Subject Intent

Psychology plays a vital role in our society from all aspects such as education, the economy and crime. Not only does Psychology give learners the opportunity to explore the human mind and how we think and act, it always allows them to understand themselves as individuals. The field of Psychology is constantly evolving, giving learners the opportunity to engage with contemporary discoveries. 

Our aim at Derby Cathedral School is to produce Psychologists of the future who are inspired by understanding the mind and who are inquisitive, motivated and passionate to explore a range of factors that influence our behaviour.  

We study the AQA A Level Psychology course and have selected the following optional topics: Schizophrenia, Forensics, and Gender). Through our carefully designed curriculum and strong subject specialists, the Social Sciences department offers rich and engaging lessons that will enable learners to learn the fundamentals of Psychology and the skills needed to ‘think like a Psychologist’.  

Staffing

Head of Social Sciences and Teacher of Sociology, Psychology and Health and Social Care 

Miss J Sowter - j.sowter@derbycathedralschool.org.uk  

Lead Teacher of Criminology and Teacher of Psychology

Mr S Acquah - s.acquah@derbycathedralschool.org.uk

 

Homework

A Level Subjects (Psychology and Sociology) – students will be set weekly homework in the form of three tasks 

  • Apply (independently apply what has been learnt during lessons) e.g. exam questions, textbook exercises, skills activities, essays, detailed planning for extended writing 
  • Acquire (independently acquire new knowledge to build good foundations) e.g. directed reading for the next lesson, directed research task, watching documentaries, listening to podcasts 
  • Cement (independently revisiting class notes to identify areas that require further assistance from their teacher) e.g. reviewing class notes, mind mapping, creating revision material, re-reading relevant textbook pages, retrieval tasks 

Assessment

  • You will have three exams in year 13 
  • Each paper is two hours 
  • Each paper is out of 96 

Paper 1 - Introductory Topics in Psychology

  • Social influence (Year 12) 
  • Memory (Year 12) 
  • Attachment (Year 12) 
  • Psychopathology (Year 12) 

Paper 2 - Psychology in Context

  • Approaches (Year 12) 
  • Biopsychology (Year 12) 
  • Research methods (Year 12/13)

Paper 3 - Issues and Options in Psychology

  • Issues and debates  (Year 13) 
  • Gender (Year 13) 
  • Schizophrenia (Year 13) 
  • Forensics (Year 13) 

     

 

 

Independent Study and Revision

 

Subject Enrichment

  • Shrewsbury Prison Visit 
  • Chester Zoo Visit 
  • Dr Guy Sutton Visit 
  • Police Officer Guest Speaker 
  • London Visit  
  • Belgium, Luxemburg and the Netherlands Trip (includes aspects from all Social Sciences) 

 

Super-Curricular

  • Explore careers related to Psychology  

https://www.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/what-can-i-do-with-my-degree/psychology 

https://www.bps.org.uk/career-options-psychology  

  • Complete a Psychology related MOOC

https://www.mooc-list.com/tags/psychology  

  • Read the Psychology Review magazine 
  • Complete the AQA A Level Psychology Up learn course

https://uplearn.co.uk/psychology/revision 

  • Watch relevant Ted Talks such as Philip Zimbardo on the Psychology of Evil and Georgette Mulheir on the Tragedy of Orphanages. 

https://ted.com/talks?topics%5B%5D=psychology  

  • Watch relevant documentaries such as Making a Murderer Brendon Dassey Interview and Conformity to Social Roles BBC Prison Experiment 
  • Follow @PsychToday, @tutor2uPsych, @MindCharity, @PsyBlog 
  • Watch relevant films such as 12 Angry Men, Dangerous Minds, The Notebook and A Beautiful Mind 

Literacy

  • ‘The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom’ by Jonathan Haidt 
  • ‘Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion’ by Robert B Cialdini 
  • ‘Mistakes Were Made (but Not by Me): Why we Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions and Hurtful Acts’ by Carol Travis 
  • ‘Upstream: How to Solve Problems Before they Happen’ by Dan Heath 
  • ‘The School of Life: An Emotional Education’ by Alain de Botton 
  • ‘Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgement’ by Daniel Kahneman, Oliver Sibony and Cass R Sunstein 
  • ‘The Lucifier Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil’ by Philip G Zimbardo 
  • ‘The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry’ by Jon Ronson 
  • ‘Reaching Down the Rabbit Hole’ by Dr Allan Ropper 
  • ‘The Little Book of Psychology’ by Emily Ralls  
  • ‘Thinking Fast and Slow’ by Daniel Kahenman 
  • ‘The Invisible Gorilla’ by Robert Cialdini 
  • The British Psychological Society Articles https://www.bps.org.uk/publications  
  • BBC News – Psychology related topics https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/cz4pr2gdge5t