Staff

Our Head of Chemistry is Mrs C H Goodman

The department has three dedicated chemistry laboratories, F3, F4 and F5. We also share a new laboratory, F17, with the Biology and Physics departments. A large preparation facility is also located in the department which is staffed by two full-time technicians. The department is well-resourced, enabling a lot of practical work to be done. All four laboratories have IT resources to enable power points and video clips to be shown/used, as well as a traditional write-on/wipe-off roller white boards.

Curriculum

GCSE

Pupils begin the GCSE course at the start of the Fourth Form (Year 9). We follow the Edexcel IGCSE specification. 

Sixth Form

We follow the OCR specification A which covers topics in Physical, Inorganic and Organic Chemistry.

Click here to learn more about Chemistry at A Level

Co-curricular Activities

Stretch & Challenge

A team of GCSE pupils have the opportunity to compete in the West Midlands Teachers Centre Chemistry Quiz. Lower Sixth and Upper Sixth students have the opportunity to attend a weekly Challenge Club to help them prepare for the Chemistry Olympiad (Upper Sixth competition) and the Cambridge Chemistry Challenge (Lower Sixth competition).

Trips & Visits

In association with Physics and Biology, Upper Fifth (Year 11) pupils attend the Science Live Conference in Birmingham. A Level students have the opportunity to attend Chemistry in Action at the University of Warwick as well as evening Chemistry lectures at the University of Birmingham. The University of Birmingham also provide a Spectroscopy workshop within school for our Lower Sixth students.

Destinations

Taking Chemistry not only opens doors into Chemistry degrees, but it is a supporting A Level for Medicine, Dentistry, Veterinary Science, Natural Sciences, Pharmacy, Biosciences and many other science related degrees.