are based on the AQA 11 to 16 curriculum alongside the GCSE AQA combined science trilogy curriculum. Each group gets a single lesson each of Biology, Chemistry and Physics that are taught by subject specialists. Assessment is done in a variety of ways including homework, in class and end of unit mini tests. The main assessments however are the core tests which take place at 12 week intervals and test all the units taught prior to the test.

KEY STAGE 4

Y10/11

Using the data collected from the year 9 core testing the students are split into 6 groups. The highest ability group of students study the AQA triple award specifications (separate Biology, Chemistry and Physics qualifications). The remaining 5 groups study the AQA Combined Science, Trilogy specification which leads to the award of grades that are equivalent to two GCSEs. The top two Trilogy groups study the higher tier papers with grading up to level 9 while the other 3 groups are mixed ability and study the foundation level up to grade 5. Assessment is done in a variety of ways including homework, in class and end of unit mini tests. In Year 10 the main assessments take place in January and June and consist of complete GCSE examination papers to allow use to accurately assess the level the students are currently working at. In Year 11 the main assessments are the mock examinations that take place in November and March. These consist of complete suites of GCSE examination papers to enable use to accurately assess the grades the students would have obtained when the examinations were first taken.

CURRICULUM TIME

KS3: Year 7 to 9 3 hours

KS4: Year 10 and 11 6 hours (Triple award), 5 hours (Double award)

ASSESSMENT

Both the Triple Award and the Double Award qualifications are assessed through two written exams for biology, two for chemistry and two for physics

Triple Award exams: (50% each) - 1.75 hours

Double Award exams: (16.7% each) - 1.25 hours

HEAD OF DEPARTMENT: Mr. M. Kaye