We have designed our curriculum using the KS3 National Curriculum and it is delivered under the framework of the IB Middle Years programme. We have also referenced the KS2 Programmes of Study in our initial planning. Students should have access to KS5 Science if they have a keen interest and passion for Science at Mascalls. To facilitate this, foundation knowledge in KS3 allows students to enter the GCSE curriculum with the ability to master the skills required for Post-16 study. Even those who don’t proceed to Post -16 should still find a supportive, rich and diverse curriculum that focuses on the relevant world around them.
Curriculum development has been underpinned by an awareness of the national curriculum and the transparency of practitioners across all Key Stages identifying both positive and negative trends and modifying the curriculum to mitigate this. Subject experts are now in place with our most able students. In fact most students at Mascalls will now experience a Hybrid model of Science teaching (some will still have a single ’Science’ teacher – where this is deemed more appropriate.
The basics of interleaving occur in KS3 but become more overt in KS4. Our KS3 Syllabus uses the MYIB to interleave skills across the subject curriculum. By KS4 students in Science are focused with deliberate independent work and repetition and application based assessment that interleaves new knowledge with previously learned skills. The focus on repetition is to ensure that independent work is appropriately recognised of its value – we want to ensure a large and successful cohort continues into Post-16 Sciences.