Electronics

Electronics offers an interesting and stimulating programme of study. The knowledge and skills acquired form a sound base for employment in scientific and technological professions. Pupils will also encounter techniques and disciplines of value in many other subject areas especially the sciences, where reading tables, plotting and reading graphs, experimental skills, and data analysis are all required skills.

Electronics is offered as a GCSE subject to Forms Four and Five (Years 10 and 11) but is also covered in the content of the general Physics syllabus in First to Third Forms (Years 7 to 9) before that. Elements of the electronics course are taught within the GCSE Engineering curriculum, but both courses can stand alone as a Science option - some pupils opt to take them individually. The specification meets the requirement needed to enter a progressively more technological society by giving an insight into how modern-day electronic systems work. It empowers pupils to take charge of their own learning by providing a range of teaching and learning opportunities to motivate them to be successful.

Components are treated in terms of their function in a circuit rather than in terms of their physical properties, and circuits are treated as the building blocks for larger systems. The intention is to keep the subject content to a minimum to allow time for a substantial element of practical work and ‘hands-on’ experience in order to promote a deeper understanding, as well as a broader appreciation of potential applications.