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:

Please note: My college might have slightly different holidays and start/ finish dates. I have also planned in our mock exam weeks which are institutionally based.

If you would like a copy of this SOW please go to: TES Resources for your free download. Also if you spot any glaring mistakes or problems please let me know – I am sure it will need some re-drafting.