Law

Virtual Sixth Form Open Evening

Staffing

Mr Edward Harvey – Head of Social Sciences Department

Ms Nisha Bagga – Law Department Teaching Mentor

Vision

Law at HGS sits within the Social Sciences Department alongside Business Studies and Economics. The vision for the faculty is to ensure that all HGS students are equipped with the powerful knowledge, awareness, and confidence to take their place at the world’s leading tables. We are also committed to the school’s teaching and learning vision to ensure that study of our disciplines leads to learning without limits in later life. Our vision is the lodestar for everything we do and implement as a department. We believe our main priority is that our staff are fully equipped to allow our students to flourish.

Aims

The subject covers a variety of areas aimed at enticing a young mind to study law. There is no requirement to have any previous English law knowledge, however, there is the requirement for students to have achieved at least a grade 7 in one of English Literature, Language or History. Students will leave the course with an in-depth knowledge of the British legal system and how to apply key legal knowledge to hypothetical scenarios. This is a perfect foundation for students considering Law at university and is also a great introduction to students thinking of entering the legal profession or for those who want to hone their analytical, communication and critical evaluation skills.

Course Calendars and Curriculum Mapping

Our approach to curriculum is summarised in the table below. Our ‘intent’ outlines the purpose of our curriculum whilst our ‘implementation’ details the vehicles we will use to successfully deliver these aims. Finally, ‘impact’ refers to the characteristics and actions we expect from our students when they successfully meet our vision.

Course Calendar

AQA A-Level Law Curriculum Map

Curriculum

As our departmental vision and curriculum clearly state we follow a knowledge rich curriculum in the Law department. As a result, we put a premium on teaching students powerful knowledge. The course follows the AQA linear exam specification and is taught on a paper-by-paper basis. Firstly, students spend the majority of year 12 studying the substantive knowledge of paper 1: Criminal Law. This allows students to have a firm grasp of the British legal system and how to successfully prove crimes such as fatal and non-fatal offences, theft, and robbery as well as appropriate defences. We find that this provides an excellent way in for students to experience the rump of the course. Furthermore, it provides a strong foundation for students to navigate the more technical and abstract concepts of paper 2: Tort Law and paper 3: Contract Law.

The course is examined by three 2-hour external exams at the end of year 13. Exam papers include a combination of multiple choice, short and extended answer questions. The key skill that students will need to do to demonstrate their learning is to apply their substantive legal knowledge to hypothetical scenarios where they identify and decode legal principles. For more details on how we implement our curriculum please see our course calendar, schemes of work and note that we follow the school’s teaching and learning policy.

Extra-Curricular

Students are always encouraged to dig deeper and expand their legal knowledge with relevant legal books, podcasts, articles, and journals. Furthermore, we welcome students broadening their range and depth of legal knowledge through relevant work experiences and court visits. Students are also given the opportunity to attend specific law-based seminars and workshops in partnership with local universities and the CPS. In addition, our students have been fortunate enough to have the invaluable opportunity of visits from local legal experts such as Michelle Heeley KC. This yearly lecture is fantastic in developing student’s awareness of legal concepts and their understanding of how the law is practiced in the UK today.

As part of the King Edward VI Foundation, our Law students have represented the school in foundation school events such as the March 2023 Model UN conference, the July 2022 Political conference and 2021 Philosophy event.

For further information, please do not hesitate to contact the teacher responsible for the subject directly, Mr E. Harvey (eharvey@handsworth.bham.sch.uk).