It's fantastic news that you've chosen to study A level Biology at PGS! I look forward to seeing you on results day ready to enrol you for your two years study of A level Biology.
To keep you occupied and Biology in your mind ready for your studies I've created this resource to prepare you for your Biology A level.
If you have any questions at all regarding the course please feel free to email me: jpickersgill@penistone-gs.uk
At PGS we study the Exdexcel Salters Nuffield A level Biology Specification (also known as SNAB Biology).
I've already shared some resources through my Twitter account @DrP_PGSALC (make sure you follow me!). The CGP Head Start to A level Biology is a good book to get hold of as a bridging gap between GCSE and A level Biology.
We do issue you with A level textbooks for your first then second year of study. Some of you may want to purchase these if you are looking at studying Biology at University however they are expensive hence why we like to provide you with them, therefore not a crucial purchase.
There are a selection of revision guides for the course. The Pearson AS/A level Biology A Satlers Nuffield orange revision guide (ISBN: 9781447992707) is written by Edexcel and is a workbook which will help structure your answers. You're all probably familiar with CGP and their revision guides from GCSE, these revision guides as they are excellent at explaining and demonstrating some difficult concepts in Biology (ISBN: 9781782942986).
How should I prepare for September?
To prepare you for A level Biology I recommend you working through the A level Biology Transition Workbook (click here to download). These are the key concepts from GCSE that you need to be familiar with. You may also want to have a look at some of the Maths content that we cover in the A level Biology Maths booklet (click here to download). The exams do contain a higher proportion of Maths skills which are all teachable (hurray!). If you do not already own a scientific calculator you will also need to purchase one of these (we recommend this one).
I've attached a PDF to this page (click here to download) which has some good Biology reads if you're looking for something interesting to read which will help with your studies. It also has films on there! There are some shorter tasks with links too to help you which cover the key concepts.
It is important you keep reviewing your GCSE revision notes as in the first few weeks you will sit and induction test on the key concepts from GCSE Biology.
FAQs
I get asked this question a lot 'does it matter if I've done Trilogy Science and not separate Biology at GCSE?' The answer to this is, 'no it doesn't matter, however there will be some things that come up during your two years of study which you may not be familiar with if you did Trilogy. You may want to research those differences over the summer and use GCSE bitesize to look over those concepts'.
Any other questions please email me jpickersgill@penistone-gs.uk
It's fantastic news that you've chosen to study A level Chemistry at PGS! I look forward to seeing you on results day ready to enrol you for your two years study of A level Chemistry.
To keep you occupied and Chemistry in your mind ready for your studies I've created this page with lots of resources and guidance to prepare you for your Chemistry A level.
If you have any questions at all regarding the course please feel free to email me at spike@penistone-gs.uk
At PGS we study the AQA A level Chemistry Specification. We do issue you with A level textbooks for your first then second year of study. Some of you may want to purchase these if you are looking at studying Biology at University however they are expensive hence why we like to provide you with them, therefore not a crucial purchase.
I would recommend buying the Head Start to AS Chemistry book that is available on Amazon on the link below. There are a selection of revision guides for the course. You're all probably familiar with CGP and their revision guides from GCSE, these revision guides as they are excellent at explaining and demonstrating some difficult concepts in Chemistry. These are available to buy from the school shop.
How should I prepare for September?
To prepare you for A level Chemistry I recommend you working through the AQA A Level Chemistry Transition Workbook (click here to download) and also the PGS transition booklet (click here to download) These are the key concepts from GCSE that you need to be familiar with.
You may also want to have a look at some of the Maths content that we cover at A Level Science by visiting the website https://www.aqa.org.uk/resources/science/as-and-a-level/teach/maths-skills-briefings. Read through the PowerPoints and then answer the questions on the worksheets. Email spike@penistone-gs.uk for any answers to the worksheets.
The specification is also available on the AQA website or you can download it here (click here to download)
An excellent website to look at is the Royal Society of Chemistry who are an organisation who advance excellence in chemical studies. There is latest news article in the world of chemistry, interactive experiments and other resources available to explore at https://www.rsc.org/
FAQs
I get asked this question a lot 'does it matter if I've done Trilogy Science and not separate Chemistry at GCSE?' The answer to this is, 'no it doesn't matter, however there will be some things that come up during your two years of study which you may not be familiar with if you did Trilogy. However, by the end of Year 13 there will be no difference in how prepared for A Level examinations you would be.
Any other questions please email me (spike@penistone-gs.uk).
I look forward to seeing you all soon!
It's fantastic news that you've chosen to study A level Physics at PGS! I look forward to seeing you after this extended time away from lessons and to welcoming you as you start the two years of study for A level Physics.
To keep you occupied and Physics in your mind ready for your studies I've created this resource to prepare you for your Physics A level.
If you have any questions at all regarding the course please feel free to email me at dclarke@penistone-gs.uk
We have two tasks that will help you prepare for the A level course. One of these is designed to help develop the essential skills needed for of the topics you will cover at A level. The other allows you to work on a project that covers work you will need as part of the A level but which you will not have covered as part of your GCSE course.
Task 1
Essential Skills
For this task you will need to use the Isaac Physics Website. Many of you may already be registered with this site but if not you will need to do so (it is free to do so). Once registered and logged in your progress through the task will be recorded and you will now how much you have completed each time you log in.
Complete all of the tasks below. If you need guidance on how to access the work see the slides in this presentation.
Gameboard: GCSE to A level transition
-
Pre-University Skills Mastery: A1 Using & Rearranging Equations
-
Pre-University Skills Mastery: A3 Standard Form and Prefixes
-
Pre-University Skills Mastery: A4 Converting Units
-
Pre-University Skills Mastery: A5 Gradients and Intercepts of Graphs
-
Pre-University Skills Mastery: A6 Equations of Graphs
-
Pre-University Skills Mastery: A7 Area Under the Line on a Graph
Gameboard: Getting to Grips with Significant Figures
-
Sig fig - practice
-
Sig fig - master
Task 2
A History of Particle Physics Research Project
Read through the project document and produce a written or electronic scientific article. There are a number of resources below to help you but you should also research some resources of your own.
All Videos
Y10 Maths Core Information
Y10 Maths Core Information
Y11 Maths Core Information
Y11 English Core Information
Y11 General Info
Y10 & Y11 Science Core Information
