Northcroft School – Science Curriculum (Combined KS3 & KS4)

Intent

At Northcroft School, Science provides students with meaningful opportunities to understand the world around them through curiosity, enquiry, and discovery.

The curriculum is designed to be inclusive, therapeutic, and ambitious for all learners, particularly those with identified SEN needs and disrupted prior education.

Our science intent is to:

• Deliver a coherent and sequenced curriculum that builds knowledge and skills progressively from KS3 to KS4, fully aligned with the Oak National Academy 2025–2026 spine and the Edexcel Combined Science (IGCSE) pathway.
• Promote depth over breadth, allowing students to master key scientific ideas through repetition, practical exploration, and retrieval.
• Embed the B² progression framework, ensuring pupils develop competence in Knowing About Science, Using Scientific Enquiry, and Recording and Communicating Findings.
• Foster confidence, curiosity, and resilience by providing accessible, hands-on experiences that connect Science to daily life, wellbeing, and the wider environment.
• Support preparation for adulthood and next steps, developing skills for independence, decision-making, and post-16 pathways.

Implementation

The Science curriculum is implemented through:

• Integrated, SEN-responsive planning, using Oak Academy as a structured foundation while adapting pacing, scaffolding, and vocabulary to individual needs.
• A spiral structure where key concepts (Energy, Matter, Life, and Earth) are revisited and deepened each year, ensuring knowledge retention and cognitive reinforcement.
• Therapeutic and relational approaches that prioritise emotional regulation, safety, and engagement in practical learning, including small-group and outdoor enquiry.
• Assessment through B² statements, formative observation, and practical evidence, allowing all learners to demonstrate progress through accessible, visual, and oral means.
• A consistent focus on language and literacy for learning, with visual modelling, pre-teaching of vocabulary, and sentence scaffolds to support communication.
• Close alignment with Personal Development and PSHE, embedding respect, collaboration, and responsibility across all scientific contexts.
• The Schools paddock provisions is fully planned to strengthen depth of understanding and provide opportunities for practical experiments. 

Teaching across KS3 gradually transitions from guided enquiry and conceptual understanding to greater independence and formal application at KS4, ensuring learners are ready for accredited outcomes and post-16 progression.

Impact

The impact of Science at Northcroft is evidenced through:

• Students’ ability to recall and apply key scientific concepts confidently across contexts.
• Demonstrable progress in B² skill strands, showing increased independence in observation, enquiry, and reasoning.
• Students developing as curious, motivated, and reflective learners, able to link scientific ideas to personal experiences and real-world issues.
• Improved engagement in practical learning and regulation through consistent, therapeutic routines.
• A clear pathway from KS3 foundational knowledge to KS4 accredited learning, culminating in meaningful outcomes that reflect each learner’s starting point and potential.
• A growing sense of environmental awareness, responsibility, and participation , key attributes for adulthood and community life.

Ultimately, Science at Northcroft inspires learners to Be Safe, Belong, and Be Inspired, fostering both scientific   understanding and personal growth.