Science – Core Subject

Exam Board: AQA

Science at Oakbank is a core part of our offer, offering biology, chemistry and physics at Foundation and Higher Level. 

Sparx Science

The Sparx Science platform is an online homework tool designed to help students remember, understand, and apply what they learn in school. It automatically sets weekly science homework that matches exactly what your child is learning in class across biology, chemistry, and physics.

Sparx Science helps students by adapting to their individual learning levels. If a student is struggling, the system makes the questions more accessible by using word banks and multiple-choice options to help build their confidence. For students who are doing well, it automatically unlocks harder questions that challenge them to solve complex problems and prepare for GCSE exams.

Sparx Science is also designed to catch common science mistakes, like confusing mass with weight. When it notices a student making a typical mistake, it stops and gives them instant feedback to correct the misunderstanding before it becomes a bad habit.

Sparx is due every week.

Curriculum Map

The science curriculum at Oakbank School is designed to foster a sense of curiosity about the natural world by guiding students from concrete, observable phenomena to abstract scientific systems. In Year 7, students begin by exploring the immediate mechanics of life through cells, organisation, and body systems, which satisfies their natural curiosity about how their own bodies function. This understanding is expanded in Year 8 as they study ecosystems, photosynthesis, and climate systems, shifting their perspective to global interactions and the wider environment. By Key Stage 4, this curiosity is directed toward microscopic and unseen forces, such as the chemical and biological pathways of bioenergetics or the invisible fields governing magnetism and electromagnetism.