At AESG pupils go straight into the individual sciences right from Year 7 so that they are taught by specialist teachers from the start of their secondary education. In Year 7 and 8 we build on their learning from the Prep School and introduce new ideas such as what makes up a cell, how do we vaccinate against a virus and how exactly is food digested in the gut? Our students enjoy a range of practical lessons and demonstrations to ensure they are prepared to start their GCSEs in Year 11.
Overview of the GCSE Curriculum
We start our GCSE course in Year 9 so that each topic is given the time that it deserves. The topics range from subcellular structures in Eukaryotic cells, how traits such as eye colour are inherited from our parents, all the way up to interactions within an ecosystem and how human population growth is affecting our world. We use cognitive science theories such as retrieval practice to give our students the capacity to retrieve all of this information when it comes to their exams to ensure they achieve their full potential.
Enrichment Opportunities & Trips
The Biology department runs a number of extracurricular activities such as dissections of hearts, squid and rats. We have a flourishing Gardening Club, where students can help with the plants on the grounds and grow their own vegetables. We offer to take the Year 11 students to the GCSE Science Live! Talks in Manchester. We are also hoping to run a field trip to South Africa in 2024 where our students will work alongside researchers and rangers in a game reserve to study the impact that large number of elephants have on the ecosystem. They will also get the opportunity to scuba dive and look at the health of the coral reef that lies off Sodwana Bay.
We have a large number of students participating in the Biology Challenge and the British Biology Olympiad each year. We also enter students for the nationally recognised CREST awards which is the British Science Association's scheme for STEM project work that inspires young people to think and behave like scientists and engineers.
