The Science curriculum at Corpus Christi is designed to create a desire in pupils to learn and understand the world around them and encourage them to ask ‘why?’. It will give pupils knowledge about Biology including the basic structure of the body from cells up to the workings of the whole organism, Chemistry which focusses on a macroscopic level study of particles and Physics where students will learn how the world works and the mathematical side of science. The curriculum will build on students’ basic scientific knowledge and create an enquiring mind giving the confidence to ask searching questions about life and all aspects that feed in to it. Pupils should understand that science is about working objectively, modifying explanations to take account of new evidence and ideas and subjecting results to peer review. Pupils should decide on the appropriate type of scientific enquiry to undertake to answer their own questions and develop a deeper understanding of factors to be considered when collecting, recording and processing data. They should evaluate their results and identify further questions arising from them.
“The science curriculum is ambitious for all pupils and covers the entire National Curriculum in science.”
Science Subject Review March 2023
The national curriculum for Science aims to ensure that all pupils:
Reading and literacy skills are a vital component in science. Numerical skills are needed but a student’s ability to read and interpret information has a huge impact on progress. In science, students regularly read complex information, about key concepts. For example – the human genome project. Once a month students read a scientific article about a science topic, from current affairs. There also needs to be a deep understanding of command words to allow students to progress and for them to be able to define key scientific terminology. To build on this there is a reading challenge in year 7 based on the Horrible Science books.
Science Subject Review March 2023
“The pedagogical approaches being adopted, particularly around effective questioning are very effective and should be commended.”
In science, we believe that high quality summative assessment must primarily enable pupils to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding acquired throughout the implementation of the scheme of work. Assessments have been created that enable pupils to show their level of knowledge and understanding of topics they have learned in the current academic year and from previous academic years. The assessments cover a broad range of styles of question, including initial diagnostic testing to check for understanding prior to an assessment. The formal part includes 100% tests, extended questions, key words and practice GCSE questions. The results of these assessments allow teachers to measure the progress of all pupils. The results of the science assessments allow teachers to identify gaps in learning and inform of future teaching and planned interventions.
In science all assessments are challenging whilst meeting the needs of all pupils. In Key Stage 3 and 4 pupils will complete formative assessments at the end of each unit to check their knowledge and understanding. Assessments are differentiated to ensure all academic groups can demonstrate their understanding and have the opportunity to make outstanding progress through the curriculum. All teachers of science will ensure their classes are suitably ready for assessments and all content has been covered thoroughly, considering the needs of all pupils.
All pupils will be regularly assessed during lessons through questioning and feedback. In science there are many opportunities for pupils to discuss and feedback to the class. By doing this, teachers can check progress.
The impact of our curriculum is clearly demonstrated by our exceptional results and progress scores.
“Across the department staff have very high expectations of learning, often posing challenging composite questions, relying on a collection of component knowledge.”
Science Subject Review March 2023
9-4 | Progress Score | |
---|---|---|
2018/ 19 | 36% | -0.9 |
2021/ 22 | 53.5% | -0.1 |
Pupils who achieved a grade 9-4 in science increased by 17.5% from 2019.
43.4% of all pupils in science performed better than the national expectation of them.
Biology | 9-8 | Progress Score |
---|---|---|
2018/ 19 | 11.5% | -0.53 |
2021/ 22 | 20% | -0.45 |
Chemistry | 9-8 | Progress Score |
---|---|---|
2018/ 19 | 11.5% | -0.58 |
2021/ 22 | 20% | -0.18 |
Physics | 9-8 | Progress Score |
---|---|---|
2018/ 19 | 7.7% | -0.42 |
2021/ 22 | 20% | -0.05 |
40% of pupils in each discipline attained higher grades than the national expectation. 20% of pupils achieved an 8 or 9.
The impact is also evident through our extra-curricular provision. We run the STAN Science Academy for year 7 and 8 where up to 60 pupils experience additional science to build on their knowledge and skills. MEDVET for year 9 and 10 is attended by up to 30 students where they learn about possible future careers in the medical field and what their next steps could be. Numbers are always high in the year 9 options process as students realise the importance of science in their careers of the future. Trips to the Young Scientist Centre at UCLAN are also regularly run for all year groups.
“Pupils are very positive about their experiences in science.”
Science Subject Review March 2023
For further information regarding the Science curriculum please contact:
Mr Leek, email: alee@ccc.lancs.sch.uk or telephone school reception: (01772) 716912.