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Science
Knowledge Organisers - for the attention of parents and students
Thamesview Curriculum Intent and Implementation
As a community we have the highest aspirations for all our students, regardless of their background, and are ambitious in the breadth and depth of knowledge we want our students to gain in their subjects.
Our Curriculum has been designed using a Trivium framework encouraging students to Know Well, Think Well and Communicate Well. Students need to develop rich foundational knowledge, be able to think and deepen their understanding through questioning, discussion and debate. Be able to communicate and express their learning in a variety of forms.
As Tom Sherrington states in The Learning Rainforest, “Knowledge is key in a curriculum but so too is the ability to develop capacity to question and challenge, to engage in dialect of the trivium*, to contribute to debate and conversation.”
Thamesview seeks to go beyond a curriculum based on knowledge alone, to a curriculum that builds thought, expression and character.
The Trivium as outlined by Martin Robinson has three parts for students;
Knowledge (AKA Grammar):
Learning involves connecting new information with what is stored in our long-term memory. Therefore, limited prior learning can limit our future learning. Development of a rich knowledge base essentially makes us more intelligent by creating more branches for new learning and ideas to connect with. Without much foundational knowledge of a topic it is difficult for learners to form their own ideas and to work independently. Teachers have a vital part to play in leading the learning process to ensure that conceptual understanding progressively builds over time. The curriculum must be coherently constructed and sequenced across subject disciplines to achieve this. The development of a broad vocabulary is also a key part of this pillar. Thamesview places high importance on every subject area having a coherent and strong approach to successfully improving and strengthening disciplinary literacy within our school. This work is based on the research of the EEF and Alex Quigley.
Elements of Teaching & Learning related to Knowledge:
- Clarity through explanations & modelling
- Responsive teaching strategies
- Repetition & spaced retrieval practice
- Regular low level stakes assessment to identify and close gaps & address misconceptions.
- Disciplinary Literacy strategies to secure and cement knowledge for learners.
- Relevant Rosenshine principles of effective implementation – Thamesview School expects all staff to know and implement Rosenshine principles in curriculum implementation.
Exploration (AKA Dialectic):
Simply knowing things is insufficient. Encouraging our students to think, debate and consider alternative views is a vital part of the education we provide. Knowing things without the skill to explore knowledge further is of limited value to our students in the wider world. We encourage our students at Thamesview to be respectful of others, to be resilience when learning or when ideas are challenging, to be ambitious for themselves, seeking to take knowledge beyond the just knowing and retaining of facts.
Elements of Teaching and Learning related to Exploration:
- Real world experience, challenges and experimentation
- Debate, critical thinking & deep questioning
- Problem solving & reflection
- Character Education
- Relevant Rosenshine principles of effective implementation – Thamesview School expects all staff to know and implement Rosenshine principles in curriculum implementation.
Communication (AKA Rhetoric):
We want our students to leave Thamesview confident communicators. Explaining ideas publicly strengthens knowledge. This pillar is not, however, limited to public speaking. Any performance involves communication, whether it be a Sporting or creative performance, essay, speech or exhibition of work. These performances help to develop a range of qualities that prepare our learners well for their future lives. Ensuring all our learners can communicate in a clear, articulate and convincing manner, in a variety of ways, is vital.
Elements of Teaching & Learning related to Communication:
- Public performance & extended writing
- Presentations, exhibitions and displays.
- Demonstrating Thamesview Character values.
- Relevant Rosenshine principles of effective implementation – Thamesview School expects all staff to know and implement Rosenshine principles in curriculum implementation. At Thamesview we aim to build our curriculum around five key principles.
- A curriculum that has Coherence for students – explaining to them what they are learning and when and why.
- A curriculum that provides all students with a wide and deep range of Experience(s).
- A curriculum that equips students with Knowledge and the ability to use it, develop it and be inspired by it.
- A curriculum that Expands horizons for students.
- A curriculum that represents all creating a sense of Belonging
Subject Curriculum Intent and Implementation
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Curriculum Intent for Science Our curriculum is based on the National curriculum from Key stage Two through to Key Stage Five in conjunction with instruction from the exam board, Edexcel. We have decided to separate learning into the three science strands to increase schema development, beginning with the basics of cell structure and function, matter and forces and energy. Students will begin with basic cell structure in Year 7 and by the end of Year 11 should be able to understand the role played by cells in life processes such as photosynthesis and hormonal coordination. In the case of matter, students begin the position of atoms in states and complete the five years by discussing the way atoms interact in reactions in word and chemical equations. Forces and energy in real life situations are the entrance for the physics strand, building on work, often completed at Key Stage Two and culminates in students being able to calculate the energy change associated with force. Through the full science course, we seek to ensure that students understand:
The fourth strand of the curriculum, based on Scientific investigation, will be integrated into the three strands to ensure learning with context. |
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Links to Whole School Intent. Science is focused around students gaining both substantive and disciplinary knowledge that will allow them to make informed choices as adults. We seek to ensure that all our students have the opportunity to access appropriate Hinterland knowledge, as we are aware that students may lack the life experience that will enhance their schema development and their ability to convey a full Science narrative. Our curriculum contains ideas and activities which ask students to recall and apply the knowledge they are learning so that their schema overtime grows into a tree of knowledge and the interlinking branches become part of their understanding. Within each scheme there is stretch for all students and the capacity to personalise the curriculum to challenge all. The department is committed to guided reading with students to facilitate increased understanding and development of the language of Science. Students will also be encouraged to communicate, with clarity, the planning and outcome of Science investigations. They will be, through scaffolding and modelling, encouraged to develop the skills needed to describe, explain and discuss scientific concepts in examination context and in real life. |
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Curriculum Implementation for Science The curriculum is taught in three distinct strands, Biology, Chemistry and Physics, to allow students to develop their schema consistently as they move through the school. Within these scheme’s students are encouraged to develop their practical skills and understanding of the situations they are applicable in. Within lessons, focused cold calling questioning will be seen be used along with other retrieval methods. Ideas will be introduced in small chunks, followed by guided practice and independent practice to all our students the opportunity to move ideas from short term to long term memory, allowing recall with ease. In Science we understand the specific need for modelling succinct written answers and scaffolding the process of mathematical calculation in relevant units. Lesson assessment will be completed every 6 lessons so that students and staff can analyse their teaching and learning and move forward accordingly. There will also be regular low stakes testing conducted via TEAMS or in class so that staff can keep up to date with the class on a weekly basis. Summative assessment will be completed twice a year and will be followed with feedback and work to encourage students to move understanding forward. This will be shared with both students and parents. |
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Links to Whole School Implementation. Focused cold calling questioning will be seen be used along with other retrieval methods, allowing students the opportunity to review their learning. Ideas will be introduced in small chunks, followed by guided practice and independent practice to all our students the opportunity to move ideas from short term to long term memory, allowing recall with ease. Modelling and scaffolding should be a key part of lessons, developing students ability to tackle multi step communication and calculations. Lesson assessment will be completed every 6 lessons so that students and staff can analyse their teaching and learning and move forward accordingly. There will also be regular low stakes testing conducted via TEAMS or in class so that staff can keep up to date with the class on a weekly basis. Summative assessment will be completed twice a year and will be followed with feedback and work to encourage students to move understanding forward. This will be shared with both students and parents. As a subject we require staff to show specialist knowledge across the three strands of curriculum. This is checked and developed as part of the CPD programme, both individually and across the whole team in department meetings. We are also keen to develop the team’s pedagogy of teaching methods and those specifically related to teaching of Science through reading and discussion relating to current research. |
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How Impact is measured within the department Outcomes of regular low stake testing and in class formative assessment will be used to modify and enhance teaching and, therefore learning on a regular basis. Students will be offered feedback and guidance which should enable them to develop this skill and be able to use the process modelled to them moving forward in life. The department will be monitored through lesson drop ins and regular deep dives and most importantly, student and staff voice, to ensure that lessons are meeting the expected standards and fulfilling the successful building of the Science Schema. |
Schemes of work
Subject Core Knowledge Maps
Homework
Homework Time Table 2023-2024 - Term 1
Homework Time Table 2023-2024 - Term 2
Homework Time Table 2023-2024 - Term 3
Homework Time Table 2023-2024 - Term 4
What is being studied each term
What is taught each term in Science
Year 7 Science - Learning Journey Term 1
Year 8 Science - Learning Journeys T1 and T2
Year 9 Science - Learning Journeys T1 and T2
Assessment
Literacy
‘Reading and Literacy Next Steps’
What successful readers look like within the discipline
Students will read with fluency and punctuation. They will tackle the unfamiliar words including key words identified in schemes of work, and will be supported in sounding the terms correctly. If student/s are unsure about the term, the meaning will then be covered and reinforced and associated with real world scenario or concept.
In the reading of examination documents students will be able to translate the command words into the correct depth of answer and use hints from within questions about the vocabulary needed to meet the intent of the question.
The pitfalls students encounter when reading in your subject
Unfamiliar Level 2 and 3 language. This will be unpacked with students as the reading is completed and those words will be referred to again within the lesson. The definitions may form part of the questioning within the lesson.
It is important to acknowledge that many scientific words also have alternative meanings and this must be addressed especially with our EAL students.
Appropriate strategies to tackle issues in reading/ Improving literacy in Science
Understanding Prefixes and suffixes – address meanings and give examples of their use in context. Understanding some of he most common root words in science. These are displayed in every science classroom to help support students understanding of key vocabulary and develop their scientific literacy
Creating a safe classroom culture – it’s okay to not know, asking students to unpick/relate back – now use it in a sentence.
Emphasising difficult language – highlight, underline, write in a different colour – glossary creation in books (to be discussed further)
Keywords lesson – active discovery of meanings – used is a revision-based context – to be displayed in student books
Homework/Knowledge Organisers/Learning Journey – reinforcing key concepts and key words – raising parental engagement, encouraging further support at home
The literacy skills successful readers need to achieve within the discipline
Students will need to break down terms to read them and enable deeper understanding. They will need to read with fluency and be able to reiterate the meaning of sections that have been read.
High reading ages are often required to understand the difficult nature of key words – tier language – and to be successful in using these words.
The ability to understand the meaning behind a question, and what science is required
The ability to create a scientifically sound answer, using key phrases and key words – being proactive in choosing the words required/linked to the question – use of a visualiser to aid this process
Spellings of more difficult words – accurate spellings are required for higher grades at GCSE
How the department will support literacy through the curriculum
Reading by staff and students at regular and appropriate intervals in learning.
Focus on key language in the lesson within context not just a discrete object.
Use of visualiser to aid in the correct use of key words/language – in the right context – modelling the process of choosing correct terminology, by breaking down questions and unpicking their meanings.
Recall tasks – focusing on use of language – including definitions of key terms. Using groups of related tier 3 words, encouraging students to use in a complex sentence.
I do, we do, you do – focusing on the use of key terminology
Reading out loud activities do not feature heavily – embed in the future?
Are teachers actively aware of reading ages – more focus in CPD
Practical bases approaches can be used to facilitate reading for meaning
As teachers, using key language as and when is necessary, when explaining or modelling concepts – addressing why we use these words, questioning use of words
How the department will quality assure disciplinary reading within the department
Should be part of observed practice in drop in and LW.
Student voice should indicate it is occurring appropriately.
Contacts for the department
| Maria Daines | m.dugmore@thamesview.kent.sch.uk |