Capenhurst Grange School
Science Policy
Introduction
Capenhurst Grange School recognises science as a core subject of the National
Curriculum and this statement of policy takes into account the statutory orders and
the non-statutory guidelines relating to this.
This policy applies to all pupils in Capenhurst Grange School.
All pupils will be given equal opportunity to study all aspects of science regardless of
ability, race or gender.
This policy has been written by the Science Co-ordinator in consultation with other
staff delivering the science curriculum.
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Rationale
Science and technology permeate almost every aspect of daily life. Each of us needs
to be able to bring a scientific approach to bear on the practical, social, economic
and political issues of modern life.
Science stimulates and excites pupils’ curiosity about phenomena and events in the
world around them. It also satisfies this curiosity with knowledge. As science links
direct practical experience with ideas, it can engage learners at many levels.
Aims
The Capenhurst Grange School aims to provide a high quality science education for all children and young people, which meets the statutory requirements of the National Curriculum and provides an appropriate science curriculum for KS3 and KS4.
Such a curriculum should encourage scientific curiosity, skills and understanding,
both for those who choose to extend their scientific study beyond their school leaving age and for those who choose other options.
The Science Department endeavours to -
• set high expectations, for both themselves and pupils, to ensure that each
individual pupil has the opportunity to reach his or her maximum potential;
• plan to include all pupils fully so that they benefit from oral, written and practical
work;
• give pupils opportunities to use their senses to explore and investigate;
• use communication techniques that promote interaction, combined with a good
range of practical activities, visual images, models and experiments;
• provide opportunities for pupils to watch and listen to their peers as well as
support staff and other teachers;
• allow pupils to experience the results of personal actions which lead to them
seeking explanations and to an understanding of the links between causes and
effects.
• promote inclusive classrooms that are stimulating, effective and secure for pupils,
while including high levels of challenge and support;
• use organisational strategies to keep all pupils involved and suitably challenged. continue a staff development programme which complements those provided by the
Local Education Authority and others to enable staff to implement the policy and
•support continuing curriculum developments in science;
develop schemes of work which, through a variety of contexts, emphasise breadth,
balance and relevance in knowledge and understanding, and devise learning
experiences through the exploration of science with its emphasis on activities
which are appropriate to each pupil's age and abilities;
•develop a coherent framework for assessment which is an acknowledged part of
the planned curriculum and is inextricably linked with the day-to-day teaching and
learning. In particular, our assessment identifies learning problems and yields a
basis for planning the next educational steps in response to individual needs.
For many pupils with special educational needs science activities will require some
modification to ensure that knowledge, skills and understanding are taught in ways
that match and challenge their abilities.
Modification might include:
• choosing material from earlier key stages using age-appropriate contexts;
• accessing tactile and other specialist equipment for making observations and
measurements during scientific enquiry;
• helping with the recording and interpretation of data presented in graphs, tables
or charts.
• giving experiences that allow pupils at the early stages of learning to gain
knowledge, skills and understanding in science as part of their study of other
subjects or everyday activities, e.g. investigations involving food and cooking;
• focusing on one aspect, or limited aspects, in depth or outline, of the Key Stage 3
programme of study;
• adapting experimental work in response to risk assessment to ensure health and
safety issues are addressed.
Monitoring and Assessment
National curriculum will be recorded National Curriculum attainment targets.
Targets will be set for individual pupils using our own targeting profiles, assessment sheets CASPA and FFT..
Baseline Assessment
KS2 level – tracked from other institutions.
End of Unit Tests.
Formative Assessment
Classroom observation
Marked work
Practical investigations
Summative Assessment
Teacher assessment
KS2 SATS
Assessment for Learning is ongoing and integral to the teaching and learning process. It must provide feedback and involve the students’ in self evaluation, setting goals and being responsible for their own learning
Day to day assessment is an essential aspect of effective teaching. It involves the teacher focusing on how the learning is progressing during the lesson, determining where improvements can be made and identifying the next steps. During the lesson the teacher must be listening to, observing and engaging with the students. To make full and effective use of assessment, students regularly need to be involved in a dialogue about their understanding, their route to progression and how they will know when they are reaching their potential.
Pupils will be set learning targets at the start of each topic by their teacher, these will relate to a national curriculum level, but will be made into SMART targets for the pupil. Reference to this target will be made throughout the topic and an assessment of whether the pupil has reached it will be made at the end. This can be assessed in any of the following ways:-
End of Unit Tests.
Peer assessment
Pupil/Staff dialogue
Formative Assessment
Classroom observation
Marked work
Practical investigations
Summative Assessment
Teacher assessments
From this assessment further targets will be set using the APP as a framework.
Progression
Progression is most important and can be addressed with reference to the following
points:-
i. Concepts can be revisited at KS 3 and 4 in a different context or POS.
ii. New concepts can be introduced.
iii. When using an investigation take into consideration what the pupils already know.
iv. Investigations will develop, refine and clarify concepts.
v. New concepts should not be introduced in an investigation
vi. Investigations should present the pupil with an opportunity to utilise skills and
knowledge
vii. Pupils should not attempt a full self-initiated investigation until they have achieved
level 3, by which stage teachers should plan to afford pupil autonomy.
To achieve progression over the long term planning should take into consideration
the following points:-
- the changing context for the programmes of study for each key stage
- the need for continuity from the pupil view in the progression in each area of
study
- the need for repeated opportunities for assessing particular themes.
Cross Curricular Links
Promoting key skills through science
Science provides opportunities for pupils to develop the key skills of communication,
through finding out about and communicating facts, ideas and opinions in a variety of
contexts application of numbers, through collecting, considering and analysing
first-hand and secondary data IT, through using a wide range of ICT working with
others, through carrying out scientific investigations improving own learning and
performance, through reflecting on what they have done and evaluating what they
have achieved problem solving, through finding ways to answer scientific questions
with creative solutions.
Promoting other aspects of the curriculum
Science provides opportunities to promote thinking skills, through pupils engaging in
the processes of scientific enquiry; enterprise and entrepreneurial skills, through
pupils learning about the work of scientists and of the ways in which scientific ideas
are used in technological products and processes work-related learning, through
studies of science based industrial and commercial enterprises and through contacts
with local scientists, engineers and workplaces education for sustainable
development, through developing pupils’ skills in decision making on the basis of
sound science, the exploration of values and ethics relating to the applications of
science and technology, and developing pupils’ knowledge and understanding of some key concepts, such as diversity and interdependence.
Personal and Social Development
Promoting pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development through science.
For example, science provides opportunities to promote: spiritual development,
through pupils sensing the natural, material, physical world they live in, reflecting on
their part in it, and exploring questions such as when does life start and where does
life come from? moral development, through helping pupils see the need to draw
conclusions using observation and evidence rather than preconception or prejudice,
and through discussion of the implications of the uses of scientific knowledge,
including the recognition that such uses can have both beneficial and harmful
effects social development, through helping pupils recognise how the formation of
opinion and the justification of decisions can be informed by experimental evidence,
and drawing attention to how different interpretations of scientific evidence can be
used in discussing social issues cultural development, through helping pupils
recognise how scientific discoveries and ideas have affected the way people think,
feel, create, behave and live, and drawing attention to how cultural differences can
influence the extent to which scientific ideas are accepted, used and valued.
Marking
This will reflect current school policy.
Resources
2 x Science Lab
1 x prep room
resources stored in the science cupboards in the science rooms
Health & Safety
See the Capenhurst Grange School Science Health and Safety Policy Document, which uses the CLEAPPS guidelines as its starting position and complies fully with them at all times.
Key Stage 3
At Capenhurst Grange School all pupils have the opportunity to think and learn, and
to develop an interest in, and curiosity about, the world around them through
exploratory and investigative experiences. Our pupils are a diverse group with a
variety of needs. Science Groups will follow a 3 year course that is referenced directly to the programme of study for the National Curriculum.
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Year Unit No Title
7 7A Cells
7 7B Reproduction (Y9 )
7 7C Environment and Feeding Relationships
7 7D Variation and Classification
7 7E Acids and Alkalis
7 7F Simple Chemical Reactions
7 7G Particle Model of Three States
7 7H Solutions
7 7I Energy Resources
7 7J Electrical Circuits
7 7K Forces and their Effects
7 7L The Solar System
8 8A Food and Digestion
8 8B Respiration
8 8C Microbes and Disease
8 8D Ecological Relationships
8 8E Atoms and Elements
8 8F Compounds and Mixtures
8 8G Rocks and Weathering
8 8H The Rock Cycle
8 8I Heating and Cooling
8 8J Magnets and Electromagnets
8 8K Light
8 8L Sound and Hearing
9 9A Inheritance and Selection
9 9B Fit and Healthy
9 9C Plants and Photosynthesis
9 9D Plants for Food
9 9E Reactions of Metals and Metal Compounds
9 9F Patterns of Reactivity
9 9G Environmental Chemistry
9 9H Using Chemistry
9 9I Energy and Electricity
9 9J Gravity and Space
9 9K Speeding Up
9 9L Pressure and Moments
9 9M Investigating Science Questions
Key Stage 4
Pupils are given the opportunity to study a broad and balanced science curriculum.
This syllabus has been developed in accordance with the National Curriculum orders
for single Science.
OCR GCSE Science; Single award B.
Pupils follow 6 modules. B1, C1, P1, B2, C2 and P2
There are 2 written papers one assesses B1, C1, P1, the other B2, C2 and P2
There is also a coursework element (internal assessment of investigative skills during a controlled challenge)
Assessment will be made in each of the skill areas from the controlled challenge, marked by the teacher and sent for moderation.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact the Head of Science, using the contact details for the school.
T.Boram | 
