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.
If you would like a copy of this SOW please go to: TES Resources for your free download.
Does that mean you are trying to cover all content for AS exams even for students who are not being entered for them?
I would also be interested to know what percentage of your students are sitting AS exams if you don’t mind sharing.
We have 7/28 sitting AS and I don’t really want to rush through content with them in mind, but then struggling to know how to get them ready in time if I don’t. (All students originally started on 2 year course only but some have requested to be entered to which I have consented)