Social Sciences

Psychology

Psychology Intent

We aim to develop courageous and intellectual students though a Psychology curriculum that aims to have a profound, positive impact on students’ academic, moral, and social development. We want our students to have the capacity to use their understanding of the human mind and how it can influence behaviour to positively influence the community around them in their later lives. By understanding the powerful knowledge which underpins psychology as a discipline, we will enable students to value the importance of psychological research and we will inspire a growing curiosity of the human body and mind. Our psychology curriculum is broad and balanced covering a range of topics including mental illness, social influence, aggression, and relationships; as such our curriculum will enable students to develop tolerance, awareness and respect towards others through an in-built opportunity to consider alternative ideologies and concepts as well as how behaviour affects various and diverse culture and upbringing experiences.

By the end of their education in Psychology at Callington Community College, all students of Psychology will:

Develop essential knowledge and understanding of psychology and how they relate to each other.
Develop and hone their application of statistical analysis, presentation, academic writing, and interpretation of academic literature within the context of the key knowledge themes that underpin our psychology curriculum.
be equipped with the scientific knowledge, skills, and vocabulary to develop a deep understanding of themselves and the wider world.
confidently consider ethical issues and implications of psychological endeavours across a range of psychological disciplines and timescales.

In order to fully appreciate Psychology and develop a deep schema, topics in Psychology have been intelligently sequenced by the following rationale:

All new knowledge introduced builds deliberately on previous or prior knowledge with particular attention being paid to neuropsychology, research methods and key issues and debates within the context of the core themes for psychology (below). The course starts with an introduction to foundational knowledge so that links can be formed, and knowledge builds and deepens as students progress through the course. The order in which topics are delivered to students helps with memory and recall of knowledge, but also develops many of the skills needed beyond the scope of the course.

Core Knowledge themes for Psychology
Psychological explanations	Ways of investigating behaviour	Biological explanations	Cognitive explanations
The role of conditioning	Qualitative and quantitative data	The role of genetics	Cognitive neuroscience
Influence of peers	Research methods used by psychologists	Neural structures	Schema
How behaviour is learned and imitated	Influence of studies on science	Hormones	Disorders
The role of family in shaping behaviour		Trauma	Therapy

Our Psychology curriculum addresses disadvantage through:

Sharing clear Learning Outcomes at the start of each lesson to direct and frame students’ thinking.
Using our Get To Work Tasks to deliberately bring knowledge from the long term memory to the working memory to act as a mental velcro for students’ thinking and learning.
Resources developed to ensure students have a record of their knowledge which they can refer to an develop as they progress through the course.

We believe that psychology contributes to the personal development of all of our students through:

developing an understanding of the ideas and values that characterise ‘self’ and others.
learning to challenge mental health stigma and discrimination.
understanding a basic viewpoint of why people behave in certain ways and how we learn.
understanding some of their own behaviour and relate to everyday situations (e.g. Fight or flight response) and how they can manage themselves in certain situations.
becoming aware of very common mental health illnesses, which are on the rise in today’s society, especially in their age group.
developing compassion and patience for individuals with mental illnesses, with the potential of feeling comfortable enough to support their peers should they see any signs or symptoms.
understanding how memory works, giving students an opportunity to reflect upon their own memory patterns and enable them to apply this to revision techniques.
understanding conformity and why people conform or obey. Students will be able to apply this to making sense of history and other social issues, e.g. bullying, ‘mob’ mentality and peer pressure.
understanding their own attachments and reflecting on current relationships. This should help students understand the importance of maintaining key relationships, particularly at such significant stages of their lives.

Opportunities to build an understanding of Social, Moral and Ethical issues are developed alongside links to the wider world, including careers through:

Studying current issues and debates throughout psychology to build critical thinking skills and prepare students for a career in any social science field.
Emphasising the impact of cultural and gender bias and the potential impacts of this in terms of the issues still faced in today’s society.
Understanding and reducing the stigmas around mental health.
Knowing how crime is defined and measured, and how information about crime may be misrepresented by the media or misinterpreted (alongside associated ethnic and gender bias). This will empower students to make their own judgements and look beyond misconceptions

Psychology Year 10 Knowledge Overview - click here

Psychology Year 11 Knowledge Overview - click here

Sociology

Sociology Intent

The premise of Sociology is to develop the student’s ‘sociological imagination’ and for them to understand the social world and our behaviour in it so that they will be able to have a rich understanding of the context of their lives, communities and their futures. The course is designed to create lifelong learners by challenging student thinking and developing their understanding about how social processes and structures in society work and how societies influence us and shape our lives. We hope that with this knowledge our students will feel empowered and determined to overcome societal barriers and to become the people they aspire to be.

The overall aim of Sociology is to encourage students to look at the world in a more critical way and question why society functions in the way that it does. These students are the future workforce of our country, and maybe even further afield, therefore it is essential they understand how the world has been made into what we see today and how even as individuals they can influence positive change in the future.

By the end of their education in Sociology at Callington Community College, all students of Sociology will:

Be able to understand and apply the three key theories that underpin Sociology (Feminist, Fundamentalist, and Marxist) to a range of contemporary situations.
Be able to analyse and make sense of statistical information and identify trends and changes.
Be able to evaluate a range of sociological sources, whilst understanding and applying applicable contexts, such as cultural, historical, economic, political and social theories..
Be competent and confident in class discussions and debates. Being able to demonstrate understanding and communication skills alongside evaluation of arguments.
Hold essential knowledge, transferable skills, and tools, which will help learning in other subjects such as time management, analysis, evaluation, researching and review, working with others and communicating concepts effectively.

In order to fully appreciate Sociology and develop a deep schema, topics in Sociology have been developed using the following rationale:

The content of Year 10 has been carefully selected to develop and support understanding in preparation for the GCSE course and to ensure students have the foundation knowledge of Sociology to succeed at KS4 and KS5 if they choose to continue on the A Level pathway.
The key theories underpin all the topics across the course. This framework is built upon and revisited throughout the two years at GCSE and A Level developing understanding to create powerful knowledge.
The course is designed to be challenging but also contemporary, topical, and relevant using documentaries and the news to make links with the theoretical content of the course. Students are encouraged to develop their opinions along with their evaluative and critical skills. The course is a good foundation to lead onto studying A Level Sociology but also compliments other A-Level choices that students may make, such as Geography, Science or English.
The content is sequenced progressively (students begin with an overview of sociological theory) and with careful thought for embedding the disciplinary knowledge through interleaving (research methods are returned to several times through the 2-year course rather than being taught as one block).

The Sociology Curriculum at Callington Community College has been influenced by:

Collaboration with a national network of Sociology teachers to continue to develop our excellent subject knowledge and to share and contribute engaging resources.
Developing an understanding of Jerome Bruner’s spiral curriculum model to ensure that foundational knowledge is built upon in deeper layers of complexity as the course progresses through KS4 and KS5.

Our subject addresses disadvantage through:

Sharing clear Learning Outcomes at the start of each lesson to direct and frame students’ thinking.
Using our Get to Work Tasks to deliberately bring knowledge from the long-term memory to the working memory through a range of recall tasks of gradually increasing complexity, continuing to build on the theoretical framework.

We believe that Sociology contributes to the personal development of all of our students through:

Developing a combination of skills needed for employment or further education.
Supporting our students in becoming more knowledgeable about our ever changing and diverse world.
Teaching them about the bias and critical thinking skills required to effectively navigate various types of sources and statistics.
Helping them to develop a more reasoned approach towards the ways in which society is constructed and impacted.