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Physics

Physics is taught as a seperate subject by specialist teachers to years 9, 10, 11 & Sixth Form.

The Teachers and Facilities

The classes are taught by Miss Booth and Mrs Walkinshaw. Miss Booth teaches in the spacious bright Lab 2 that was refurbished in 2006. It has been designed to give every student access to multiple power sockets and gas connections as most lessons are based around practical tasks. The cupboards are packed with both traditional class sets of equipment e.g. ray boxes, lenses, magnets, ammeters, capacitors, motors and more recent additions e.g. data loggers, sensors, model wind turbines.

Years 7 & 8

Physics is taught in topics as part of their general science course. The students are encouraged to question how and why 'things work' in the real world and design experiments to test a hypothesis. We also concentrate on important skills e.g. using equipment to collect precise results and using tables and graphs to analyse results. At this early stage in their science education we feel it is important that the students realise the wide range of career opportunities for scientists so visits are organised so the students can experience science in action.

Recent visits include The Engineering Show and The Centre for Life

Centre for Life June 2010

Engineering Show















Year 9

The students are set according to their ability and begin working towards their GCSE course as well as studying the traditional subjects of electricity and forces and motion.They are encouraged to question the scientific findings in the press and think about the precision and reliability of their own experimental work. The main year 9 topics are:

  1. Electrical circuits and energy issues.
  2. Pressure, moments and stability.
  3. Forces, motion and interpreting graphs.
  4. Gravity and space.

The students use motion sensors, light gates and the tried and tested stopwatch and trundle wheel method to measure the speed of passing cars, themselves walking and falling objects.

As an introduction to forces the students completed an engineering challenge.

Physics - building structures












At the end of the summer term we start the GCSE course by studying heat transfer. We constructed hot air balloons to teach convection.

Balloon experiment - L5
















Year 10 & 11

Students are set according to their ability. The most able science students will complete 3 physics units, spread throughout the two years and will gain a GCSE in Physics. Other students complete 2 physics units along with 2 biology and 2 chemistry units to gain 2 science GCSE 's ( science and additional science).

Unit examinations are taken throughout the course and some students will have gained a GCSE in science by the end of their year 10. We use the AQA examination board and the specification can be found at aqa.org

What are ISA's?

Many students and parents have heard of ISA's but are unsure of what they are and how important they are to their science grades. ISA stands for Individual Skills Assessments. The students complete investigations as part of their course. Marks are awarded for drawing tables, graphs and completing a written paper that is relevant to the investigation. The written paper tests the students knowledge of experimental terms, e.g. control variable, calibration, precision. Students will have the opportunity to complete several ISA's for each GCSE course and the best mark is sent to the examination board. ISA marks make up a quarter of the overall GCSE grade so they are very important.