Professional Documents
Culture Documents
For the purposes of teaching KS3 Science at GWIS we use the Exploring
Science: How Science Works (ESHSW) commercial scheme as a basis for
lessons. This allows staff to write effective lesson plans bearing in mind the
students in their classes. These lessons should encourage the exploration of
Science and how the knowledge applies to the world around them. This document
gives you a broad outline of the course and explains assessment requirements.
are equipped with the scientific knowledge required to understand the uses and
implications of science, today and for the future.
Resources
Students in Year 7-9 will be issued with a username and password to access the
ActiveLearn website, this will allow them to read the Year 7, 8 and 9 textbook
information online and complete interactive activities to check their
understanding. https://www.pearsonactivelearn.com/ This online resource will
also form a basis for revision in addition to the revision packs that students are
given prior to an assessment. The students will also be issued with an exercise
book to record information and practical work in during their lessons. It is not
expected to be a book which the students revise content from although from
time to time teachers will feel it necessary to extend some knowledge areas
beyond that found in the textbook. The exercise book is a record of a students
learning journey and should reflect increases in their abilities to think
creatively about Science.
In year 9, scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding of the specific
disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics are taught through project based
schemes of work in the three separate subjects. The aim is that students
become aware of the big ideas underpinning scientific knowledge and
understanding and continue to develop their How Science Works key skills
towards key stage 4 level.
It is always our intention to continually develop and improve our scheme of
learning by sharing resources, expertise and ideas amongst the department and
within the GEMs community, as our greatest resources are teachers themselves.
Homework
The school takes a project based approach to home learning at Key Stage 3 and
the department follows the school policy. In addition to this, Science will set
30-40 minutes of home learning each week, which maybe a continuation of the
previous weeks home learning, when the Science KS3 project is not being
completed. These home learning tasks will directly link to the ESHSW scheme
of work and outcomes, and will be assessed using the criteria provided.
Over the course of the year each student will complete six home learning
projects. Each project will be timetabled into the year and run by a different
curriculum area. Each project will last for four weeks and culminate in some
form of event or celebration.
The project dates for science are:
Year 7: 6th September 30th September 2015
Year 8: 1st February 29th February 2016
Topics
7A, 7F, 7I
7C, 7H, 7J
7D, 7G, 7K
7E, 7B
Topics
8A, 8E, 8I
8C, 8F, 8K
8B, 8G, 8L
8D, 8H, 8I
Topics
Biology/chemistry/physics mini content
assessment
Biology/chemistry/physics mini content
assessment
Biology/chemistry/physics mini content
assessment
End of Key Stage 3 assessment
The Biology, Chemistry and Physics topics in year 9 will be taught at different
times for different classes. The topic rotations can be found on the Weebly
http://wissciences.weebly.com/ The mini topic tests will depend on which
subject the student has studied in the 6 weeks prior.
Year 9 End of Key Stage assessment
The final assessment for KS3 will be in the form of two written papers, one will
be content based on the Biology, Chemistry and Physics content covered during
Year 9 and the second paper will be based on HSW. Revision guidance and
booklets will be handed to students closer to the time.
Data Capture
At six data capture points in the year (roughly once every half term) teachers
will make an overall judgement about the progress made by each student based
on their performance in the each type of assessment (as well as using
professional judgement) and will assign a level and sub-level for that student to
be recorded in the school database and reported home. Please note this means
that students will often have achieved various different levels in the formal and
formative assessments and the highest level will not necessarily be the one
reported in the data captures.
We would expect students to make at least two sub-levels of progress in each
academic year, although this is the minimum rate of progress.
Revision materials
All key stage 3 students will receive log in details for the text books
online, these contain relevant information for each topic studied. Year 9
students will receive photocopies of the GCSE material covered in their
topics.
Revision resources can also be accessed on the Weebly and are found in
the Secondary KS3 Science section.