Science

Beaumont’s Science Department develops our students’ knowledge and understanding of the world around them, including their place within it and the important contributions of Science in shaping the modern world. Curiosity is encouraged and we give students the confidence and tools both to ask questions and find answers for themselves, instilling a passion for Science which leads many students to pursue the subject to a high level.

The Science curriculum is delivered by supportive, highly qualified teachers across all specialisms who are supported by four expert technicians, enabling practical work to take its rightful place at the core of the subject. All students study Science at Key Stages 3 and 4, with large numbers choosing to continue their studies at ‘A’ level and university. Examination results across all Science qualifications are consistently excellent. There is a diverse range of extra-curricular Science opportunities on offer which enable students to explore the subject further.

The department is very well resourced, having recently received a grant from the Wolfson Foundation to purchase state-of-the-art practical equipment for teaching the new ‘A’ level courses. It is an exciting time for the department as the finance has been secured for redevelopment and expansion in the near future.

Key Stage 3

Years 7 & 8

During Years 7 and 8 students will follow the Activate Science course. This course has been designed in line with the requirements of the revised Key Stage 3 Science Curriculum. Our curriculum gives students a broad understanding of key scientific principles and how these relate to the world around them as well as laying a secure foundation for KS4 study.

Year 7 topics:

Biology: Cells, Body systems, Reproduction
Chemistry: Particles, Elements, Atoms and Compounds, Reactions, Acids and Alkalis
Physics: Forces, Sound, Light, Space

Year 8 Topics:

Biology: Health and lifestyle, Ecosystem, Adaptation & Inheritance
Chemistry: The Periodic table, Separation Techniques, Metals & Acids, The Earth
Physics: Electricity & Magnetism, Energy, Motion and Pressure

Assessment

We assess skills and knowledge by regularly setting and marking home learning and through end of topic tests, projects and investigations. The end of year exam will be based on all topics covered during the year.

Home Learning:

One home learning task will be set each week. It will be designed to take between 20 minutes and 1 hour. Examples of tasks may be questions from the textbook, carrying out some research, preparing for a presentation or completing a set of review questions on the Educake website.

Skills:

As well as building their knowledge of core scientific principles, students develop the skills and processes which scientists use, such as designing experiments, safe handling of chemicals and apparatus, looking for patterns in results and using scientific theories to explain observations.

Resources:

All students are given access to the online Activate Science textbook and the Educake website for reviewing their knowledge and understanding of Science.

Key Stage 4

Year 9

In Year 9, students will begin to study the GCSE course. All students study a common course which encompasses the three principal sciences: Biology, Chemistry and Physics. In addition to studying the scientific content, students will complete a number of Required Practicals which will be assessed as part of their GCSE exams.

The topics covered in Year 9 are:

Biology: Ecology and Cells
Chemistry: Chemistry of the Atmosphere and Atomic Structure
Physics: Energy and Electricity

Years 10 and 11

In Years 10 and 11, students choose to study either two (Combined Science) or three (Separate/Triple Science) GCSEs in Science.

Combined Science:

Students follow the AQA GCSE Combined Science: Trilogy syllabus. Students will sit two papers in each of Biology, Chemistry and Physics in the summer of Year 11, each counting 16.7% towards the qualification. The exams will cover the scientific content of the course, as well as testing students’ practical understanding through questions based around key practical activities which will be covered during the GCSE course.

Students will be awarded a grade in GCSE Combined Science in August of Year 11. Combined Science is unique in that the grade awarded will be on a 17 point scale running from 9-9, 9-8, 8-8 down 2-2, 2-1, 1-1 as it is an award counting as two GCSE qualifications. Further details about the GCSE Combined Science course can be found here.

Triple Science (Physics, Chemistry and Biology):

Students follow the AQA GCSE programmes of study in Biology, Chemistry and Physics, gaining a separate qualification in each subject. All exams are taken in the summer of Year 11. For each subject students sit two papers, each worth 50% of their final grade. The exams will cover the scientific content of the course, as well as testing students’ practical understanding through questions based around Required Practical activities which will be covered during the GCSE course.

Students will be awarded three grades, one for Biology, one for Chemistry and one for Physics in August of Year 11, these grades are completely independent.

Further details of the GCSE Biology course can be found here.

Further details about the GCSE Chemistry course can be found here.

Further details about the GCSE Physics course can be found here.

Assessment:

We assess skills and knowledge by regularly setting and marking home learning and through end of topic tests. The year-end level will depend on the results of these tests, so they are important and students should revise thoroughly. The end of year exams in Years 9 and 10 will be based on all topics covered during the GCSE course up to that point.

Home-Learning:

Independent study skills are vital to a successful science student and home learning will help to develop these skills. Examples of tasks set include questions from exam papers, research topics, questions on the Educake website and revision tasks. We will set one home learning, to take up to 60 minutes, for every four lessons. This means, on average, one Biology, one Chemistry and one Physics home learning task per fortnight.

We may set revision home learning tasks more frequently in the lead-up to examinations.

Resources:

All students are issued with online access to textbooks and resources through the Kerboodle website to support their learning as well as the Educake website which is an excellent resource for testing their knowledge of core concepts. We also give all Year 10 and 11 students the opportunity to purchase access to www.my-GCSEscience.com, another excellent resource for consolidation and revision.

Stretch & Challenge

As well as encouraging all students to excel in their Science lessons, we offer a huge range of extra-curricular opportunities across all year groups within the department. A key example of this is the CREST Award scheme (http://www.crestawards.org/) which requires students to complete and write up an extended Science research project.

There are a several annual competitions open to students covering a range of subjects – Salters’ Chemistry Festival, The Robot Rumble, Botball and Teen Tech competitions. These give students the opportunity to be more creative in their approach to Science.

Students studying GCSE Separate Sciences are taken to the Science Live! day conference in London which broadens their outlook beyond the Science they learn in the classroom and gives them a flavour of current research being completed by “real” scientists. They are also encouraged to participate in the Intermediate Biology Olympiad competition. There are many opportunities outside of school which we advertise to students, such as Inspire courses which encourage girls to pursue scientific careers.

Many sixth form students take part in the Physics and Biology Olympiads and the Cambridge Chemistry Challenge, which aim to extend their thinking beyond A-level standard.

Sixth form students, in particular, are actively encouraged to explore the subject more deeply. There is a Physics Library from which they can borrow a range of books and the school library subscribes to Biology, Chemistry and Physics Review magazines, which aim to bring students up to date with current Science at a level which they are able to access. Hard copies of the magazines are available in school and online access is available here. Each year several KS5 Science students have the opportunity to attend aspirational residential and masterclass courses at Villiers Park or to take part in Headstart engineering courses.

Where can Science take you?

As well as enhancing their understanding of the world around them, students studying the KS3 and 4 Science curricula gain transferable skills such as problem-solving and analytical processes which will be applicable across numerous career paths.

Those who choose to study one or more Science A-levels will develop these skills further and a host of further education and career pathways will be open them. In recent years students from Beaumont have gone on to study disciplines such as Biochemistry, Aerospace Engineering, Biomedical Science, Natural Science, Chemistry and Physics with Philosophy. Significant numbers have secured places on highly competitive courses such as Medicine and Veterinary Science at Oxbridge and other Russell Group universities.

How parents can support their child’s learning

Students in Years 7 and 8 need help in learning revision skills. To prepare for the topic tests students should get into the habit of using the online textbook to revisit the key ideas and terminology included in every topic. Students studying GCSE Science should make use of their online textbook regularly to consolidate their learning. The My GCSE Science and Educake websites are also excellent resources for consolidation and revision.

Useful links

Students should familiarise themselves with Google Classroom as teachers regularly post useful information on their classrooms.

Educake knowledge testing website: www.educake.co.uk

My GCSE Science revision website: www.my-GCSEscience.com

Follow us on @BeauScience on Twitter

To see the frequently asked questions, please click here

Key Stage 5

Biology (OCR A, Specifcation code H420)

Biology is a diverse subject which requires many skills; an ability to think about abstract concepts, Maths (including statistics), and literacy as there is a large amount of scientific vocabulary which must be learnt and often extended questions that require the use of good English. Students must be able to manipulate scientific equipment and work methodically to obtain data through investigation in labs and fieldwork.

Subject outline

In Year 1 you will study:

Module 1: Practical skills in Biology, this will be embedded in other modules
Module 2: Foundations in Biology; Cells, Organisation of organisms & Biochemistry
Module 3: Exchange & Transport; Exchange and transport in animals and plants
Module 4: Biodiversity, Evolution & Disease; Communicable disease, disease transmission, immunity, Diversity of living things, Classification & Evolution

In Year 2 you will study:

Module 5: Communications, Homeostasis and Energy; Nerves, Hormones, responding to change, Photosynthesis & Respiration
Module 6: Genetics, Evolution & Ecosystems; Cellular control, Inheritance, Biotechnology, Ecology & sustainability

The Practical Endorsement is a pass/fail based on the completion of a variety of practical tasks (12 in total).

Assessment

In Year 1, we complete an initial assessment in the first few weeks of lessons. This is based on higher order GCSE questions in order to highlight students who may require support. Students then complete a number of end of topic, summative assessments as we finish units of teaching across the two years. Assessment in lessons will be through a variety of strategies as appropriate. These include, but are not limited to, peer review of students’ work, verbal discussion and questioning. Students complete a range of home learning activities which will include presentation work and past paper questions which are graded. Practical endorsement write-ups are also marked using a tick grid, with formative comments, which form the basis of the assessment for this aspect of the course.
Further information about the course can be obtained here.

Chemistry (AQA, Specification code 7405)

Students with a wide range of interests enjoy the Chemistry course. Whether you would like a carer in medicine or industry, Chemistry is the solid platform upon which careers are built.

Subject outline

In Year 1 you will study:

Inorganic chemistry topics like the periodic table and redox.
Organic chemistry topics like hydrocarbons, alcohols and analytical techniques.
Physical chemistry topics such as atomic structure, bonding and energetics will be spread across both Papers 1 + 2.

In Year 2 you will study:

Further inorganic chemistry topics like transition metals and ions in solution.
Further organic chemistry topics like polymers, amino acids, proteins and aromatic chemistry.
Physical chemistry topics like thermodynamics and equilibria

The Practical Endorsement is a pass/fail based on the completion of a variety of practical tasks (12 in total).

Assessment

Teachers will issue homework regularly. In Chemistry we also have summative chapter tests as well as mock exams (twice a year). Certain practicals will also be assessed (Practical Endorsement). The cumulative effect of all these assessments is to ensure that students have some form of assessment at least once every two weeks. Students are also expected to spend time reading around the subject; they are told to spend at least an equivalent amount of time as lesson times doing extra reading or using their textbooks to reinforce their knowledge and understanding.

Further information can be found here.

Physics (OCR B, Specification code H557)

Physics calls on a student’s imagination whilst demanding logical, analytic and critical thought. In Physics you will need to think things out for yourself as some ideas need to be grappled with through hours of independent study before they are fully understood.

Subject outline

In Year 1 you will study:

Module 1 – develops the practical skills required at advanced level
Module 2 – focuses on data analysis
Module 3 – physics of communication, including areas of imaging, sensing and signalling
Module 4 – physics of Newtonian mechanics, waves and be introduced to quantum theory

In Year 2 you will study:

Module 5 – mathematical models, gravitation and cosmology, kinetic theory and thermodynamics
Module 6 – the physics of electric and magnetic field and their combination in electromagnetism. In this topic you will all sstudy particle physics and the physics of the nucleus.

All students will be assessed on the practical skills through a series of experimental tasks which will inform the Practical Endorsement – a qualification which assures the students’ future employers or colleges/universities of their practical competence.

Assessment

In both Year 1 and Year 2, we have end of chapter tests composed from past paper questions. These are taken, marked and monitored in order to keep a record of progress. At intervals, test averages are calculated in order to have a summary of the understanding of the student. In addition, Year 1 students sit a GCSE test on P2 material in the third week of the course as an incentive for students to embed their prior knowledge. There is a threshold exam for Year 1 students to assess understanding of the first year material and Year 2 students will sit a mock exam at the end of the Spring Term. In addition, both years’ students will complete experimental tasks for the Practical Endorsement on a periodic basis. Teachers also set home learning in the form of questions taken from sources such as the IOP Advanced Physics website, the Advancing Physics teachers’ CD-ROM and the student text.
Further information can be obtained here.

Resources:

All students studying A-level Science are required to purchase appropriate textbooks to support their learning.