Station Road, Wigston. LE18 2DT
0116 2881228
admin@wigstonacademy.org

SCIENCE

Science is an amazing and fun subject and we endeavour in every lesson to provide concepts and ideas to stimulate enthusiasm and excitement for all of our students. We do this through a range of teaching and learning strategies; including discussion, theory work and mostly during practical investigations. Our staff have high standards and expectations and lessons are designed to challenge our students and address their misconceptions.

Year 7 students will initially be taught in mixed ability groups while they settle into school life, we will then set students according to their ability- allowing their teachers to challenge the highest ability students whilst also being able to support those who require it. Children do learn at different rates to the teaching groups will be checked at regular intervals to allow students to move sets where necessary. We also have an open-door policy, so students can talk to their teachers at break and lunch times if they feel they need a little extra support.

We have rearranged our KS3 curriculum to enable an early GCSE start in January of y9. This will help our students to get into the right frame of mind and get a head start into their GCSE courses. In year 10 and 11, we run three GCSE courses; triple, double and an Entry Level Certificate – pupils will be directed to the course that will best suit their skills and academic needs.

As an extra-curricular activity, we also run an after-school Science Club each week for year 7, year 8 and 9, where we further explore the experiments within science. We also actively take part in Science week and run trips to the Big Bang Fair in order to stimulate students’ interest in science.

Course Content

Year 7
We Follow the Exploring Science Scheme of Learning, this is tailor made to feed into the Edexcel GCSE course

AUTUMN TERM

7A- Tissues and transplants
• Cell Structure
• Tissues, organs, organ systems
• Microscopes
7B- Sex and Science
• Male and female reproductive systems
• Fertilisation
• Pregnancy
7E- Acids and Alkalis
• Hazards
• Properties of acids and alkalis
• Indicators
7F- Bubble, Bangs and Burning
• Chemical reactions
• Burning
• Fire Safety

SPRING TERM

7G- What a Waste
• States of matter
• Dilutions
• Diffusion and pressure
7H- Materials from Earth
• Types of Rock
• Erosion
• Exploring rocks
7I- Energy and Sustainable Living
• Types of fuels
• Sustainable resources
• Energy from food
7J- Electrical Circuits
• Types of circuit
• Measuring current and voltage
• Modelling electricity

SUMMER TERM

7K- Forces and Their effects
• Identifying forces
• Balanced forces
• Speed
7L- Observing the Sky
• The Earth
• The moon and seasons
• The Solar System
7C- Ecology Matters
• Habitats
• Adaptations of animals and plants
• Food chains and food webs
7D- Classified
• Inheritance
• Using keys
• Classifying animals

Year 8

AUTUMN TERM

8A- Food Glorious Food
• Naming Nutrients
• Balanced diet
• Digestion
8B- Going for Gold
• Foods for living
• Breathing and Circulation
• Respiration
8E- In the Drink
• Solutions
• Investigating solubility
• Separating solutions
8F- Materials and Recycling
• Recycling
• Sorting elements
• Elements and compounds

SPRING TERM

8G- All that Glitters
• Gold/ Fools gold
• Types of chemical reactions
• Physical reactions
8H- Explaining the Earth
• Types of rock
• Investigating types of rock
• The rock cycle
8I- Heat Transfers
• Heat and temperature
• Heating solids and liquids
• Changes of state
8J- On the Move
• Streamlining
• Trains and forces
• Magnets

SUMMER TERM

8K- Light Fantastic
• How light travels
• The eye and cameras
• The light spectrum
8L- Sound and hearing
• Sound and pitch
• How sound travels
• The ear
8C-Doctors and Disease
• Microbes cause disease
• The immune system
• Preventing diseases
8D- The way of a Dodo
• Extinction of dinosaurs
• Sampling environments
• Pyramids of numbers and biomass

Year 9

AUTUMN TERM

GCSE Biology preparation
Inheritance
Healthy lifestyles
Photosynthesis
Forensic Science
GCSE Physics Preparation
Energy and electricity
Gravity and Space
Speed
Forces and Pressure
GCSE Chemistry Preparation
Properties of Materials
Corrosion
Pollution
Chemical Reactions
Refresher Unit
Summarising work covered in year 7-9 to prepare for the transition test

SPRING TERM

B1- Key Concepts in Biology
Cell structure
Microscopes
Enzymes
Transporting substances
C1-2- States of Matter and Purification
States of matter
Separation techniques (chromatography and distillation)
Purifying Water
P1- Motion
Vectors
Speed and time
Acceleration

SUMMER TERM

B2- Cells and Control
Cell division
Growth in animals and plants
Stem cells
Nervous System
C3-C4- Atoms and periodic table
Atomic structure
Isotopes
Development of the periodic table
P2- Forces
Newton’s Laws
Momentum
Stopping Distances
Crash hazards