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 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.
Assessment in science is vital to track students and intervene if there is an issue with the learning. We have a structured assessment system where there is continuous assessment during a unit and a series of final assessments focusing on substantive and disciplinary knowledge. All students will complete extended questions throughout the unit marked in detail by the staff member and at the end there are assessments on factual knowledge, definitions of key scientific terminology and formative assessments. These assessments are designed to aid the staff member make informed judgements on pupil progress.
For further information regarding the Science curriculum please contact:
Mr Leek, email: alee@ccc.lancs.sch.uk or telephone school reception: (01772) 716912.