The Science Department

Department Staff

Technicians:

Departmental Aims

The Science department aims to provide students with an interest and understanding of science and how science works, as well as developing their practical experimental skills.

Resources

The Science department has 10 dedicated science laboratories, 8 of these being nearly new or recently refurbished. There are 6 laboratories (B1 to B6) on the ground floor in Bede House, 2 in Heenan House (H9 and H10) and 2 on the first floor in Mother Theresa House (MT1 and MT2). Each building has a science preparation room for the technicians to use, the main prep. room being in Bede House. ICT and multimedia resources are used frequently in lessons with each laboratory having an overhead projector connected to the computer network. In addition, there are laptop computers available for use within science lessons in Bede House.

Curriculum

KS3

All students follow the Science National Curriculum at KS3 throughout Years 7, 8 and 9. Students are assessed regularly through end of unit tests, examinations and ongoing formative assessment.  The Year 7 course is based on the new Oxford University Press ‘Science Works’ textbooks that have been recently purchased for each student.

KS4

At KS4, the Science Department provides several pathways to GCSE qualifications, enabling students to maximise their particular strengths and interests. In Years 10/11 some students opt for 3 GCSE’s in Biology, Chemistry and Physics. Other students take 2 GCSE’s in Science or Applied Science courses. All GCSE courses involve centre assessed coursework tasks as well as written examination papers. The examinations are taken throughout Years 10 and 11.

GCSE Science and GCSE Additional Science Pathway:

The GCSE Science course is part of the OCR 21st Century Science suite of qualifications and is followed in Year 10. GCSE Science has an emphasis on scientific literacy - the knowledge and understanding which students need to engage as informed citizens with science-based issues. There are examinations in January and June in Year 10 that make up 66.7% of the GCSE, the other 33.3% being centre assessed tasks.

The GCSE Additional Science is followed in Year 11 by students who took GCSE Science in Year 10. GCSE Additional Science is part of the OCR 21st Century Science suite of qualifications. The course focuses on scientific explanations and models, and gives candidates an insight into how scientists develop scientific understanding of ourselves and the world we inhabit. As for GCSE Science, there are examinations in January and June that make up 66.7% of the GCSE, the other 33.3% being centre assessed tasks.

Double Award Applied Science Pathway:

This course is provided the OCR examination board and leads to 2 GCSE’s being awarded at the end of Year 11. Applied Science aims to develop the student’s ability to apply skills, knowledge and understanding of how science works and its essential role in society. In addition, it seeks to provide students with an awareness of how institutions and companies use science in a wide range of essential functions. 66.7% of the examination is based on centre assessed portfolio assignments completed by the students and the remaining 33.3% is assessed through a written examination paper.

Separate Science Pathway:

The students who opt for separate sciences (or ‘triple science’) will follow 3 GCSE courses throughout Years 10 and 11: Biology, Chemistry and Physics. Each course is part of the OCR 21st Century Science suite of qualifications and each is made up of 7 units. The separate sciences are assessed by written examinations (66.7%) taken in January and June throughout Years 10 and 11 and centre assessed tasks (33.3%).

KS5

In Years 12 and 13 students can choose to take the following 4 science subjects:

Biology, Chemistry and Physics courses follow the OCR specifications and involve at both AS (Year 12) and A2 (Year 13) centre assessed tasks that make up 20% of the examinations. The remaining 80% is based on written examination papers.

The Applied Science course follows the AQA specification and involves a strong emphasis on portfolio work although there are still some written examinations as well. The Double Award Applied Science course has 6 units in each of Year 12 and Year 13, making 12 units in total. 8 of the units are portfolio assessed and 4 are assessed by written examination papers.

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