Social Sciences

Social Sciences (Psychology and Sociology) are offered at KS5 at Trinity School.

What is Social Sciences like at Trinity?

Students receive a booklet for every topic that contains items such as topic notes, specification checklists, knowledge organisers, and exam questions. These booklets have been designed to support students to achieve in class as well as during their independent study time. Students are regularly encouraged to challenge and extend their knowledge of topics by completing wider reading around the subject or extension tasks. 

There are opportunities throughout the year to attend online and/or in-person talks and workshops from university lecturers on psychological topics and trips. Additionally, students will learn how to design and present research through various practical assignments.

PSYCHOLOGY

A-level psychology will give you an understanding of the way people think and why people behave in certain ways.

You will learn a variety of skills, including analytical thinking, improved communication, problem-solving, and many more that will prepare you for an exciting future with the possibility of a range of fantastic careers.

What topics will you study?

Assessment

At A-level, there are three exams, each accounting for one third of your A-level. The three exams last 2 hours and are worth 96 marks each. The exams consist of multiple-choice, short-answer and extended writing questions.

Exam board: AQA

SOCIOLOGY

A-level sociology will help you to make sense of the society we live in and understand the cultural and identity issues which affect us all.

You will learn a number of skills, including the use of evidence to support your arguments, how to investigate facts, and critical thinking. It is relevant to the society you live in, so you are bound to enjoy learning about topics that are relevant to everyday life. Plus, it opens the door to a fantastic range of interesting careers.

What topics will you study?

Assessment

At A-level, there are three exams, each accounting for one third of your A-level. The three exams last 2 hours and are worth 80 marks each. The exams consist of a mixture of short answers and extended written questions.

Exam board: AQA

INCLUSION STATEMENT

The Social Sciences Department at Trinity is committed to facilitating and delivering a broad, ambitious and inclusive curriculum that engages all students in a rich body of knowledge and skills, such as critical analysis, research design and oracy.

In line with the current Ofsted framework, inclusion is understood as the extent to which all pupils, particularly those who are disadvantaged and those with SEND, access the same ambitious curriculum as their peers, with appropriate support to succeed. At Trinity, this means that all students are taught the full curriculum in psychology and/or sociology, with adaptation and scaffolding rather than dilution, so that high expectations are maintained for all. Our curriculum is designed to be coherently planned and sequenced, enabling pupils to build secure knowledge over time and regularly revisit core principles to strengthen memory retention.

At Trinity, it is an expectation that all lessons and wider resourcing have effective provision for students with SEND so that they are able to make equal progress to their peers. SEND information, such as Student passport and Mainstream Core Standards advice, is used carefully to inform planning, teaching and intervention, ensuring barriers to learning are identified and reduced. In Social Sciences, all teachers consider the needs of SEND students in three ways:

1. Seating – students are strategically placed to make them easily accessible to teachers to individually check their understanding.
2. Resources – students are provided with topic booklets which contain notes in easy-to-read font that can be pre-read before lessons. This avoids cognitive overload and reduces the amount of writing they need to do. These booklets are supported by our adapted lesson slides that are chunked, utilise neural backgrounds and are dual-coded.
3. Delivery – students are a priority in our lesson questioning so we can check their understanding of content. We also use scaffolding and modelling to ensure that students have a clear understanding of what a good essay looks like and how to write effective answers.

In practice, this means that students with common areas of need, including dyslexia, ADHD and autism, are supported through predictable lesson routines, clearly chunked resources, reduced copying demands, explicit modelling of extended responses, careful checking of understanding and opportunities to revisit key terminology and concepts. These approaches are used flexibly according to individual student passports and teacher knowledge of the learner.

Professional relationships are strong amongst the teaching staff in the department, allowing for transparent communication and support offered to ensure that the highest standards of pedagogy are implemented and reviewed to consistently develop the standard of teaching. Our teachers frequently engage in teaching and learning opportunities to continue to refine their teaching.

Beyond the classroom, students are encouraged to enrich their social sciences education through a range of super-curricular opportunities. This includes utilising our department library to develop their understanding of topics beyond the specification, criminology workshops facilitated by university lecturers, and trips to explore social sciences in higher education.

Through this inclusive, aspirational and coherently planned curriculum, the Trinity Social Sciences Department ensures that all pupils are equipped with the knowledge, skills and cultural capital they need to succeed in further education and employment.