The Science Faculty

Mr Watson - Head of Science
Mrs McNiven - Second in Science
Mrs Begum - Head of KS3 Science
Dr Thomson - Year 9 - 10 Transition Co-ordinator
Mrs Stansfield - Behaviour and Learning Co-ordinator
Mr Henstock - Teacher of Science
Mrs Bennett - Teacher of Science
Mr Khan - Teacher of Science
Mrs Zulficar - Teacher of Science
Miss Bhatti - Teacher of Science

Key Stage 3 – Year 7 - 9

In key stage 3 all students are set by ability using their maths sets. Students have 3 1-hour lessons per week. Students study a broad range of science designed to give them a solid foundation in preparation for their GCSE studies.

Key Stage 4 – Year 10 & 11

In key stage 4 we set students according to their ability, using their year 9 performance in science. Most students will study the AQA combined science GCSE course- worth 2 GCSEs. Some students opt to study separate physics, chemistry and biology GCSEs, which are worth 3 GCSEs in total. Double award students have 4 lessons per week, whilst the separate science students have 7. Students will have the same teacher for both years, allowing close relationships to flourish, and for us to understand and support our students as well as possible.

Assessment

Our students sit tests approximately every half term. This allows us to keep a close eye on how everyone is progressing. In addition we can build up a picture of students strengths and weaknesses, using this knowledge to bring in targeted support for each individual that needs it.

We are privileged to have outstanding lab space. We have 10 dedicated laboratories, plus an additional room with a class set of computers for access to ICT facilities. Each of the labs is bright, spacious and modern, and all students would expect to have all their lessons in a laboratory. The labs are fully equipped with interactive ICT displays, but also with all the equipment and apparatus to allow us to do all the experimental work we might want. Every lab has its own gas and AC/DC electrical supply as well as a fixed fume cupboard for gas work. We are unaware of any other labs in a school that are better equipped.

Home learning is normally set once a week by the class teacher. This will link to the work currently being done in class. It would normally be paper based, but we have invested heavily in online learning resources, such as Doddle and Kerboodle, and also set work from those. Students obviously have full access to these programs to work independently- allowing them to revise or improve their understanding more easily.

We run the very popular science club- a chance for students to perform a huge range of different experiments for fun. We are also involved in a number of external projects and competitions- such as Go4set- which we are very successful in.