Departments

Psychology

Psychology is taught by one specialist teacher.

Psychology A Level links in to everything we do, and everything a person can be. Therefore it is very useful as a preparation for a large number of careers – including parenthood! Obviously it can also help people get to university, regardless of the subject they wish to study there. There are also wider educational goals like raising awareness and understanding of mental ill health conditions such as depression and OCD, and increasing understanding and curiosity about our fellow human beings, which link to our Catholic Ethos.

The skills our students develop include critical thinking, further development of academic writing ability and bringing together previously learnt scientific and analytical skills to help make sense of the complexity of the human condition.

In the linear structure we can revisit specific items of content as each topic is taught, thereby adding to the students’ knowledge of it and reinforcing learning, so that there is less pressure during the revision ‘season’ at the end of the two years because recall should be more robust. However, there is a large amount of content to learn, so students do need to be very organised – revision is a continuous process and ‘cramming’ won’t work!

there is no coursework. All the content is examined in three, two-hour exams at the end of the second year.

There is plenty of scope for school trips and visits. In the past, the department has visited university Psychology department open days, and the Oxford University Brain Bank. Collaboration with other social sciences also happens. For example, a recent visit to the school from the social sciences team at Newman University involved Hagley Psychology and Sociology students, and Haybridge Psychology students as well.