Science

Section 1: Principles at Key Stage 3

By the end of Y7 & Y8 students will have developed a broad range of scientific vocabulary, which has been embedded using regular retrieval practice tasks in lessons. Science affords excellent opportunities to engage students through practical tasks and there are certain key skills that can be developed when carrying out these activities. By the end of KS3 the students will have had many opportunities to carry out lab-based practical activities and will have completed extended written tasks based on these practical activities to utilise literacy skills. The students will have also learned and practised numeracy skills to allow them to carry out numerical calculations successfully.

Formative assessments will occur continually through the regular use of retrieval practice tasks, low stakes quizzes and interleaving tasks that link to prior learning. Regular book looks will occur where teachers review the work done by pupils and give feedback on the work completed with time allocated in lessons so that students have opportunity to effectively respond to the feedback. Feedback will also be provided in lessons and students will act on this using green pen to make it visible in their books. Summative assessments will occur at regular points throughout the year, in common with other schools in the Lionheart Academy Trust (LAT). These assessments will be exam-style questions based on topics that have been recently covered and that also involve some questions that are interleaved with prior learning.

The sequence of planning was collaborative across the Lionheart Academy Trust science departments. Subject specialists met and discussed the sequence of topics based on the AQA KS3 curriculum (Big Ideas), deciding on a logical and coherent scheme of learning for KS3 that includes spiralling, interleaving and knowledge-based learning. This new schedule is being implemented in 2019-20 at Y7 and the Y8 scheme will follow the year after.

Section 2: Connectedness (linking and co-ordinating)

The KS3 curriculum lays a solid foundation for the work undertaken at GCSE. The key concepts and ideas that feature in the KS3 curriculum are a direct link to the GCSE content that students are required to know for their exams at the end of year 11. Both the KS3 and GCSE curricula are knowledge-rich and so require students to be able to retain subject knowledge over a long time period. Regular retrieval practice tasks encourage students to consistently take information into their long-term memory and retain it for future application, i.e. in summative assessments. By interleaving topics at KS3 we mirror the interleaving of topics studied at GCSE, with long-term planning at GCSE allowing for interleaving between biology, chemistry and physics topics and even interleaving between topics in a given subject. Elaboration is an important skill that students need to be able to use at GCSE and the foundation for this is established in KS3 through appropriate questioning by teachers, and is then continued at GCSE level in the same way.

In KS3, we are guiding the students on how to make predictions based on observations or prior knowledge which is something they are required to do at GCSE. Students would be able to safely carry out practical work and then be able to write coherently about the experiments and share their findings/make conclusions in an articulate manner. The students learn about how to apply mathematical formulae correctly in order to answer questions at both KS3 and GCSE.

In years 7-9 all students are in mixed ability groups so that they may develop without prejudices about the limits that students can reach. They are able to interact and see examples of good work, model answers, what success can look like so that we are able to have high expectations of the level of work students can achieve. In year 10 we have two triple science groups which are chosen by assessments carried out at the end of year 9. This allows for the most able students to utilise opportunities for appropriate stretch and challenge and encourages a focus for what students will achieve in year 9. Students not studying triple science will complete the combined science (trilogy) course in mixed ability groups. This will provide opportunity for students to achieve as stated previously as they are not limited be pre-conceived ideas of what is possible due to the group or set they are in. All triple science and combined science students will be taught by subject specialists so that they have the best opportunity to succeed in science. For students who are very low ability we have one smaller “nurture” group that, because of the smaller class size, can receive more attention, guidance and structure to allow them the best opportunity to achieve success. The core principles guiding our 5 year curriculum are:

• That the curriculum should be reflective and flexible so as to reflect the development of new ideas, theories and technology in science
• The curriculum should be knowledge based and students should have a love of knowledge, that students feel a sense of accomplishment for gaining new knowledge because they want to find out new ideas and information;
• The curriculum should be challenging to build on the challenging KS2 work that students have done prior to joining Judgemeadow and provide students the best opportunities when moving on to further study;
• The curriculum should equip students with skills that will allow them to understand the world around them and make informed decisions now and in the future

 

Section 3: Your subject: five year impact

Over the course of five years studying science at Judgmeadow students will have opportunity to link together knowledge and skills from other subjects and apply them into their science learning. Or they can take Science learning and apply it to other subjects.

Students will be able to use literacy skills gained in English lessons to write confidently, coherently and articulately about what they have observed. They will apply numeracy skills learning in maths to work out the speed of an object, the rate of a chemical reaction, draw graphs neatly to represent trends or patterns based on data collected in experiments. They learn about history through science with the development of key ideas and their relevance over time. Students get to discuss ethical ideas about the use of technology to affect human lives, something that requires reflection of both sides of a point of view which crosses over with RS.

Students will gain a better understanding of how things work; they practise following methods and considering risks and hazards which can apply to other subjects like food technology or PE, in addition to their everyday lives. Science is a subject that allows students to not just remember the “What?”, “Where?” or “When?” questions but also consider the “How?”, “Why?” and “What If?” and develop new ideas for the future in a creative and constantly evolving subject.

The science curriculum has been developed with all of these ideas in mind. The curriculum is knowledge rich so that students are able to take in as much information as possible so that they have this information as a tool at their disposal, to be used when necessary and applied appropriately. There are practical activities where students can get “hands on” with the theories they study and get to observe them in action. The curriculum includes opportunities for practising numeracy skills as it is a minimum requirement for the GCSE exams that students carry out some sort of mathematical skills, not just science knowledge. The curriculum allows students to broaden their vocabulary, particularly with the use of tier 3 or subject-specific words. The science curriculum affords the chance for students to become knowledge rich through regular retrieval practice tasks embedded on a regular basis and carries out assessments that contain questions from previous learning so that students practise interleaving, as well as retrieval practice.

Section 4: Teaching and Learning

The science curriculum is planned to incorporate opportunities Effective Learning Strategies which are being implemented across the school. In lessons we use regular retrieval practice activities, with the aim of building a long-term memory. These can take the form of homework tasks that use Knowledge Organisers which students are asked to memorise and tested on a regular basis. Interleaving is seen in the curriculum as we have key ideas and concepts that are studied in science from year 7 to GCSE to varying depths and detail. We also use interleaving of topics that take the form of “da Vinci moments” which are short, low-stakes quizzes that can used at any point within a lesson and are usually based on prior learning, often from previous topics. This “Spaced Practice” is one of the effective learning strategies that aids in the building of secure long-term memory as it provides regular re-visiting opportunities for ideas that may not have been recently studied. This re-visiting is shown to improve retention of memory.

Within lessons there are Effective Learning Strategies used in conjunction with Effective Teaching Strategies. Teachers use modelling of their own examples and use exemplar work by students as this helps to scaffold to help students achieve the same goals. Teachers and students using concrete examples helps students to grasp some more conceptual ideas that some may struggle with, rather than solely using analogies that can sometimes lead to misconceptions. Questioning in lessons helps students to create a more detailed picture of a concept by encouraging elaboration. This elaboration can take the form of asking an individual student to elaborate on their own answers or to ask other students to build on the answers that other students have provided. Teachers use “cold calling” in lessons which is a strategy that means all students will have the opportunity to answer questions, not just those that raise their hands. The “cold calling” questioning is enhanced with a “no opt-out” strategy that allows a student who doesn’t know an answer to be re-visited after they have heard the answer from another student. This encourages resilience and aims to build confidence that a student who might not know an answer can say it aloud and get it correct, even if they didn’t know the first time.

Verbal and written questions can allow for assessment of students’ knowledge and understanding with the use of hinge questions. These diagnostic questions often use misconceptions as possible answers, as well as the correct answer, so that teachers can see if a class/student is ready to move on to new ideas or to review the current one.

Feedback is provided to students on a regular basis in a written format. Often, this is based on some extended writing or long answer questions which the teacher will mark and pick up on the more common errors made with those questions. Feedback and guidance are provided in follow-up lessons which students use to improve their work in green pen. Verbal/visual feedback is also provided in lessons when low-stakes quizzes are set and students are regularly encouraged to use green pen in order to highlight where feedback has been provided and improvements have been made.

These strategies are strongly influenced by “Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction” where questioning, modelling & providing examples, checking responses using hinge questions, providing feedback and generally guiding students all build towards students being able to work independently using the instruction they have received.

We are implementing a “Highly Instruction Process” (HIP) strategy for Y7 and Y8 which is a strategy aimed at improving the vocabulary for our students when being introduced to a new topic or ideas. At the start of each topic there will be a section of lesson or whole lesson devoted to the reading and understanding of an article related to the topic which is about to be studied. The aim of this is that students are “pre-taught” new tier 2 and tier 3 vocabulary prior to the topic so that they are better equipped to understand and use these words in lessons, their written work and homework. The increased depth and breadth of vocabulary will enable students to better understand the world around them and engage with science generally, as well as providing a sound basis for further studies in science subjects.

curriculum overview

	biology	chemistry	physics
year 7	Introductory topic for two to four weeks, including a baseline Assessment
	Organisms: Cells and Movement	Particles: Particle Model	Forces: Speed & Forces, Gravity
	Assessment Point 1: Low stakes test based on content from the three topics just studied
	Reproduction: Genes, Human Reproduction, Ecosystems, Plant Reproduction	Solutions: Separating Mixtures	Space: Earth & the Universe
	Assessment Point 2: Low stakes test based on content from the three topics just studied
	Variation: Genes variation	Reactions: Acids and Alkalis	Energy: Energy transfer and Energy works
	Assessment Point 3: Low stakes test based on content from the three topics just studied
	Interdependence: Ecosystems interdependence	Reactions: Metals and non metals	Electricity: Electromagnets, Potential difference, Electromagnets - current
	Assessment Point 4: Low stakes test based on content from the three topics just studied
	End of year exam with three weeks of teaching time to review specific areas of improvement for students

	biology	chemistry	physics
year 8	Digestion: Organisms-digestion	Elements: Matter-elements	Waves: Wave effects, wave properties, sound waves, light waves
	Assessment Point 1: Low stakes test based on content from the three topics just studied
	Respiration: Breathing, Ecosystems-respiration	Periodic Table: Matter-periodic table	Advanced Energy: Heating, cooling, energy costs
	Assessment Point 2: Low stakes test based on content from the three topics just studied
	Photosynthesis: Ecosystems-photosynthesis	Earth: Structure, resources, climate	Magnetism: Electromagnets & magnetism
	Assessment Point 3: Low stakes test based on content from the three topics just studied
	End of year exam with three weeks of teaching time to review specific areas of improvement for students

	biology	chemistry	physics
year 9	Genetics: Genes, Inheritance, ecosystems-evolution	Advanced Reactions: Types of reaction, chemical energy	Advanced Forces: Contact forces, pressure
	Assessment Point 1: Low stakes test based on content from the three topics just studied
	Revision and Mastery	Revision and Mastery	Revision and Mastery
	End of KS3 exams - Two papers covering all topics from Year 7,8, and 9
	Cell Structure & MicroscopesCell TransportCell division: MytosisOrganisation: Digestive system & enzymesOrganisation: Heart, blood, blood vessels, lungsOrganisation: Plant tissues	Atomic Structure & Periodic tableChemical bondingChemical Changes: Acids, Metals & making salts	Energy: Conservation of EnergyEnergy: Transfer of energy & heatingEnergy resourcesElectricity: electric circuits

	biology	chemistry	physics
year 10	Infection & Immune ResponseBioenergetics – Respiration & PhotosynthesisEcology – Adaptation & InterdependenceEcology – Organising an ecosystemEcology - Biodiversity	Chemical Changes – ElectrolysisQuantitative ChemistryEnergy Changes – Endo/Exothermic ReactionsRate of Chemical ChangeOrganic Chemistry(some topics may be covered in Y11, depending on timetable for chemistry & physics)	Particle Model of MatterElectricity in the homeAtomic Structure & RadioactivityForces in balanceForces & MotionWave Properties(some topics may be covered in Y11, depending on timetable for chemistry & physics)

	biology	chemistry	physics
year 11	Homeostasis – Nervous SystemHomeostasis – HormonesInheritance, Variation & Evolution	Chemical AnalysisChemistry of the AtmosphereUsing Earth’s Resources	Electromagnetic wavesElectromagnetism

	biology	chemistry	physics
	This is covered at various points throughout Y10 & Y11 depending on the amount of lessons it takes to cover the content.
Triple Only Content	Cells - Aseptic Technique Infection – Plant defences & Monoclonal Antibodies Homeostasis – Brain, Eye & Kidneys; Plant Hormones Inheritance & Evolution – Speciation; Alternative theories of Evolution; DNA structure & protein synthesis	Chemical Bonding – Nanoparticles Quantitative Chemistry – Yield, atom economy, titrations & gas volumes Energy Changes – Chemical Cells & Fuel Cells Organic Chemistry – Alkenes, Alcohols, Carboxylic Acids & Esters, Polymerisation Chemical Analysis – Flame tests, testing for positive & negative ions	Electricity – Static electricity Particle Model – Gas pressure Atomic structure -Background radiation & hazards of radiation; nuclear fission & fusion Forces – Moments, levers & gears; pressure in fluids; Changes in momentum Waves – Reflection of waves, sound waves, waves for detection; Lenses & visible light; Black Body Radiation