GCSE Natural History Consultation - take part if you can
Please send your thoughts in.
The Draft Subject Content for the new GCSE Natural History specification was published on the 12th of June.
The DfE said at the time:
We have worked with experts and stakeholders to develop proposed subject content for a new GCSE in natural history.
The GCSE will allow students to engage with and study specific organisms, including plants or animals and the contexts in which they live, and their complex interactions and dependencies.
It will develop students’ skills of observation, description, recording and analysis, through sustained and structured field study.
Findings from this consultation will be taken into account when finalising the subject content.
Ofqual will consult on assessment arrangements later this year.
There is a consultation period on the contents of the document which ends on the 4th of September.
The RGS will be responding, as will the GA, RMetS, Field Studies Council and other related organisations.
You can send in your thoughts as an individual too!
The questions are as follows.
Download the document first so that you can see which sections the questions refer to. The first section is for identification, with the main questions starting at number 10.
What is your name?
What is your email address?
Are you happy to be contacted directly about your response?
Are you responding as an individual or part of an organisation?
If you are responding as an individual, how would you describe yourself?
If you are responding for an organisation, what type of organisation is this?
What is the name of your organisation?
What is your role within the organisation?
Would you like us to keep your responses confidential and not list your name when publishing the consultation response on GOV.UK? Please note this question applies to all (individuals and organisations).
Are the subject aims easy to understand, clear and unambiguous?
Paragraphs 7 – 12 of the proposed subject content detail the requirements for the study of habitats and wildlife in the UK. Do you agree with these requirements?
Paragraph 13 of the proposed subject content details the requirements for the study of human influence on the natural world. Do you agree with these requirements?
Paragraphs 14 – 20 of the proposed subject content detail the requirements for fieldwork. Do you agree with these requirements?
Paragraphs 18 and 19 of the proposed subject content set the fieldwork requirement using a metric of ‘hours’, differing from the metrics used in some other GCSE subjects. This is to support schools to structure fieldwork flexibly across the duration of the course, including during regular timetabled lessons, if they wish. Do you agree with using a metric of ‘hours’ for the fieldwork requirement?
Are the proposed range and extent of mathematical and statistical techniques, set out in Appendix 1, easy to understand, clear and unambiguous?
Appendix 2 provides a list of different types of species within each of the following 6 habitats (Urban, Freshwater, Woodland, Grassland, Farmland and Marine). The department has proposed this is an advisory list from which awarding organisations can use to create their own, equivalently sized list for each habitat, when writing GCSE specifications. Do you agree the list set out in the subject content should be advisory?
Are the requirements, set out in Appendix 2, easy to understand, clear and unambiguous?
Appendix 3 provides a list of illustrative options for focus of study for each habitat. Are the requirements, set out in Appendix 3, easy to understand, clear and unambiguous?
Is there anything you would like to feed back that is not covered in the questions above?
Do any of the proposals have the potential to have a disproportionate impact, positive or negative, on specific groups, in particular those who share a ‘protected characteristic’ (age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation)?
How could the proposed subject content of the GCSE be altered to:
better eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010;
better advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a protected characteristic and those who do not;
better foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not?
Do any of the proposals have the potential to have an effect, positive or negative, on:
the use or management of land in the UK;
the atmosphere;
any type of inland, coastal or marine water body;
wildlife;
the supply of raw materials from natural sources;
opportunities for outdoor recreation?
This should be of interest to geographers as the introduction of the new qualification will potentially be in competition for students, which may be in the same option blocks. The subject will need to be marketed appropriately and there is some doubt over how many centres will offer it. However, the Facebook group that Anthony Bennett and I moderate has almost 1000 members, suggesting there is quite a lot of interest.
There’s also a blog which already has over 600 posts in advance of resource creation and support for teachers.
Alternatively, the new course may provide additional opportunities for teachers who are light on their timetables, and also provide some additional interest for both teachers and students.
In terms of the actual proposed draft content, a few initial thoughts that I had when looking at it (from many) are:
there’s no mention of GIS and mapping, which is vital for plotting species distributions and habitats and monitoring changes in those over time
there are 17 elements to the fieldwork suggestions - is this too many, and are all of them realistic in a school context?
20 hours of fieldwork sounds like a lot… but it isn’t across the length of the course itself - more fieldwork time is needed
ecologists and others who work in the field will often use a notebook where observations and other materials are kept - should a field journal (kept across the length of the course) be a possible method of assessment (in the same way as other subjects allow a portfolio of work
are the chosen habitats and species appropriate, and what will students do with the knowledge they have of identifying particular species?
If you have any extra thoughts, please feel free to add them in the comments below.