Psychology: Year 12 have made a very positive start to their A Level journey. Students have started by studying the Approaches topic. This lays the foundation knowledge for all other topics. They learned about the origins of psychology and how it emerged as a science, then moved on to learn about significant behaviourist psychologists including Pavlov, Skinner and Watson and classical and operant conditioning. Year 13 have started with their first compulsory topic in paper 3; Issues and Debates. This develops understanding of key issues and debates such as nature versus nurture, free will versus determinism and holism versus reductionism. This will enhance essay writing skills and allow students to be more analytical.

Criminology: Year 12 have started to investigate different types of criminal activity and the reasons why individuals may not report to the police. Students will then move on to research the consequences of hidden crime.

Sociology: Year 10 have started thinking like sociologists and conducting sociological research to investigate the different family types we have in our class. All students were able to then analyse this data and evaluate the implications of their results. Year 11 have started to study Crime and Deviance. Students can now understand the difference between a criminal and a deviant act and have acknowledged that what is considered crime and deviance can change over time. They completed independent research into gun law, homosexuality and drug use to identify and explain the changes that may be faced over time and cross culturally. Year 12 started their first topic in paper 1: Education. Students considered the external factors that may influence educational achievement and applied this knowledge to their first A-Level sociology exam question. Year 13 have been considering different theoretical approaches to the structure of society and have evaluated the impact of these viewpoints.