How Proper Science works
1. Course organisation
The course is organised around six Big Ideas — Forces, Energy, Matter, Organisms, Ecosystems and Genes — which are designed to be threads across all five years of secondary science.
Within those, each year is organised around a number of units, each lasting several weeks - see the 5-year plan. Units are divided into 2-3 Key Concepts. A Key Concept (e.g. Cell structure) is the building block of teaching, not a single lesson.
Each Key Concept is taught as one sequence lasting 3-4 hours, so there's time to build genuine understanding, application (AO2) and higher-order thinking (AO3 analysis).
2. The 5As — the teaching sequence behind every concept
Every Key Concept moves through the same five stages, the 5As.
| Stage | What happens in the room | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Activate | A short pre-assessment of the prior concept students need | Surface gaps and misconceptions before you build on them |
| Acquire | An engaging phenomenon or problem, then structured enquiry and clear explanation | Build an accurate mental model of the new concept |
| Apply | Problems set in unfamiliar contexts, using a taught strategy | Move students from recall to transferring knowledge |
| Assess | A diagnostic quiz, then a "rethink" and second chance if needed | Check who has it; give strugglers more time before moving on |
| Analyse | A challenging task requiring interpretation and reasoning | Stretch toward higher-order (AO3) thinking |
At the end of each teaching sequence there's a Test — a summative quiz that can be combined into end-of-unit or end-of-term assessments. There are also a number of end-of-unit performance assessments based on real-life problems.
Roughly how the time splits across a typical 3-hour sequence: Activate ~30 min, Acquire ~60 min (the largest block — a second Acquire lesson takes the sequence to ~4 hours), then Apply, Assess and Analyse filling out to ~180 min.
3. An example sequence, stage by stage: Cells (Year 7)
Cells sits under the Organisms Big Idea and covers two topics — Cell structure and Specialised cells. This is the free sample sequence, so you can hold the actual materials while you read this.
- Activate — check the foundation. Students do a short pre-assessment on the prior knowledge cells depends on. It's designed to reveal thinking, not just score recall, so you can see who needs a quick re-teach before the concept begins and who's ready to stretch.
- Acquire — build the mental model. The lesson opens with a context or phenomenon that gives a reason to care about cells, then moves through hands-on/structured exploration and a clear, in-depth explanation. Students practise modelling and explaining — building an accurate picture of cell structure rather than copying a diagram. The teaching runs off a PowerPoint backbone with student activity sheets and a slide-by-slide teacher guide.
- Apply — use it somewhere new. Students meet problems about cells set in unfamiliar situations and work through them with the Detect → Recall → Solve strategy, with worked examples first, then their own practice with hints and answers.
- Assess — check and rethink. A diagnostic quiz uses distractors to expose misconceptions and gives both students and you instant feedback. Students who haven't secured it get a rethink and a second-chance quiz; students who have move on.
- Analyse — stretch the thinking. A challenging task asks students to interpret new information using their understanding of cells and justify a reasoned answer — the kind of higher-order demand that appears in GCSE AO3 questions.
4. How it works with a real mixed-ability class
The 5As provide a structure that enables differentiation at each stage:
- Activate — students get targeted re-teaching or a stretch task.
- Acquire — a structured pathway with opportunities for independent thinking.
- Apply — problem-solving strategies are taught to everyone.
- Assess — a diagnostic quiz tells you who needs a rethink.
- Analyse — students are stretched with harder thinking.
See 'Differentiation & SEN'
5. Working Scientifically skills
Working Scientifically is integrated throughout, not taught separately: practical and enquiry skills live in Acquire; maths and literacy/argumentation skills are developed in Apply and Analyse, where students justify answers using structures like claim–evidence–reasoning.