Biology
Curriculum Overview
Intent: why do we teach what we teach?
Biology is the study of life. It is our responsibility as teachers of Biology to facilitate our students in exploring and understanding the processes that sustain life - making this subject as relevant in real life and it is in the classroom. Through the medium of the Biology curriculum (across all key stages), we aim to:
Imprint a long lasting appreciation and wonder about Biology
Equip students with the ability to explain how natural phenomena occur
Foster transferable skills such as problem solving and analysis
Nurture students with a firm foundation in scientific thinking should they choose careers in science in the future
Implementation: how do we teach what we teach?
The central themes of cell biology, immunity, bioenergetics, homeostasis, inheritance, ecology are sectioned into a spiral curriculum, where students begin in KS3 with fundamental concepts taught in a relatively simpler manner. As these concepts are taught to students growing through the curriculum, they encounter these concepts again with increasing detail allowing them to better comprehend and be able to articulate what they see and experience around them more. Students are formatively assessed regularly during and across lessons and summatively assessed at the midpoint and end of topics continuously throughout the programme of study.
Practical experiments are key to enriching and embedding comprehension of the fundamental concepts of biology skills and analysis. This is delivered by specialist teachers. Numeracy and literacy skills are embedded within the curriculum all based on fostering students to think scientifically (e.g. being able to evaluate solutions to the world’s environmental problems, or fostering scientific literacy in order to be able to evaluate scientific developments conveyed by popular media). The learning of students is supported by high quality resources, regular assessment (both formative and summative), and teacher feedback.
Impact: how do we know what pupils have learnt and how well they have learnt it?
Pupil attainment and progress is gauged by a variety of assessment techniques. These include formative assessment opportunities in each lesson, retrieval practice at the beginning of each lesson, midway through the unit and at the end of units as well as low stakes mastery tests emphasising mastery of key concepts of each topic. This allows both students and teachers to monitor attainment and progress, react to feedback, and make further progress. Progress trackers are also monitors of what students are confident in in their learning.
