Head of Department: Emma Parsons (Acting)

Welcome to the Science Department at Ivybridge Community College.

Statement of Intent

The aim of the Ivybridge Community College Science Department is to develop free-thinking learners of the future by nurturing curiosity and sharing our own passion in engaging Science lessons.

We have designed our curriculum to teach our students the skills they need to access the world around them.  We believe that engaging with the world in a scientific way will enable them to make informed decisions based on evidence, now and in the future.

Implementation

We offer a variety of student-centred courses to suit the variety of students who will study them, including Combined Science, Separate Sciences (which is non-selective) and Entry Level Science (co-taught with GCSE Combined Science) for Years 9-11 and Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Applied Science for Years 12-13.  This allows our students to make the choices they want to make at those levels, but also later in life. We teach the topics in those courses in an order that we feel aids understanding and progression and allows students to develop the skills they need to be able to move on to the next stage.

Our lessons are inspiring and engaging and we use up-to-date models of learning to help our students retain the information.  The Science Department worked with the Research Schools Network and the Education Endowment Foundation in 2018-19 to learn about and practice the Self-Testing Toolkit, which uses a series of strategies to promote long term memory, involving interleaving, repetition and self-testing.  This is now being used at the whole College level.

We are closely linked with the Institute of Physics and the Ogden Trust and are currently involved in a study into balancing outcomes and participation of A-Level Physics and other subjects between genders.

Our lessons are well resourced by our experienced and specialised team.  We are supported by a strong team of well-qualified, knowledgeable and proactive Technicians.

Science students at Ivybridge Community College receive a large breadth of enrichment opportunities to encourage a love of Science.  They are inspired by our fantastic team of well qualified and passionate staff.  We have a long-established Science Club, Sustainability Club, many trips and in-house enrichment.  We run a Science Enrichment Week package, taking students on Science-based trips and holding in-College Science workshops.  Science Week 2020 at Ivybridge Community College focussed on Science careers, with many outside speakers in scientific jobs coming in to talk to our students about life in their profession and conduct the kind of practical tasks their career involves.

The Ivybridge Community College Science Department has a strong belief in sustainability, to help ensure that our students have the same opportunities in the future as we have now. Our Sustainability Club develops the participating students as leaders who influence the whole College.

We are proud of the scientists we are helping to create.  Some examples of the scientific courses our Year 13 students left to embark upon in July 2019 are Osteopathic Medicine, Forensic Science, Aerospace Systems Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Biomedical Science, Medicine, Zoology and Building Surveying and the Environment.

The Director of Science is Mrs Denise Smith.  We have three Deputy Heads of Department; Jon Lyall, the Head of Biology, Richard O’Hara, the Head of Chemistry and Richard Barry, the Head of Physics.  They each lead a team of specialist teachers.  We have four Assistant Team Leaders; Jo Wright, the Assistant Head of Biology with responsibility for Entry Level Science, Ben Stancombe, the Assistant Head of Chemistry, Jon Hargreaves the Assistant Head of Physics and Jon Shellard, responsible for Applied Science.  We also have a well-qualified and experienced team of seven Science Technicians and a Resource Assistant to support the teaching. Many of our team hold whole College responsibilities.

Facilities 

Science at Key Stages 3 and 4