What should a KS4 science curriculum look like for SEND learners?

  I’ve been reflecting on the curriculum for SEND learners, and regular readers of my blog will know that I’ve written lots about the KS4 curriculum before. Previous posts have been written from the point of view of a classroom practitioner but now I’m looking in from the outside. I’ve met lots of teachers and …

The importance of the curriculum – thank you Amanda Spielman

Last week the new Chief Inspector Amanda Spielman spoke at the ASCL conference.  She was setting out her stall as one of the most influential leaders in the world of education, and she told the conference of school leaders “Vitally important though a school’s examination results are, we must not allow curricula to be driven just …

#ASEchat summary – Planning for the new national curriculum and assessment without levels

A transcript of the chat can be found here. Although a similar topic was discussed only a few weeks before, the issue of the new national curriculum and what will replace the levels as a progress and accountability measure is still worrying lots of science teachers. @cleverfiend referred to his recent visit to the DfE …

What you thought should follow a two year key stage 3 Science curriculum

I posted a request for feedback asking people what they thought should follow a two year KS3 course (in my case Wikid Science). Thank you those people who took the time to respond – I’ve posted a brief summary of the responses below. Only 14% of respondents took three years to complete KS3 57% of …

Key stage 3 in two years–what then?

I followed Wikid Science thinking it would be a three year course but it evolved into a 2 year course because many people are starting GCSE in year 9.  I teach in a special school (which ability wise isn’t that far removed from the lower ability end of a mainstream comprehensive) and I’m now in …

Science teaching in England–an overview

The intention of this post is to give an introduction to the state of science education in England.  I am interested in how science education works in other countries and was hoping that this could be the first in a series of blog posts comparing science education around the world. (Since devolution of power to …

Wikid Science KS3 – my reflections on the new Year 8 units

Having taught almost three of the new format Wikid year 8 units I had to post an update on my progress with Wikid, and my thoughts about the scheme. In terms of organisation the new year 8 modules are a huge leap forward.  Lessons are organised into folders by lesson which makes a huge amount …