Curriculum intent Science

Curriculum Intent Statement

Science is the both the pursuit of knowledge and understanding of the natural and social world following a systematic methodology based on evidence, and the body of knowledge humanity has collected by this process.

The Science Curriculum (What we teach and when we teach it) has been designed and refined to deliver a logically sequenced journey that provides the breadth and depth of substantive and disciplinary knowledge required so that students can;

• progress to, and succeed, in their next stage of education,
• make scientifically informed life decisions and opinions on matters that will affect them in the future,
• access and succeed in a wide range of scientific and non-scientific job roles.
• Provide a structure of content that allows teachers to encourage students to ask questions and promotes the pleasure of finding things out

What is Science?

Science, as a concept, is both the vast body of knowledge of how our universe behaves and the process by which humanity pushes the boundaries to acquire new knowledge.  The role of any science curriculum is both to impart a breadth and depth of knowledge to students that will be relevant to their lives, but also to teach students to think in a scientific manner – to ask questions and apply that knowledge logically.

The body of scientific knowledge that humanity has discovered is vast, and while most students won’t use all of it in their later lives, every student will at least use some of it. The curriculum we teach must be broad enough that it covers the basics of what students will possibly need once they leave education, and have the depth to allow students to progress, and succeed, at the next level of their the education. All students will have to apply knowledge (scientific or otherwise) to new situations, whatever their path, and it is science’s role within the whole school curriculum to develop that skill. Whether a student continues their science education to A level or beyond, so stops at GCSE, having a curriculum that focuses on the application of knowledge  and understanding will help students succeed in whatever career they choose to pursuit.

Pathways through the Science Curriculum

Our fundamental purpose of the science curriculum is to provide a broad and balanced curriculum that allows students to successfully progress to their next destination, be this A level Sciences, BTEC Applied Science, a STEM based apprenticeship, having the scientific knowledge that they can apply to their non-STEM based courses or jobs, and having the basic scientific understanding to make informed decisions and choices in their later lives.

For students taking a more academically scientific pathway, the KS3 and KS4 courses prepares our students for taking A levels and progressing to university.

For students focusing on more technical routes, they prepare students for the Applied Science BTEC or entering into STEM based apprentices.

For students who end their formal science qualifications at GCSE level, our KS3 and KS4 coursed provided a board range on knowledge and skills which can be applied to a variety of other quantifications or jobs later in life. While we recognise very few students will use the entire body of knowledge that is taught, almost all students will used some bits of it and by having a broad curriculum it allows us to cover most of the topics student will come across, whatever their destination.