Overarching Intent:
The aim of the psychology curriculum at St Wilfrid’s is to equip our students with the appropriate knowledge, skills and vocabulary needed to be able to understand and explain the causes of human behaviour and for each student to realise their God-given potential. In addition to this, the psychology curriculum will enable our learners to value the importance of psychological research and the real world impact such research can have in every day life. Students will understand underlying psychological principles and apply them in a variety of familiar and unfamiliar contexts and develop evaluative skills in order to think analytically and reach logical conclusions based on scientific evidence and reasoning. In addition to this, our students will be organised, be encouraged to think independently, work collaboratively when engaging in all lessons and to play an active role in whole class debates. They will enjoy challenge, develop resilience when faced with psychological questions and have a clear understanding of the core concepts and be able to use this knowledge to apply it to a wide range of situations. By the end of the course, our students will be scientifically literate and be able to articulate their knowledge and thinking in different ways. Our curriculum encourages and facilitates further studies or potential careers in the subject, whilst empowering students to have a greater appreciation and awareness of Psychology related issues in the world around them.
Learning outside of the classroom
All students are provided with homework to extend and consolidate their learning. At Key Stage 5 this involves a variety of retrieval activities, academic reading and exam preparation. At various points over the course students will complete a number of flipped learning tasks to assist in promoting independent study.
Curriculum Intention:
- support the development of strong British values and Catholic Social Teaching by encouraging students to think about the moral, social and ethical implications of Psychology in relation to the Gospel values
- nurture a strong sense of moral purpose and personal responsibility, integrity, honesty and respect for each other studying ethics, ethical implications and socially sensitive psychological research
- develop the skills and ability to understand and know psychological terms, concepts, research studies and explanations/approaches of human behaviour
- develop the skills to be able to apply knowledge and understanding of material covered to novel and real-life behaviours
- develop the skills to be able to critically analyse the credibility of theories, explanations/approaches and research studies examined in relation to human behaviour
- evaluate therapies and treatments including in terms of their appropriateness and effectiveness
- to develop deeper compassion and empathy for the diverse behaviours displayed by others and the wealth of issues experienced
- understand how society makes decisions about scientific issues and how the sciences contribute to the success of the economy and society.
- develop their interest in and enthusiasm for the subject, including developing an interest in further study and careers associated with the subject
