The Science Faculty at Co-op Academy Swinton believe that all children are unique and must have a stimulating educational environment where they can grow physically, mentally, emotionally and socially.

Our aims of the teaching and study of sciences are to encourage and enable students to:

• Develop inquiring minds and curiosity about science and the natural world
• Acquire knowledge, conceptual understanding and skills to solve problems
• Make informed decisions in scientific and other contexts

We believe that Science is able to inform problem solving and decision making in many areas of life and that a knowledge of Science will allow students to make informed decisions about the implications of science and how these relate to their own lives and cultures and to the sustainability of the environment.

The Science Curriculum at Co-op Academy Swinton is built around four goals for ‘Life-long Learning’ focussed around the key tenet of developing ‘Good Scientists’.

These four goals for understanding are:

• How Scientists work – How real scientists and those in science-based careers work in the real world.
• How theories are developed – How ideas are made, developed, peer reviewed, challenged and eventually accepted in Science.
• What is empirical method? – How Science is used to systematically investigate ideas in order to understand how the world works.
• Is there any such thing as proof? – How theories change over time as new ideas, technologies and knowledge is developed.

We hope to demystify Science and to open Science up to all our students.