Science knows no country because knowledge belongs to humanity and is the torch which illuminates the world.”
– Louis Pasteur
Science
Our science curriculum provides pupils with an introduction to the essential scientific knowledge that they need to be educated citizens. It introduces students to the best that has been thought and said; and helps engender an appreciation of human endeavour, creativity and achievement.
Mr O Crispin
Director of Science
Our science curriculum is carefully designed and delivered to ensure all students:
- develop scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics
- develop understanding of the nature, processes and methods of science through different types of science enquiries that help them to answer scientific questions about the world around them
- are equipped with the scientific knowledge required to understand the uses and implications of science, today and for the future.
Year 7, 8 and 9 Curriculum Content
The framework for the Key Stage 3 science curriculum is shaped by the sequence of knowledge and concepts outlined in the national curriculum. Units in Years 7 and 8 have been organized into carefully crafted trios that build on each other regardless of the sequence within which they are covered. Year 9 provides a final opportunity for students to consolidate big ideas from Years 7 and 8 and reapply them into new and more sophisticated contexts.
| Year 7 | Unit/Topic |
|---|---|
| Autumn HT1 | Unit 1: Safety and skills required for the working practically in science |
| Autumn HT1 | Unit 2: How energy is stored and transferred |
| Autumn HT2 | Unit 3: Understand how the world is made up of matter |
| Autumn HT2 | Unit 4: Cell structure and function of living organisms |
| Spring HT1 | Unit 5: The fundamentals of force and motion |
| Spring HT1 | Unit 6: Atoms and how they react around us |
| Spring HT1 | Unit 7: How the body is organized and how cells become specialized |
| Spring HT2 | Unit 8: Properties of elements in the periodic table |
| Spring HT2 | Unit 9: How substances are transported throughout the body |
| Summer HT1 | Unit 10: Understand uses of acids and alkalis in real life applications |
| Summer HT1 | Unit 11: Understand changes that occur in the body and how we create human life |
| Summer HT2 | Unit 12: How forces act on the planets within the solar system and how we get seasons and day/night |
View the full Year 7 Curriculum Map
| Year 8 | Unit/Topic |
|---|---|
| Autumn HT1 | Unit 1: Understand the safety and skills required for working practically in science |
| Autumn HT2 | Unit 3: How chemical reactions between elements in the periodic table are carried out in everyday life |
| Autumn HT1 | Unit 2: The principles of electricity |
| Autumn HT2 | Unit 4: How the skeletal system and muscles work together to help protect organs and allow use to move |
| Spring HT2 | Unit 5: How magnetic forces can induce an electrical current |
| Spring HT1 | Unit 6: How substances that exist in nature can be pure/impure and how we can separate out components of a mixture |
| Spring HT2 | Unit 7: The process of gas exchange |
| Spring HT2 | Unit 8: How the body digests food to obtain nutrients |
| Summer HT1 | Unit 9: How energy travels as waves and how waves are used to produce sound |
| Summer HT1 | Unit 10: How energy travels as waves and how waves are used to produce light |
| Summer HT2 | Unit 11: The importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle |
View the full Year 8 Curriculum Map
| Year 9 | Unit/Topic |
|---|---|
| Autumn HT1 | Unit 1: The early atmosphere and how the earth has changed over time |
| Autumn HT1 | Unit 2: The process of weathering and how rocks can change their formation through the rock cycle |
| Autumn HT2 | Unit 3: How speed is measured and how this affects motion |
| Autumn HT2 | Unit 4: How the reactivity series was formed and be used to predict metal reactions |
| Autumn HT2 | Unit 5: The structure of DNA and how we inherit our characteristics |
| Spring HT1 | Unit 6: The theory of evolution through natural selection |
| Spring HT1 | Unit 7: How species are independent and interact within an environment |
| Spring HT1 | Unit 8: The process of energetics and how it relates to animals and plants |
| Spring HT2 | Unit 9: Understand the energy changes in a system before and after such changes. |
| Spring HT2 | Unit 10: Understand the Atomic structure and the periodic table |
| Summer HT1 | Unit 11: Understand how structural differences between types of cells enables them to perform specific functions within the organism |
| Summer HT2 | Unit 11: Understand how structural differences between types of cells enables them to perform specific functions within the organism |
View the full Year 9 Curriculum Map
Year 10 and 11 Curriculum Content
At Key Stage 4, students follow the AQA science programme of study. The order in which we cover the content of these specifications is listed below. All students are examined in all courses at the end of Year 11 and so revision throughout the two-year course is essential to a student’s success.
Trilogy
Seperate Sciences
Sixth Form Curriculum Content
Curriculum Map Year 12 Physics
Curriculum Map Year 12 Chemistry
Curriculum Map Year 13 Chemistry
Key Stage 4 science students follow the AQA GCSE science specifications. For further details, please follow the link below.
Download Full GCSE Trilogy Specification here
Download Full GCSE Biology Specification here
Download Full GCSE Chemistry Specification here
Download Full GCSE Physics Specification here
Key Stage 5 science students follow the AQA A Level Chemistry, AQA A Level Physics or or BTEC Level 3 Applied Science specification. For further details, please follow the link below.
Download Full A Level Chemistry Specification here
Download Full A Level Physics Specification here
Download Full BTEC Level 3 Applied Science Specification here
Please click on the logos below to visit Science-specific materials and resources.
- BBC Bitesize KS3:
- BBC Bitesize KS4:
- Oak National Academy:
Please click on the First Careers logo to visit their website.
A Student’s View
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Oliver
Former Notre Dame student, went on to study English Literature at University of Cambridge
