Welcome to Science

Curriculum Intent

The science curriculum has been designed to enable students to explore and deepen their understanding of the world around them. Students are taught a broad range of biology, chemistry and physics topics that cover the national curriculum and link to everyday phenomena. As students progress through their learning journey they revisit previous topics and begin to understand them in greater depth. This allows them to build upon previous knowledge and forge the necessary skills to interact with the developing world.

Our hope as a department is to inspire our students to not only enjoy their lessons and pass their exams, but to become enthusiastic members of a society where science influences almost every aspect of our lives.

Year 7

In year 7, students begin with a transition unit followed by fundamental topics taken from the key stage 3 science national curriculum. This allows them to build the foundations required for a sound understanding of the three scientific domains. They build upon some of their understanding from key stage 2 as well as being introduced to new content. There is an emphasis on skills development with practical investigations and projects linking to real life scenarios interleaved throughout the year to ensure students understand the purpose of the content being taught.

The topics covered in year 7 are:

• Transition
• The particle model
• Cells and organisation
• Energy
• Mixtures
• Reproduction
• Electricity
• Photosynthesis
• Ecology

Year 8

In year 8, students build upon the knowledge and skills acquired in year 7 to cover topics taken from the key stage 3 science national curriculum. As with year 7, there continues to be an emphasis on skills development with practical investigations and projects linking to real life scenarios interleaved throughout the year to ensure students understand the purpose of the content being taught.

The topics covered in year 8 are:

• Energy changes in reactions
• Waves
• Respiration
• The digestive system
• Organ systems
• Lifestyle factors
• Earth and atmosphere
• Magnets and static
• Photosynthesis
• Feeding relationships

Year 9 Curriculum 

In Year 9 students cover topics that allow them to bridge their knowledge from year 7 and 8 with the GCSE content they will cover in years 10 and 11. They revisit previous topics in greater depth and with a focus on familiarising themselves with new scientific vocabulary and deepening their understanding of key scientific processes.  

There is an emphasis on skills development based around practical procedures and projects linking to real world scenarios.

Students will cover two units of biology, chemistry and physics based around the following themes: 

• The human body 
• Atoms, elements and compounds, 
• Energy, energy transfers and energy resources 
• Environment, evolution and inheritance 
• Chemistry in our world 
• Electricity, magnetism and waves 

Year 10 curriculum

All students study AQA triple science in year 10 to allow them to gain a separate GCSE in biology, chemistry and physics. These will be assessed at the end of Year 11.

Biology Topics 

• Cell Biology 
• Organisation 
• Bioenergetics 
• Infection and disease

 Chemistry Topics

• Chemical changes
• Energy changes
• Atomic structure and the periodic table 
• Bonding, structure and properties of matter 
• Quantitative chemistry 

Physics Topics 

• Energy
• Particle model of matter
• Electricity 

Throughout the teaching of these topics there will be a focus on science investigation skills of key experiments within each topic. 

Year 11 Curriculum 

In Year 11 students continue their study of the AQA GCSE combined science Trilogy or AQA separate science courses. Students will cover topics across the 3 sciences, Biology, Chemistry and Physics.  

Biology Topics 

• Ecology
• Homeostasis
• Variation and inheritance 

 Chemistry Topics

• Organic Chemistry 
• Chemical analysis 
• Chemistry of the Earth’s atmosphere 
• Earth’s resources 

Physics Topics

• Magnetism and electromagnetism
• Forces 
• Waves 
• Space (GCSE physics only)

Throughout the teaching of these topics there will be a focus on science investigation skills of key experiments within each topic. Towards the end of the year, there will also be time to revisit and revise previous topics covered from paper 1 biology, chemistry and physics. This will allow for thorough preparation for the GCSE exams in May.

Please contact main reception on 0116 282 4326 or via office@fullhurst.leicester.sch.uk if you require any further information about the curriculum.