Senior School
Biology
Biology is taught as a separate subject with a specialist teacher to years 9, 10 and 11.
Currently we start teaching GCSE in year 9, and then the students choose whether to follow a separate GCSE Biology course or Science and Additional Science in year 10 and 11. We follow the AQA specification
Whilst the main Biology Lab is very traditional in appearance, with solid teak benches, the room is light and airy. The walls are decorated with vibrant wildlife photographs, the shelves display such unusual artefacts as a shark’s jaw, a giant redwood cone and some stuffed mammals and giant model insects. The work that takes place in this lab is not as traditional as the setting would suggest; students regularly extract their own DNA to make a necklace, and in year 11 and 12 they genetically engineer bacteria to glow in UV light by inserting a jellyfish gene!
The Biology Lab overlooks a small lawn, and on occasions, lessons may be interrupted to observe the antics of a grey squirrel, or to watch a crow soaking a dry crust in the birdbath! The school grounds provide a natural extension to the lab and enable us to undertake ecology projects and go pond dipping without venturing offsite.
The department is staffed by two teachers, one of whom also teaches Physics. Relevant visits are undertaken on a regular basis. Recently all of year 11 visited the Hancock Museum in Newcastle to participate in an Evolution workshop.
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