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Exploring the current curriculum in your school

Chapter 1

The DfE publishes statutory requirements for the curriculum which is to be provided for all pupils in state funded schools; these include descriptions of subjects which must be taught to all students and are designated as part of a core curriculum. Although academies are not required to teach the National Curriculum, they must deliver a broad and balanced curriculum including English, mathematics and science.

ACTIVITY:Use the Schools and Curriculum section of the Gov.uk website to identify and remind yourself of the statutory requirements relating to the teaching of science. You may like to explore the following aspects in more detail:• The core curriculum – and how this relates to

compulsory subjects as described by the National Curriculum programmes of study

• Triple science entitlement – you may also find p3 of the National Strategies publication ‘Progressing to Level 6 and beyond: Senior leader guidance’ helpful in clarifying the nature of the entitlement.

• Information, advice and guidance – this document describes the school’s responsibility for providing careers information to students from Year 8 onwards.

ACTIVITY: Compliance? Reflecting on the statutory requirements relating to science, does your department satisfy all aspects? If not, which aspects need development and how are these identifiable in your department development plan? How is the entitlement to triple science offered to all students who might benefit from it? How are students identified as being potential Triple science students? How do Year 6 and Year 12 statements fit into this?

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Statutory requirements for curriculum provision

This page will give you the opportunity to:

• Remind yourself of the statutory requirements relating to science and where to find information relating to them.

• Reflect on the curriculum provision in your school.

Exploring the current curriculum in your school

Chapter 01

ACTIVITY:Whole school curriculum planning. How is the curriculum planned in your school? Who is responsible for curriculum planning and how has the school curriculum developed over time?• Arrange a meeting with the person

responsible for curriculum design and explore the ways in which the flexibility offered by the revised National Curriculum is being built into the school curriculum.

• How is the school developing a curriculum that addresses the needs of the students in each cohort? How is progression between years and consistency between subject areas being mapped and developed?

• How are the curriculum development areas identified in the school improvement plan being implemented? How does and can science contribute to this whole school process?

ACTIVITY:Whole school curriculum planning. How is the curriculum planned in your school? Who is responsible for curriculum planning and how has the school curriculum developed over time?• Arrange a meeting with the person

responsible for curriculum design and explore the ways in which the flexibility offered by the revised National Curriculum is being built into the school curriculum.

• How is the school developing a curriculum that addresses the needs of the students in each cohort? How is progression between years and consistency between subject areas being mapped and developed?

• How are the curriculum development areas identified in the school improvement plan being implemented? How does and can science contribute to this whole school process?

ACTIVITY:STEM Information, advice and guidance. Schools are approaching this area in different ways but the delivery of STEM careers information through lessons has increased in recent years. Further information can be found on the National STEM Centre website.

How does your curriculum provide opportunities for students “to access information and advice from an earlier age, enabling better informed decisions at age 13 and 14”?You may find it helpful to explore one or more of the following resources and then discuss your findings with the person responsible for Information, Advice and Guidance in your school:• STEM careers awareness guide• STEM Choices• Embedding STEM career awareness in

secondary schools

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Statutory requirements for curriculum provision

Exploring the current curriculum in your school

Chapter 01

Consider the strengths and weaknesses of your current curriculum provision in science

ACTIVITY:In many schools, the curriculum offered to students has undergone a lot of change in recent years; this is particularly true of the Key Stage 4 curriculum, where national changes have had significant impact. Reflect on the science curriculum pathways that you have offered to Key Stage 4 students over the last five years:• Make a list of the science pathways offered to

each cohort. You may find it useful to use the example grid: 1_science_pathways_grid.docx

• You may find it helpful to add the number of students to whom each pathway was actually delivered along with the number of groups within which they were taught. Were there any pathways which were initially offered, but for which there was no uptake or which did not become part of the curriculum delivered to a particular cohort? If so, which pathways and what were the reasons for the lack of uptake or change in provision?

ACTIVITY:The choice of pathways offered to students is often guided, and in some schools is explicitly directed, by prior performance in science. What information was used to inform the pathways offered to students beginning Key Stage 4 this year? • For example, was triple science offered to any

student who gained a Level 6 or more in their Key Stage 3 science assessments, either test or teacher assessment? What other offers did this group receive?

• What offers were available to students who gained Level 5?

• What offers were available to students who gained Level 4?

• What offers were available to students who gained less than Level 4?

You might like to annotate the grid from the previous activity to indicate the criteria used to guide the offers made to students of different ability.

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Science as part of the school curriculum

This page will give you the opportunity to:

• Consider the science curriculum provided for students in different cohorts and ability ranges within your school;

• Reflect on the process by which this curriculum structure has been developed;

• Consider the strengths and weaknesses of your current curriculum provision in science

Exploring the current curriculum in your school

Chapter 01

ACTIVITY:Progression through and beyond a section of the curriculum is really important. • How many of the students, following the

different pathways provided for each cohort, went on to study science subjects post-16 either at your own sixth form, if you have one, or at another provider? - How many were successful at gaining A

level science qualifications? - How many gained AS level science

qualifications but didn’t continue to complete the A level?

• How many progressed to other science / STEM based courses after their GCSEs?

• Reflect on the outcomes achieved by students after their GCSEs:

• Did the science pathways offered to them during Key Stage 4 encourage and enable them to follow science based routes into employment?

• What are the strengths and weaknesses of your current provision at Key Stage 4? How are the areas for development identified in the department improvement plan and how will the strengths be recognised?

ACTIVITY:The science curriculum in Key Stage 3 is a key foundation upon which success at Key Stage 4 is built. Reflect on the Key Stage 3 science curriculum offered to the cohorts of students considered in the first activity. • How was the curriculum for science that you

delivered developed? If it was based on the National Curriculum, were all aspects delivered effectively?

• When and how is the Key Stage 3 curriculum in your school reviewed?

• How does your current Key Stage 3 science curriculum prepare and enable students to succeed in Key Stage 4? – are key aspects such as the process of science (including practical work and wider aspects of enquiry and working scientifically), thinking, numeracy and literacy developed so that students can apply these in the new contexts that they meet in Key Stage 4?

• What are the strengths and weaknesses of you current provision at Key Stage 3? How are the areas for development identified in the department improvement plan and how will the strengths be recognised?

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Science as part of the school curriculum

Exploring the current curriculum in your school

The statutory requirements and National Curriculum provide no guidance regarding the amount of time to be spent on each subject; as a result the curriculum has a different look and feel in each school, especially at Key Stage 3 where the absence of external assessment provides more freedom for creative curriculum design.

ACTIVITY:A bespoke curriculum package. • What are the key features of the curriculum

offered by your school? How do these reflect the ethos and values of the school (which are often reported on the school website)?

• Which subjects are seen as being more important than the others by the senior leadership team, staff, parents, students?

• How is this relative importance communicated explicitly and implicitly in the school? For example, are all triple science classes within timetabled slots within the main working day and are all GCSE courses given equivalent amounts of time per qualification?

• Why do students perceive that some subjects are more important than others?

ACTIVITY:Designing a curriculum. • By what process is the curriculum developed /

agreed in your school? How does this apply to science across the secondary phase - did the science department develop their own long-term plan to meet the needs of a particular cohort of students or was a different approach taken?

• How much time is allocated to different science pathways at Key Stage 4? How does this compare to time in Key Stage 3? Were these allocations agreed as a result of decisions made at department level or were they given by the school timetable and curriculum planner?

• Reflecting on current practice, make a list of the drivers which led to the science curriculum you have in place – you might like to do a PMI analysis to categorise the factors as ‘Positive’, ‘Minus’ and ‘Interesting’ in terms of enabling the development of learning and progression in science. The analysis will help to identify those drivers which may be beneficial in enabling further positive development and the ‘Interesting’ ones may provide useful foci for future discussion with the department. 9

Curriculum design – driving factors

This page will give you the opportunity to:

• Consider the bespoke nature of the secondary curriculum offered in your school.

• Reflect on the relevance and relative importance of science in the curriculum provision at your school.

Exploring the current curriculum in your school

Chapter 01

ACTIVITY:Building consistency. Recent national changes have impacted upon teachers of all subjects, providing an ideal opportunity to work together to identify common aspects of process, skill, knowledge and understanding and hence seizing the opportunity to encourage the consistent development of transferable skills and use of common strategies.• Arrange an individual meeting with the

equivalent post holder in another subject, to explore the commonality of the curriculum you will both be delivering and agree areas where mutual benefit can be gained by developing consistent approaches (e.g. Mathematics and approaches to re-arrange formulae or make use of standard form).

• Work as a departmental team to agree consistent approaches within the science curriculum offer so that students have the opportunity to practice and master skills and processes before they are required to demonstrate them in external examinations - common examples focus on numeracy, literacy

or the provision of information about STEM based career pathways and recent and relevant applications of the science they are studying.

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Curriculum design – driving factors

Exploring the current curriculum in your school

Chapter 01

Whilst it may be a statutory entitlement for students achieving at least Level 6 at the end of Key Stage 3 to study triple science, the decision about who will follow a particular science curriculum pathway is made by different groups of people in different schools.

ACTIVITY: Decisions, decisions, decisions. Consider the current Year 10 science students:• Who decided which curriculum pathways would

be offered to the cohort?• Who decided which curriculum pathway a

particular student would follow?• What contribution do parents and students

make to the decision making process?• What happens if it becomes apparent that the

allocation of students to a particular curriculum pathway is inappropriate?

• What indicators might suggest that an inappropriate pathway is being followed?

Consider the current Year 8 science students:• When will you know if the current GCSE

curriculum model is appropriate for this cohort? How will you know?

• How will decisions be made about which curriculum pathways to offer to the Year 8 students at the end of Year 9? When will this decision be made?

• If you offer triple science over three years, when and how are students offered this curriculum pathway? Can students opt into and out of that pathway during Year 10?

At what age, do you think your students are able to identify the curriculum pathway that is most suited to them? How can they be supported so that most get it right? How will you know if they did get it right?

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Learning pathways – who decides?

This page will give you the opportunity to:

• Reflect upon the process by which different students arrive on a given curriculum pathway in science.

• Consider the role of parents and other adults in encouraging students to follow particular curriculum pathways.

• Reflect on the importance of implicit messages on student choice of curriculum pathways

Exploring the current curriculum in your school

Chapter 01

ACTIVITY: “You’re doing what?” Parental support can encourage students to try their best and motivate them to success, but too much pressure can have the opposite effect too. It is important that parents are aware of the possible curriculum pathways but also have a realistic understanding of what might be most beneficial for their child. • How do you provide information and

guidance so that parents are aware of the science curriculum pathways available to their child?

• How does this support relate to the future progression routes available from different curriculum pathways?

• What aspects does this information and support consider?

• How do you avoid the situation where a parent insists on their child following a particular pathway which is not the most appropriate for that child?

ACTIVITY: Implicit or explicit? We continually communicate our thoughts and feelings about the world around us, even when we are not speaking. Our body language, as simple as turning towards or away from somebody, tells a story about our engagement with that person; our lack of response or endorsement says as much as our spoken encouragement.Think about the students in Year 9 who might go on to study triple science at GCSE:• What implicit messages do they receive

about their ability; their likelihood of gaining 3 A*-C; their practical skills; their organisational and study skills?

• What explicit messages do the same group receive?

• Now think about a group of students who are less likely to study triple science at GCSE:

• What implicit messages do they receive about their ability; their likelihood of gaining 3 A*-C; their practical skills; their organisational and study skills?

• What explicit messages do this group receive?

How do the messages received differ? What is the likely impact of these differences?What about a student who does want to study triple science but finds themselves in a group where the majority do not? What implicit and explicit messages are they likely to receive? Why is awareness of what we say and do so important to individual students?

ACTIVITY: Case StudiesRead Case study 1 and Case study 2. What do the two schools have in common? How have they approached the issue and what can be learnt from their actions?What would a case study describing the process of selecting triple science students, or supporting students to select triple science, in your school report?

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Learning pathways – who decides?

Exploring the current curriculum in your school

Chapter 01

What are your priorities or next steps in exploring the current curriculum in your school?

You might consider...

• Explicitly sharing the background to the development of your science curriculum with colleagues both in the department and across the school, in order to increase understanding about the position of science within the core curriculum and how it supports the ethos and vision communicated by the school.

• Keeping your school Senior Leadership Team and link governor (if you have one) up to date with requirements relating to science.

• Conducting a pupil survey to explore their impression of the importance of science in the curriculum at your school and use it to support a review of the department development plan, ensuring that the science curriculum offered meets the intention described in the National Curriculum and that progression beyond GCSE is actively encouraged. Would a parent survey provide a similar perception?

• Reviewing the information provided to students about the different science curriculum pathways offered and the process by which students arrive on each curriculum pathways in Key Stage 4.

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Action planning

This page will give you the opportunity to:

• Reflect upon the process by which different students arrive on a given curriculum pathway in science.

• Consider the role of parents and other adults in encouraging students to follow particular curriculum pathways.

• Reflect on the importance of implicit messages on student choice of curriculum pathways

Exploring the current curriculum in your school

Chapter 01