Sociology
Students can choose to study Sociology from Key Stage 4 onwards. Sociology looks at people, groups and societies and their actions, variations and problems, and tries to analyse, understand and explain what is going on in the world. It is valued highly in the workplace and offers progression to careers as diverse as teaching, journalism, law, marketing, welfare service, social research, social work, counselling and the charity sector.
Lessons are a mixture of teacher input, discussions and practising skills and PowerPoint. These are designed to increase student achievement and confidence in a supportive way. Frequent discussion work, backed up by reading and pre-prepared notes, is used to support learning.
KS4 Curriculum
The GCSE course develops a keen awareness of relevant sociological issues. Studies involve a range of learning techniques and including individual and group presentations and independent research.
Unit 1 (8192): The Sociology of Families and Education:
This unit examines the essence of sociology. We examine, gender, social class and ethnicity. The unit also explores how sociologists perform their research, looking at research methods such as questionnaires, observation and interviews, while also examining the vital institutions of the family and the education system (What role does education perform and are all treated equally in the system).We also examine relevant sociological theory and the methodology used by sociologists.
Unit 2 (8192): The Sociology of Crime and Deviance and Social Stratification
This unit looks at crime and deviance (who is criminally deviant and why), and examines the layers of British Society (Social Stratification).
Exam board
- AQA
KS5 Curriculum
Homework
Homework is set across all key stages to stretch and consolidate students’ learning. This enables students to prepare for future lessons or cement knowledge and understanding from previous lessons. Students will for example, be expected to learn via ‘Flipped Learning’.
Extra-curricular activities
The sociology room is used for revision and catch up sessions on Wednesday in the morning. With the extra provision of a Year 11 Breakfast Revision Club which runs from September to April.