Science at The Bridge

Aims and objectives

At The Bridge we aim to create curious, knowledgeable and enthusiastic biologists. Biology helps us to understand how organisms are structured and function. It helps us discover how the world works, our place, impact, role and the responsibilities we have; to explore how scientific ideas develop and how we learn by experimentation. We are committed to providing a stimulating, engaging and intellectually challenging learning environment to enable all our students to develop a scientific conscience, establishing an informed view about the world around and in them.

Specifically, at The Bridge our intent is to:

• Develop students’ understanding of the scientific process of verification through experimentation, discussion and logic, allowing them to critically assess the world through an informed knowledge base and understanding.
• Linked with this aim is the challenge to develop students’ awareness of ‘Moral education in Biology’; encouraging pupils to become increasingly curious, to develop open mindedness to the suggestions of others and to make judgements on evidence not prejudice
• To provide opportunities which support students in their journey of becoming independent, accurate and safe practical enquirers. An investigative approach engages students, helping them to develop important skills whilst establishing a broad understanding of biological concepts
• To develop confidence and a secure knowledge base in students so that they are able to apply biological concepts to novel situations
• Teaching and encouraging students to be conscious and deliberate in their use of scientific language in the search for new knowledge and through this develop their scientific literacy
• Embedding the importance of numeracy skills throughout the process of teaching and learning; providing opportunities where students are challenged to make sense of trends in data, supporting them to develop a grasp of validity and errors within results and the detection of bias before drawing conclusions

Teaching and learning styles

At the Bridge a wide range of teaching and learning styles are employed to deliver a ‘knowledge rich’ Biology curriculum. These include:

• Interactive presentations
• Whole class debates and discussions
• Small group work
• Whole class, teacher-led delivery involving Q&A sessions
• Practical investigative work
• Interleaving, a teaching and learning strategy that involves switching between topics or ideas, which has been shown to improve long-term learning relative to blocking study of the same idea or topic. This is reflected in the development of a spiral curriculum.

Students in Years 10 and 11 will have the opportunity of visiting Rainham Marshes to experience and take part in practical field work activities. The marshes are also one of the few remaining ancient grassland and grazing marshes in the UK. This variety of wildlife and habitats provides a fantastic opportunity for all types of field study. This whole day visit provides the opportunity for The Bridge students to explore the unique landscape of the marshes, whilst at the same time developing practical skills which will be tested in examinations. Outside speakers and trips enrich the Biology curriculum on offer and we endeavour to include such activities whenever the opportunity arises.

Biology planning

The development of the Schemes of Learning within Biology involves an element of a ‘spiralling curriculum’; a course of study in which students will see the same or connected topics throughout their school career, with each encounter increasing in complexity and reinforcing previous learning. Curriculum planning also considers the school’s Unique Me principles for each half term.
Units of learning covered are:

Year 10

• Cell structure
• Organisation of the digestive system, gas exchange and the circulatory system
• Organisation of the digestive system to include the role of enzymes in biological systems
• Infection and response
• Bioenergetics, to include photosynthesis, respiration and metabolism
• Mastering the longer style, continuous prose examination questions

Year 11

• Homeostasis to include the human nervous system and hormonal communication
• Ecology to include ‘Organisation of ecosystems and biodiversity’
• Inheritance, variation and evolution
• Revision, consolidation and linking of all biological concepts including those studied in year 10

(Note that the above is subject to change depending on when students are enrolled at The Bridge and prior learning)

Incorporating Reading in Science Lessons

Reading is an essential skill that students need to develop to succeed in science. At our school, we are committed to helping students improve their literacy skills by incorporating reading strategies into our science instruction. We believe that by doing so, students will be better equipped to understand and analyse scientific texts, communicate their findings, and think critically about the world around them.

We offer students many opportunities to improve their literacy skills by asking them to think critically while reading science reports, news and pop science, graphs, and documentaries, challenging them to connect multiple sources of media, analyse a source’s potential bias, or identify an unreliable source, and asking them to write or speak about science findings from a review of research or their own experiments with an audience in mind. We believe that by doing so, students will be better equipped to communicate their findings and think critically about the world around them.

In our science lessons, we incorporate reading in various ways, such as:

When writing in continuous prose and using connectives, such as when comparing light and electron microscopes, or when writing to inform how to set up an experiment to investigate the effect of light intensity on the rate of photosynthesis.

News story of the week: On the science notice board, we display a current article related to science for students to read while they are waiting in the corridor. This helps them to keep up with the latest developments and issues in science and spark their curiosity.

Subscription to New Scientist: We have a weekly science magazine in the common room for students to read. This caters to the deeper thinking students who want to explore more advanced topics and concepts in science.

Comprehension task: Every half term, we give students a comprehension task to complete. The task consists of reading an article relevant to the current topic they are studying. Reading can be done in pairs, alone, or as a class. The students then answer questions related to the article and we discuss the answers as a class. This helps them to improve their reading comprehension and critical thinking skills.

Group reading leading to a writing activity: We ask students to read a piece of text and discuss it in groups. They might use highlighting to identify features such as key words, facts, or arguments. They then write about an aspect of the text using the key words and information from the text. This helps them to practice their reading and writing skills and to synthesise information from different sources.

KS3

These students, depending upon progress made at their prior school and timing of entry to the Bridge, will either follow the KS3 pathway covering units of Biology, Chemistry and Physics. It is important that where appropriate, students are able to study all three aspects of Science to allow an effective transition back to mainstream schooling.

(Note that this is subject to change depending upon time of student entry to The Bridge, Baseline testing and the year group mix at KS3)

Units of Learning covered at KS3

Teaching Biology and Science to students with special needs

Teaching and learning approaches at The Bridge match individual students’ needs. This may be through differentiated worksheets and tasks, scaffolding support for weaker students and challenge tasks to move the higher attaining students on in their learning. When planning and delivering Biology and providing feedback to students, any EHCP (Educational, Health and Care Plan) IEP (Individual Educational Plan) and SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) are considered.

Assessment and recording
Assessment is on-going throughout the entire course and at each stage informs future planning and learning. Following the completion of each unit of work a test is completed by all students. Analysis of students’ responses will guide the next stage in their learning, where common misconceptions and areas of weaknesses will be revisited. These written assessments, alongside progress made in the classroom and homework assignments, will inform the half termly data drops which are kept on a central database. There will be end of year examinations testing a wider breadth of content, these too will be analysed to identify student weaknesses and provide appropriate therapy. Assessment of class/homework assignments will involve a mix of teacher, peer and self-assessment. Post cards are routinely sent out to those parents/carers whose children have made a particularly impressive effort and/or are displaying a commendable level of attainment. Subject teachers will also call parents when the need arises and report formally to parents twice yearly.

Resources
There exists at The Bridge a wide range of resources to match individual teaching needs. These include:
● Twinkl subscription. This provides instant access to inspirational lesson plans, schemes of work, assessment, interactive activities, resource packs, PowerPoints, and suggestions for teaching approaches
● Schemes of Work which have hyperlinks to informative video clips/podcasts/required practical support
● Course textbooks for class use and revision guides for use at home.
● The Bridge continues to develop a wide variety of resources to ensure students can take part in practical investigative work.

Monitoring and review
Maria Jackson (Head of School) is responsible for monitoring the standard of student work and the quality of teaching. Pip Harrington is responsible for the development and delivery of the Science curriculum. Half termly assessment is carried out according to school policy and this feeds into data drops and the school’s reports to the Local Governing Committee. The development of the Science curriculum is reviewed annually by the Head of School and professional development needs are identified.