The Joseph Rowntree School

KS4 - Psychology

Curriculum Knowledge 

Year 10

Students will start year 10 by studying criminal psychology. Within this topic the students will apply the different psychology perspectives in order to explain crime. Students will be expected to debate the different psychological perspectives and to be able to consider different points of views. Students will then move on to study developmental psychology where they will study how humans develop; whilst considering different psychological debates such as the nature vs nurture debate. This will allow students to develop a deeper understanding of the subject and the debated causes of human behaviour. Thirdly, students will study social influence. This topic enables students to reflect on the structure of society and understand the reasons humans often blindly follow authority. Students will end the year by starting the topic of memory. This topic enables students to understand how memories are formed and to learn strategies in order to develop their own memory using psychological theory. This topic will also look at how weak our memories are in reality and will consider the negative implications this can have in court. 

 

Throughout the year research methods will be incorporated into the three topic areas mentioned above. This is a separate area of the course however it is beneficial for students to understand how this interlinks to topic areas in psychology. 

Year 11

Students will start year 11 by finishing the topic of memory. We will recap their previous knowledge through an early assessment ahead of their end of topic assessment on this topic. Secondly, students will study sleep and dreaming. This topic will study sleep from a biological and psychodynamic perspective. This topic will also analyse the functions of the brain and will consider the biological explanations of sleep disorders; such as insomnia. Finally, students will study psychological problems. This area of the specification has been designed through the support of ‘Time to Change’ in order to change the stigma surrounding mental health. Students will be required to understand the misconceptions regarding mental health and how this portrayal can cause negative implications within society, Students will then specifically study the causes and treatments of both schizophrenia and depression.

 

Skill Development

 

Subject Specific Skills:

  • Understand in detail psychological theories and research.
  • Evaluate existing theories and research and be able to construct an evaluative argument surrounding the effectiveness of this research/theory.
  • To be able to apply existing theories to real life scenarios.
  • Students will be expected to understand GCSE maths and these questions will form 10% of their overall grade.

 

Wider Academic Skills / Attributes:

  • Students are encouraged to participate in debates and work collaboratively in order to share and develop their own opinions and knowledge surrounding wider society. 
  • Students are encouraged to improve both their literacy and numeracy skills across topics.
  • Students will be expected to consider multiple topic areas when answering the main essay question of the exam which is based on synoptic links in order to make general conclusions concerning human behaviour.
  • Psychology is a GCSE which is not previously studied in lower school and students will need to show resilience to face the challenges associated to learning a new subject.

 

Personal Development - SMSC & Cultural Capital (Opportunities / Experiences)

 

  • Students are encouraged to understand mental health problems and the stereotypes that surround these. Students are encouraged to understand the common misconceptions surrounding multiple mental health disorders to minimise discrimination in their society. OCR has made this a priority in the updated specification introduced in 2017 and has partnered with Time to Change in order to encourage a wider awareness of mental health and the common stigmas attached to this. 
  • Students are encouraged to take a critical approach to contemporary issues within society.
  • To expose students to multiple perspectives of human behaviour and to encourage debate surrounding the causes of human behaviour.
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