Welcome to Happy Home Education GCSE/iGCSE Biology
- Sallyann Clark
- Apr 30
- 5 min read
Updated: May 1
A Two-Year Journey Through the Living World
Hello and Welcome!
A little about me and my motivation for writing this curriculum.
I'm a home educating mum, juggling curriculum writing alongside caring for my disabled husband and daughter. This course is built with real home education life in mind: flexible, engaging, and completely free to use.
If you find something broken, a link that no longer works, or something that just doesn't make sense, please reach out via Facebook, and I will fix it as soon as I can. Life here is full and wonderful and wonderfully unpredictable, so please be patient with me. I genuinely appreciate your kindness.
If this course saves you hours of planning and brings some joy to your learning table, please consider clicking "Buy Me a Hot Chocolate", it truly helps me keep going. ☕🍫
What Is This Course?
This is a free, complete two-year iGCSE/GCSE Biology course designed for home educators, written in the style of a learning adventure rather than a dry textbook.
It follows the Cambridge iGCSE Biology syllabus and covers everything needed for the full qualification and more. But you don't have to use it that way. You can:
Follow it week by week as a complete two-year programme
Dip in and out of topics that interest you or fill gaps in your current curriculum
Use it as a supplement alongside another course or textbook
Follow just the videos and experiments if that suits your family better
However you use it, you are welcome here.
If you are using a different syllabus? This is still for you! Year One covers all the learning needed for all syllabi. During Year Two, I provide alternative activities and learning resources aligned with the AQA and Edexcel GCSE syllabi, so your student can tailor their learning to cover everything they need.
How the Two Years Are Structured
🌱 Year One — The Content Year
36 Weeks | September to July
Year One is where the learning adventure begins. Every week introduces new biological ideas through story, curiosity, and hands-on exploration. The tone is warm and narrative; this is not a course that asks you to memorise facts from a page. It asks you to wonder first.
Each week includes:
Element | What It Looks Like |
🎬 Video Introduction | A named and linked CrashCourse, Khan Academy, or BioInteractive video to open the topic |
🔬 Experiment or Activity | A simple, home-friendly practical to make the science real |
🧑🔬 Scientist Focus | A portrait and story for your journal — real people behind the discoveries |
📖 Reading & Story | Short readings, book recommendations, or narrative passages to bring context |
❓ Big Question | An opening question to sit with before you begin |
🔍 Misconception Corner | One common misunderstanding — addressed directly |
📝 10-Question Practice Set | A short quiz to consolidate the week's learning |
📓 Journal Prompts | Reflection questions for your learning journal |
Each week is designed to take approximately two hours of active work. This does not include reading time, which is gentle and can be spread across the week in short sessions. Some families will go deeper; some will keep it light. Both are absolutely fine.
By the end of Year One, you will have covered the entire GCSE/iGCSE Biology content — every topic, every key concept, every required practical.
📚 Year Two — The Exam Year
September to early May, approximately 31 teaching weeks
(Based on standard UK school terms: roughly 13 weeks autumn term, 11 weeks spring term, and 7 weeks before May half term — adjusted for typical home education flexibility.)
Year Two shifts focus. The content is no longer new, now it is about confidence, fluency, and exam technique.
Each week in Year Two takes one topic from Year One and revisits it through:
Exam-style questions — command word practice, mark scheme literacy, extended writing
Common error analysis — what do students typically get wrong and why
Timed practice — building stamina and accuracy under gentle pressure
Vocabulary precision — because one wrong word in a biology exam can cost a mark
Year Two is calmer and more focused. The adventure is behind you. Now you are sharpening your tools.
About the Videos
Every video used in this course is:
✅ Free to watch — no subscriptions required
✅ Named in full — so if a link breaks, you can search for it directly
✅ From trusted sources — CrashCourse Biology, Khan Academy, and HHMI BioInteractive
If a link is broken: Please search using the full video name given — they are almost always findable. Then message me on Facebook so I can update the link when I'm able.
The Learning Journal
Every student following this course needs a learning journal. This is yours, personal, creative, and entirely your own.
You have two options:
📒 Physical Journal
Print the weekly journal sheets and keep them in a binder or notebook. Write, draw, stick in leaves, tape in experiment results. Make it beautiful or make it messy, it just needs to be used.
💻 Digital Journal
Use a platform like Notion, Google Docs, OneNote, or any digital workspace you already use. The journal prompts work just as well on screen as on paper.
Your journal is not marked. It is not assessed. It is a thinking space, somewhere to ask questions, make connections, and notice what you are learning about yourself as a learner, not just about biology.
A Note on Pace
Two hours a week is the minimum active session. Reading and watching videos is additional and gentle. Some weeks you will want to linger; a topic catches fire, and suddenly it's been three hours, and someone is drawing mitochondria on the back of an envelope. Let that happen.
Other weeks life will be full, and two hours will feel like plenty. That is also fine.
This course is designed for real families — not perfect ones.
Resources Used in This Course
Resource | Website |
CrashCourse Biology | |
Khan Academy Biology | |
HHMI BioInteractive | |
Cambridge iGCSE Biology Syllabus |
All external resources are free. This course does not require any paid textbooks, though a good revision guide in Year Two can be helpful.
Let's Begin 🌿
Whether you are sitting down to Week 1 for the first time, or dipping into Week 14 because your family is studying evolution this term, you are in the right place.
Biology is the study of life. And life, as you will discover over these two years, is extraordinarily strange, beautiful, and surprising.
Let's go find out how it works.
Made with love, hot chocolate, and an unreasonable number of browser tabs. Happy Home Education
💬 Spotted a broken link or an error? Message me on Facebook — I'll fix it when I can. ☕ Finding this useful? Consider clicking Buy Me a Hot Chocolate — it means the world.