Key Stage 3
Year 7
There are six Year 7 science groups which are mixed ability, including Gifted, Able and Talented and Special Educational Needs. We work with our feeder schools (primary schools around us) to teach our prospective students the scientific skills required at Key Stage 3 and to motivate them in their science learning by teaching them to do experiments in Years 5 and 6.
In Year 7, the Science course has five broad themes to reflect five key ideas, but developed to allow for new areas such as Psychology. The five themes are:
- Life and Living Processes
- Energy
- Particles and Materials
- Interdependence
- Forces
Assessments: Internal end of topic tests each term, assessed pieces of work(individual and group work) and regular homework.
Year 8
In Year 8, the Science course is divided into Physics, Chemistry and Biology topics. All these areas of the topics are systematically taught across the groups. The topics are taught by the subject specialist teachers and are very varied. Lessons are a mixture of practical lessons, where the students perform experiments, and non-practical lessons, where they write up their experiments, analyse and discuss their results and plan further work.
Topics for Year 8 are:
- Food and Digestion
- Respiration
- Ecological Relationships
- Microbes and Disease
- Magnetism and Electromagnetism
- Light & Sound
- Heating and Cooling
- Atoms and Elements
- Compounds and Mixtures
- Space
Assessments: Internal end of topic tests each half term, assessed pieces of work and regular homework.
Year 9
In Year 9, students are set by ability. All sets undertake work in all four science skill areas.
- Scientific ability
- Biology
- Chemistry
- Physics
Top sets take their end of KS3 exams in the first half of their spring term to enable them to start their GCSE syllabus early.
Other students take their end of KS3 exams around Easter. They then spend the last term working on developing their investigation skills in preparation for key stage 4.