Report from Homewood School, Kent
Ian Bennett writes
We've been starting GCSE Science in Year 9, following this with GCSE Science, GCSE Additional Science, GCSE Applied Science, or a different Land & Environment course for about a third of the cohort in Year 10. In Year 11 some students will complete the Separate Sciences GCSEs in Biology, Chemistry and Physics. For students taking only one GCSE in science, GCSE Science is the perfect course. It is engaging and relevant, and students can relate to it.
We find the whole package so flexible. It suits the school structure and ethos, and there are so many possibilities in terms of when students take the courses and exams.
We've been having some difficulty with the organisation of exam entries: cohorts of 360 students doing three different things - lots of paperwork. We're also finding that preparation for the 'ideas in context' exam paper is challenging.
Literacy issues: coursework and exams for low ability students who are not low enough for the Entry Level course is a challenge too.
Post-16 some students will go on to AS/A-levels in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Applied Science. Others will continue with GCSEs in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Land & Environment, Additional or Applied Science.
