Physics
Welcome to the Physics page.
Below you will find information on the course with a link to the Course Curriculum.
To view the Course Curriculum, please click here
Year 12
Teaching is based around building upon the skills and content taught at Key Stage 4 and go into greater depth in terms of content and complexity. There is unpicking of the simpler forms of theory taught in Key Stage 4. The Year builds in complexity and challenge and to provide a foundation for Year 13 content, which starts to border on University Level content.
A Level Physics follows on from the five year program in lower school where students are introduced to the big ideas of Physics – energy, forces, matter, waves and fields. Students learn a larger variety and more complex concepts within these big ideas, building on their existing knowledge from Key Stage 4. Leaners are able to further challenge their problem solving abilities through the optional Physics Olympiad program of study and enhance their study of matter through a trip to CERN in Geneva. Enquiry processes learned at Key Stage 3-4 are also studied in further detail and applied to more complex practical experiments with emphasis placed on the rigour of applying the scientific method and reporting associated uncertainties with any results. A large emphasis is placed on analysing linear graphs to obtain accurate results which can be compared to referenced values. Within this, computational techniques are greatly built upon using Excel.
Autumn |
Forces in Equilibrium Matter and Radiation Waves Electric Current Materials On the Move |
Spring |
On the Move Quarks and Leptons Newton’s laws of motion Optics DC circuits Work energy and power |
Summer |
Quantum Phenomena Circular Motion Force and Momentum Electric Fields |
Year 13
The Challenge in this year is to build upon the content taught in Year 12 and then being able to go into further depth and apply it to subject specific skills.
In Year 13, there is an optional component which in recent years has been chosen as Turning Points. Here, students learn in detail about historical experiments undertaken to determine fundamental concepts at the root of Physics such as wave particle duality, the discovery of the electron and its properties and the effects of special relativity. The Year 13 course has a particular focus on matter and fields in comparison to the Year 12 course. However, concepts from energy, forces and waves are fundamental in understanding these aspects of the Year 13 course.
Autumn |
Electric fields Thermal Physics Radioactivity Gravitational fields Nuclear energy Magnetic fields Optional section (turning points) |
Spring |
Magnetic fields Gases Capacitors Electromagnetic induction |
Summer |
Review and Exam Preparation |