The vision of the Physics Department at Lawrence Sheriff School is ‘to develop a curiosity and understanding of the universe and the laws that govern its behaviour’. We want to foster an environment where students are encouraged to ask challenging questions, investigate interesting phenomena that they discover in lesson and look beyond the curriculum to understand how the world around them works.

In the last twenty years, the number of students taking demanding A Level courses such as Physics has decreased steadily. In comparison, Lawrence Sheriff has seen growth year on year as more students have joined us on their A Level Physics journeys. We have also expanded our teaching department to three full time Physics teachers with a range of different specialisms between them, giving us a breadth and depth in teaching that is difficult to find elsewhere.

Our results are excellent, with 70-80% of students at GCSE achieving Grade 7-9 each year and many of our A Level students going on to prestigious universities like Cambridge, Imperial College and UCL to study STEM-related courses.

Years 7-8

Year 7 and 8 students are taught all three sciences by the same teacher, a Science specialist, with three week blocks of each science taught at a time.

The Physics components of the course aim to provide a broad foundation from which students can go on to succeed at GCSE. Year 7s are taught about Energy, Waves and Electricity, whilst Year 8 are taught about Motion, Forces and Space.

Years 9

Year 9 is a transition year for our students. This is the first year that they are taught by dedicated Biology, Chemistry and Physics teachers for each of the three sciences.

In Physics, we have handpicked appropriate topics from the GCSE Course that allow our students to develop the foundational skills needed to succeed at GCSE. This includes the study of Energy, Particles and Waves, all of which are taught with the rigour of GCSE but adjusted to meet the needs of the National Curriculum for Science.

Students then start being taught their full GCSE at the end of Year 9 / start of Year 10.

Year 10-11

Course: Physics GCSE
Board: Edexcel
Specification Code: 1PH0
Website: https://qualifications.pearson.com
How course is assessed: Two 1 hour 45 minute papers.

Years 12-13

Course: Physics A level
Board: Edexcel
Specification Code: 9PH0
Website: https://qualifications.pearson.com
How course is assessed: Three examination papers (Paper 1 30%, Paper 2 30% and Paper 3 40%)

Students’ views …

“Inspired greater interest in the subject” “A variety of visual aids and experiments were used to explain theories” “Supported me, answered my questions, and helped me when I was stuck!” “Opportunity for lunchtime and after school advice and revision was invaluable”

Sixth Form Prospectus - please click here