A Parent’s Guide to Year 7-11 Science at Samuel Ward Academy

At Samuel Ward Academy, we believe that the purpose of education is to unlock the potential of all children and remove barriers so that all pupils can succeed, regardless of their background. Education should provide pupils with the choice to pursue their aspirations, opening doors to new opportunities by widening their understanding of the world around them.

At Samuel Ward Academy scientific knowledge in each of the Biology, Chemistry and Physics is delivered in science lessons across the 5 years. Throughout the 5 years your child will be exposed to a large breadth of scientific knowledge from learning about our own bodies to the interdependence of life on Earth, the chemical nature of our planet and how humans interact with and manipulate it, the laws of physics that govern us and our place within the Universe.

Mastery of this knowledge and how to apply this knowledge will provide them with the foundations of better understanding our world and allow them to critically analyse and interrogate information and observations to make informed decisions. In addition to this we will teach your child(ren) important scientific skills (e.g., predicting, analysing, evaluating) as well as providing opportunities for them to develop their practical skills (thinking methodically, safety, problem solving, making accurate observations/measurements) – mastery of these skills will provide them with transferable skills to take forward to their post-16 choices.

At Samuel Ward Academy we have a bespoke curriculum which has been carefully sequenced by our team and is accompanied by bespoke booklets, written by our team, that your child(ren) will use in their science lessons. Digital versions of these booklets can be accessed on our padlet (links in the table) so that you and your child(ren) can access at home making it easier to catch up on any missed lessons and as a revision resource. In these booklets you will also find key vocabulary, a checklist of content they should learn in that topic and knowledge questions to test them on to strengthen this knowledge in their working memory.

Our curriculum is spiral in design which means we revisit key concepts multiple times over the 5 years and build on this prior knowledge to obtain a deeper understanding of the concept. We start with foundational knowledge from the KS3 National Curriculum in Y7 and Y8 building on the KS2 science they have learned in primary school; in Y9 we revisit and further build on this foundational knowledge and bridge the gap to the knowledge they need for their GCSEs. In Y10 and Y11 the content will vary depending on whether your child chooses to do triple science as an option or not but again key concepts will be revisited and expanded upon in greater depth.

Both Combined and Triple science routes will allow your child to access A-level sciences and more information about this can be provided when your child(ren) is/are in Y9 and choosing their options. [Further details of the content delivered for GCSE can be found in the AQA Exam Board specifications for both Combined Science (Trilogy; 8464) and Triple Science (Biology 8461, Chemistry 8462 and Physics 8463), via https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/science/gcse.

This guide has been designed to provide you with the information you need to support your child to be successful in science at Samuel Ward. Should you wish to have further information than this please do get in touch either with your child’s class teachers or the Head of Science (please see details below) who will be happy to assist.

Department Staff