The time has come to start planning the second year of the New Spec. To my horror there is a surprising amount of new content still to cover (I can’t believe there are another 6 topics to cover in Christian Thought!). So I thought I would make a start and the best way to do this is by organising my SOW, creating an overview map of exactly how long I have and how to cover both new content and revision.

So a couple of pointers first:

• My students sit an exam at the end of the first year which means I have to cover all the first year modules rather than split equally over the two years (see: Updated SOW: Let’s be realistic! for first year SOW)
• There is no team teaching or sharing of spec so students cover each section as a chunk: Philosophy, Ethics then Christian Thought.
• I have five hours teaching time for second years per week.

The first big change from first to second year is the order of the sections, with Christian Thought coming first. This is very simply because it is the only section with 6 new modules to cover, so I just need to get those out of the way. I am also quite happy (ish) with the Philosophy and Ethics as they do not look much different from the old spec.

Second of all I am going to integrate revision into the Philosophy and Ethics sections and then leave some time at the end to revise Christian Thought again and fill in any final Philosophy and Ethics gaps. I have made this decision for two reasons. One because I believe students should be starting to revise their knowledge after Christmas and secondly because it then splits up revision. Revision is very hard work for both student and teacher therefore breaking it down into more manageable chunks seems wise.

This is how it looks:

Continue reading “Organising a New SOW: Second Year” →

I have never hidden the fact that I am loyal to OCR, teaching nearly a thousand students over eight years. But entering my ninth year with a looming new spec, I spent many weeks weighing up the pros and cons of remaining with OCR. My decision: Better the devil you know! (See: Out with the Old and in with the New: OCR Spec Changes) Was this the right decision though?

Interestingly I started writing this post about five weeks ago, with the first round of new spec exams dauntingly close but still two topics to cover in class. So I waited. Not because I didn’t have the time (because whoever has any of that!) but because I wanted to see the exam questions. Were OCR going to let me down at the last hurdle, setting ridiculously hard questions and be the straw that finally breaks the camel’s back of a grueling year? Or were they going to be fair and manageable to those students who had put in the work and revision? At that stage I just had no clue – my crystal ball of predictions was on the blink and I just prayed for the best outcome.

So writing now, the day after the first Philosophy exam, I am relieved by the exam questions which seem fair. Questions 1 & 2 were worded short and simple (not the usually long winded wording of OCR – as seen in Q3), also 1 and 2 were left pretty open with no one philosopher specified. This means, in my opinion, that anything relevant to the question will be awarded marks. So I am content with the questions so far but is this blissful ignorance as we approach the second round: new spec ethics? We will see in a week!

So my overall reflections of the year…

Continue reading “New Spec Reflections: What’s the Verdict?” →

I have to laugh when looking back at my original SOW and the idealistic naivety at which I entered this teaching year (see Taking the Plunge: Organising a New SOW if you too want a laugh!) I never considered that I would still be teaching ethics at this point but little had I realised that the extra discussion questions here and there, the couple of new topics and the different exam structure would take it’s toll.

So what’s the reality? Well I have once again timetabled the Christian Thought elements to a week a piece. Why …because if I’m being honest I have no idea how long each will take. Some might take two lessons, some might take two weeks. Now for many of you this might be of little comfort (those fearing that you might not cover the spec in time) but here’s what I have realised: students are still coming to lessons through the three weeks that their exams are being held. Whilst the idea of students still learning Christian Thought alongside doing their Philosophy exam is not ideal, it is a comfort still knowing that there is a little extra time that can be used if needed.

In colleges where students are only taking one AS exam – for the subject they do not wish to continue for the two years (as is the case in my college) then:

• Only the students continuing with R.S will miss a lesson (when doing an exam in another subject) and can be caught up later.
• Students who are sitting the R.S exam will not miss any lessons

This gives a bit of extra time between exams to revise, catch up and finish those last few bits.

In colleges where students are doing 3 to 4 AS exams (and therefore have quite disrupted teaching weeks) the saving grace is the half term holiday which is just before the Christian Thought exam. So many students who are entered for that exam can be set any final reading that has not been completed during lessons.

This is my updated Scheme of Work which shows what I have covered thus far and how I will cover the rest of the units up to the exams.

Continue reading “Updated SOW: Let’s be realistic!” →