A Level Sociology

Vision statement 

How can teachers’ stereotypes about who their ‘ideal pupil would be’ end up affecting their students’ outcomes? Why do 30% of children live in poverty in the world’s sixth largest economy? And can the media really turn people into criminals? If these questions spark your curiosity, you will love studying Sociology. We want students who don’t stop thinking about Sociology once the lesson has finished, and who instead think about how their family dynamics, the media they consume, the qualifications they are studying and their goals for life will shape the way they interact with the world around them. Students will have the opportunity to develop and formulate clear, logical arguments with scope for extensive evaluation from a range of theoretical perspectives. The study of sociology enables students to place the current debates in society within both a theoretical and evidence based context. At The Swan School, students will be taught by expert, experienced teachers in small classes and will benefit immensely from our supportive, but focussed, academic approach to teaching.

Our Students on Sociology

What makes you feel most confident about studying Sociology?

• Well-structured lessons and tasks that allow me to retain lots of information

• The booklets give a clear overview of what we need to know for each lesson, which helps with revision

• In-depth resources which are easily available to me

• Support from the teachers and the way they teach

What do you enjoy most about studying Sociology?

• How much each topic relates to the real world, which is enjoyable as you can relate certain theories to personal experiences

• I can apply topics to daily life in order to understand the world better

• Discussions around the topic that help me understand the context

• Learning about things I’d never even thought about before

• Always being exposed to opposing sides of the theories and seeing balance

What has surprised you about studying Sociology?

• How wide the range of perspectives is

• The amount of content that has related to things we hear about daily

• The range of ways people can commit crime

• How applicable it is to everyday life

A Typical Sociology Lesson

• Our students start with a retrieval practice activity, designed to connect their learning from previous topics to the current lesson’s content

• The students work from comprehensive booklets which have been specifically designed by Swan teachers for our students’ needs

• This often involves reading as a class to ensure understanding, as well as paired discussion tasks, and independent work

• Explicit exam question practice and the development of exam skills, for example forming chains of reasoning, source analysis, and developing evaluation skills, are regularly built in to lesson time

Sociology A level Specification