Sociology And Psychology
Head of Department: Mr Z Pennant
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society and trends within it. Here at Claremont we deliver Sociology at Key Stage 4 and 5 and students find the subject and its topics highly enlightening and engaging especially as they have not been taught anything like it in their Key Stage 3 subjects. Topics range from the Sociology of education, crime and religion to name just a few.
Curriculum Intent
Students will learn topics of the sociology of the family, education and crime, as-well as social stratification. Their knowledge for the exams will also inform them of wider social issues. A constant link and debate to all social groups such as class, gender, ethnicity and age means that students are continuously engaged and hooked on the content they are learning.
Application to the real world, with up to date examples wherever possible help pupils remember and apply concepts.
Essay skills is a key skill which students quickly learn and this across this key stage. We aim to prepare students to use their new breadth of knowledge and apply it to various topics and questions.
Every year we have a high number of students who go on to study sociology at A level as-well as subjects with close links to sociology such as business studies and psychology.
Course and Exam information
There are two summer exams which are sat at the end of Year 11.
Paper 1 is on the Family and Education topics covered in Year 10. Paper 2 is on Crime and the Social Stratification topics covered in Year 11.
Both papers are 1 hour and 45 minutes. GCSEs are awarded under the 9-1 grading system.
Key Stage 4
Year 10
Sociology and research methods, the sociology of the family and the sociology of education
Assessments include end of unit tests, topic based essays and mock exams at the end of the academic year.
Year 10 Sociology curriculum map
Year 11
Sociology of crime and the sociology of social stratification.
Assessments include end of unit tests, topic based essays and mock exams twice leading up to the final summer exams.
Assessments include end of unit tests, topic based essays and mock exams twice in the academic year leading up to the final summer exams.
Year 11 Sociology curriculum map
The full AQA specification for GCSE Sociology can be found here.
Resources
There are various resources available to support pupils:
- Revision guides and workbooks
- Teachers - students can come and see their teacher outside of lesson time with any queries or questions.
- Websites – “BBC Bitesize”
- Tutor2u tutorials and videos available on their YouTube channel.
Key Stage 5
Year 12
You will start with ‘Sociological theory and Methods’, then study ‘Education with Methods in Context’, and lastly you will study ‘The Family’.
Year 12 Sociology curriculum map
Year 13
‘Crime and Deviance’ and ‘The sociology of Religion’ and finish the Sociological Theory topic.
The course is linear, which means you will sit your exams at the end of Year 13. There are 3 exams.
Year 13 Sociology curriculum map
Enrichment
We have undertaken trips such as to the theatre, museums and conferences though this is mostly at A level, and we occasionally have guest speakers.
Next Steps
Every year we have a high number of students who go on to study sociology at A level and then at university, as-well as subjects with close links to sociology such business studies and psychology. As such many students go into careers in these fields.
Psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and behaviour; a discipline which emerged as a descendant of philosophy. Psychology is an academically rigorous subject which nurtures a potent mix of skills including research design, effective written communication and data analysis.
At Claremont we offer Psychology at Key Stage 5 (A Level) and deliver a two year course that students explore across year twelve and thirteen. Since Psychology is not offered to lower school pupils, it offers students insight into a new subject which they often approach with a renewed sense of fascination and intrigue.
Topics that students will explore include:
- Social influence
- Memory
- Attachment
- Approaches (to explaining behaviour)
- Psychopathology
- Research methods
- Biopsychology
- Issues and debates
- Gender
- Schizophrenia
- Aggression
Students who study psychology at Claremont often continue with the subject at university, but it also equips them with a number of proficiencies necessary for success in other courses/industries. Overall, Psychology is a well-rounded subject that students thoroughly enjoy each year at Claremont.
Curriculum Intent
One of the key aims of our curriculum is to develop students into analytical thinkers who are able to interpret information in an objective and critical way. Initially, students are taught the ‘research methods’ unit with a view to expose them to the various methods of investigating human behaviour, as well as the costs/benefits of research design choices.
Once students are able to distinguish between subjectivity and objectivity, they are then well positioned to use this understanding to evaluate theories and the evidence used to support them. Not only is this useful from a personal perspective, it also satisfies one of the more heavily weighted assessment objectives for the course (AO3).
Throughout the delivery of the course, students are encouraged to move away from viewing learning as memorisation and towards understanding how the content explored in lessons relates to the real world. For instance, in year thirteen pupils explore the consequences of conducting socially sensitive research, as well as the history of science and how it can, and has, been misused to suit political agendas. It is these links that engage students and motivate them to independently develop their understanding; a skill which will be invaluable should they choose to attend university.
Finally, our curriculum seeks to train pupils how to communicate their ideas effectively whether doing so verbally or in written form. Students are encouraged to utilise the psychology department library so that they can be exposed to formal writing styles and apply what they learn to their written work. Students also receive a regular feedback loop which enables them to become familiar with specification details, how to apply mark schemes and the means by which they can improve their responses based on teacher feedback.
Key stage 5
Year 12
- Social influence
- Memory
- Attachment
- Approaches (to explaining behaviour)
- Psychopathology
- Research methods
Year 12 Psychology curriculum map
Year 13
- Research methods
- Biopsychology
- Issues and debates
- Gender
- Schizophrenia
- Aggression
Year 13 Psychology curriculum map
Assessment
- AQA exam question practice and feedback
- Topic essays/extended responses (8, 12 and 16 mark questions)
- Short answer questions (1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 mark questions)
- Mock examinations
- Y12 recap books for Y13 students
Enrichment
We often go on trips such as to the theatre, museums and conferences, as-well as our annual trip to the Freud museum.
Next Steps
Every year we have a high number of students who go on to study psychology at university, as-well as subjects with close links to psychology such as sociology, law, journalism and criminology. As such, many students go into careers in these fields.
If you are fascinated by the behaviour of others and why we act the way we do, then sociology is for you. Sociology seeks to understand all aspects of human social behaviour, including the social dynamics of small groups of people, large organisations, communities, institutions and even entire societies. Sociologists are typically motivated by their desire to better understand the fundamental principles of social life, believing that an understanding of these principles will help improve people’s lives through more enlightened and effective policies.
What is Sociology?
Sociology is the study of how society is organized and how we experience life.
Do you wonder what fuels our apparent fixation with celebrity? Is it that it provides endless, easily obtained content for our multiplying TV channels, newspaper pages and magazines? Could it be both? How far do the media affect how personal lifestyle choices are viewed by wider society? Or even something much more profound about the education system or the increasing levels of youth crime?
If you become a sociology student you will discover how to think about these issues for yourself: what are the questions behind the questions? Generations of students have found that sociology makes them look at the world in new ways.
How is the course structured?
Year 12 – You will start with ‘Sociological theory and Methods’, then study ‘Education with Methods in Context’, and lastly you will study ‘The Family’.
Year 13 – ‘Crime and Deviance’ and ‘The sociology of Religion’ and finish the Sociological Theory topic.
The course is linear, which means you will sit your exams at the end of year 13. There are 3 exams.
For information and resources from the AQA website follow this link:
https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/sociology/as-and-a-level/sociology-7191-7192
Our Curriculum intent and intent is at the start of the term for year 12 we go through an overview of the main sociological theories—Functionalism/Marxism/Feminism. This gives pupils a grounding in the core theories the course covers. This also starts the topic of ‘Sociological Theory’ which forms part of paper 1 and paper 3 of the exams.
This is the same whether the course is taught by one teacher or two.
If the course is taught by one teacher, then the next topic that is taught is the sociological perspectives of Education, this feeds in nicely from the grounding theoretical lessons they will have had in the opening 2 weeks. Topics in education then follow on accordingly and is taught up until January, when teaching research methods is then taught, as this is part of paper 1 with only a short question asked (10 marks—strengths and limitations type question), this then leads onto methods in context—a 20 mark essay explaining the strengths and limitations of a particular research method to investigate a particular topic. This needs to be taught last in this unit because they need to know the education content and the strengths and weaknesses of the research methods. This is taught up until the beginning of March.
Sociology of the family is then taught from March until July. This is taught after the education unit because there is less content to cover in the family unit, and the essay writing and short answer skills required should be embedded and lead into answering the 20 mark and 10 mark essay questions required in the family unit, which is a part of paper 2.
If the course is taught by one teacher, teacher 1 will deliver the main sociological theories, From September until the start of October. Then education with research methods from October to May. Teacher one has more lessons with them on the timetable and so will deliver the longer topics (education with research methods in context). Teacher 2 will deliver Sociology of the family from September to May, and then begin the sociological theory. Having teacher 2 deliver the start of the Sociological theory topic helps save time for teacher one, who will continue this topic in year 13.
Year 13 see teacher 1 deliver the Sociology of Religion from September to February, teacher two will deliver the crime and deviance topic from September to April, and then focus on exam skills and revision up to the exams. The crime topic is a longer and more dense topic with synoptic links to other areas covered over the course, and so will take longer to deliver. Teacher two should finish delivering this by the start of April. Teacher one will deliver the remainder of the ‘sociological theory’ topic from February to April. Both teachers will then be able to focus on revision from after the Easter holiday up to the exams.
Psychology is the scientific study of human behaviour and experience and students will get the chance to discover more about the fascinating nature of human behaviour. Research in psychology seeks to understand and explain thought, emotion, and behaviour. Applications of psychology include mental health, performance enhancement, self-help, ergonomics, and many other areas.
What is Psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of people, their minds and behaviour. How we think, how we act, react and interact individually and in groups. Psychology is concerned with all aspects of behaviour and the thoughts, feelings and motivations underlying such behaviour.
It is both a thriving academic discipline and a vital professional practice
It enables you stand back from your own life and think about your own feelings and behaviours a little more dispassionately.
How is the course structured?
Year 12—You will study a number of topics in this year, including Social Influence, Attachment, Memory,
research methods, Psychopathology and different approached in psychology.
Year 13—Aggression, Schizophrenia, Biopsychology,
Gender, Issues and Debates and again Research
Methods.
The course is linear, which means you will sit your exams at the end of year 13. There are 3 exams.
For information and resources from the AQA website follow this link:
https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/psychology/as-and-a-level/psychology-7181-7182
Our curriculum intent is at the start of term, for the year 12 groups, teacher 1 will teach the Research Methods section (excluding the mathematical content). The reason for this is that research methods is a heavier part of the syllabus now and is interweaved throughout the other topics. As such, students will have knowledge of the methods and be able to evaluate those methods, as-well as the studies, as we go through the course. Research methods will be taught up until the start of October.
From then onwards, teacher two, who will only see the groups 3x over the 2 weeks, will deliver the ‘Social Influence’ up until the February half term, then moving onto delivering ‘Attachment’ from mid February to July. This is because it is one of the more easier topics to ease them into using the knowledge from ‘approaches’ which will have just been covered by teacher 1.
Teacher one, who will see the groups 6x over the 2 weeks, will deliver after the research methods topic, ‘Approaches’ because most topics they cover in the course actually come from these main approaches in psychology. The next topic will be ‘Memory’, and this is because there are lots of case studies that appear under memory, and they can utilise their research methods knowledge from the start of the year in more direct application. Finally ‘Psychopathology’ will be delivered because it is one of the shorter topics, and this is around the time of the mocks for year 12 and study leave, and so it fits nicely with the time frame, and will allow the delivery of the science parts of THE ‘Aggression’ topic in year 13 to be covered..
Year 13—Teacher two will deliver ‘Aggression’ up until the end of December , and then deliver ‘Gender’ from January to March. This is because the science part of ’Aggression’ will be delivered in the final few weeks of their year 12, and the social influence part (which will be delivered by a sociology specialist) of ’Aggression’ will take only up until the end of December. From January, there will be enough time for Gender to be delivered by teacher two, and therefore leaving much more time for teacher two to focus on revision, which has not previously been the case for year 13. We think this will be an improvement and will help year 13. This is because teacher 2 will be delivering year 13 content for the first time and these topics are more social science based compared to the others.
Teacher 1 will deliver ‘Biopsychology’ first because they have already been introduced to some of the content in year 12 under the ‘Approaches’ topic, and they can build upon it at the start of year 13. It is also one of the more difficult topics out of all of them, and placing it at the start allows more time to go over it. Followed by ‘Issues and debates’ because some of the concepts are covered in year 12, and with that content still relatively fresh in their minds, they are able to build on this. Teacher one will then deliver ‘Research methods’ (year 13 component) which is an extension from their year 12 content, this is done now because paper 1 and paper 2 exams can put year 13 research methods content into it (which is year 12 content except for this), and so ‘Schizophrenia’ topic which is taught last is done so because this falls on their paper 3 exam, which is their last exam paper.
Extra Curricular Opportunities at Key Stage 5
Sociology and Psychology are theory heavy and we need to try to bring those ideas to life. Over the years we have taken students on trips to the theatre to watch plays which resonate with the topics we study. We also take students on trips to museums such as the British Museum to view, for example, the impact religion has had on society over the centuries. We also take students to the Freud Museum to see where and how Freud developed his psychoanalysis. There are also exam specific trips to AQA focus tutorials leading up to the exams and Sociology in Action conferences we take students to. All of these extra curricular trips help to bring both Sociology and Psychology to life, and develops the understandings that students have of some of the key components of the courses they study.