Curriculum Rationale: Science
Our science curriculum involves all students learning a body of knowledge relating to the products and practices of science. By learning about the practices of science, our students will learn how scientific knowledge has come into being through scientific inquiry and learn that knowledge is open to revision as new evidence emerges. As each of our students learns science, they will also learn about its uses and its significance to society and their lives. This will highlight the contribution that science has made in the past.
The science curriculum at Kings Leadership Academy Liverpool is research-informed. It is mostly based on the ‘Best Evidence Science Teaching’ (BEST) project developed by the University of York Science Education Group (UYSEG) as well as the ‘big ideas in science’ put forward by Wynne Harlen and others. We have organised the various science topics and associated concepts in appropriately sequenced steps. This is so that students can build their knowledge of science systematically over time towards ambitious curriculum end points. Students’ knowledge of how to work scientifically is woven through each of the topics across Years 7 to 11.
Curriculum Aim: Science
The Kings Leadership Academy Liverpool science curriculum has been developed to ensure that all students:
develop scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry, and physics
develop an understanding of the nature, processes, and methods of science through different types of science enquiries that help them to answer scientific questions about the world around them
are equipped with the scientific knowledge required to understand the uses and implications of science, today and for the future.
Assessment
To check how well our students are learning the curriculum, teachers use a full range of assessment techniques. These include diagnostic questions to reveal your child’s scientific preconceptions and common misunderstandings, low-stakes quizzes, questioning and summative assessment.