Physical Education

Year 7 and 8 students have come to the conclusion of their summer sport rotations, ensuring they have developed and refined their understanding and application across athletics, tennis, rounders, cricket and stoolball.

This has culminated in a number of students representing the school across a range of competitive fixtures.

The final segment of Term 6 has seen students partake in team-building exercises and orienteering tasks that often takes them out of their comfort zone, but builds skills that equip them to have success at Year 8 camp and explore their surroundings beyond the school gates.

Drama

Year 7 explore Physical Theatre where they are required to use their imagination and their bodies to create objects and props so they literally become the set of the plays they create.

They need good self discipline, team building skills and inventiveness in this unit of work. To inspire them we show them the stunning performances of the theatre company called "Attraction's" who won Britain's Got Talent as they use their bodies so beautifully and creatively. We also watch a very entertaining "Off Balance" production of Robin Hood where the whole story is told using physical theatre. Students then worked together to create their own physical theatre pieces.

Year 8 are completing a written assessment based on a line from the play we have practically explored called, "Mugged". They have to put themselves in the shoes of a character and explain how they would interpret and deliver a line of text which is good preparation for those students continuing Drama to GCSE level. We will then be going on to explore Bugsy Malone so that students have had the opportunity to experience some musical theatre as part of their KS3 Drama curriculum.

Art

Year 7 have been working through some stunning stylised drawings, looking at colour mixing and blending, and working to make colours transition smoothly from one to another. They have created some highly skilled and imaginative paper cut birds by exaggerating features like beaks, eyes and feathers, and have used black fine line pens to add in some beautiful intricate patterns.

They then started their A4 Fabric Lenny style composition where they look at the properties of acrylic paint and learn how to mix, blend and apply this medium.

Year 8 have been looking at portraiture this term and gaining an understanding of how to draw features of the face. They have been working on proportions of the face, getting to grips with the structure of the head and how the features sit proportionally in the face to create a credible portrait. They go on to do prints based on the German Expressionist woodcuts. Students have been researching about German Expressionism through their homework tasks. Their challenge has been to create their own portrait in the style of the expressionist woodcuts.

Music

Year 7 have been looking at recording their own sounds on their iPad and we have been looking at how these sounds can be used to create a piece of music. Students have been focusing on 3 key areas of music (Structure, Texture and Dynamics).

They have then used these areas to create their Found Sounds composition. It has been fantastic to hear the unique pieces of music and seeing students explore a different side to music.

Students in Year 8 have been looking at Blues Music. They have developed their understanding of the history behind the Blues and the importance of this style of music. They have been practising the 12 bar blues, a walking bass line and improvising ideas on the keyboard. Students have shown some fantastic ability on the keyboard during this project.

PSHEe

In our lessons this term we are exploring the world of careers through the lens of the World Wildlife Fund’s sustainable careers learning resource based on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. This learning compliments what Year 7 are focussing on in Geography and we hope this may excite students about their future careers. In addition to becoming more aware of WWF as an NGO, some classes are learning about Dementia and the amazing work of the Alzheimers Society charity.

Year 8 students finish their year in PSHEe by returning to the overarching theme of Healthy Lifestyles. In PE they will be learning about basic First Aid in preparation for camp (which is part of our Relationships, Sex and Health Education) and in PSHEe, the focus for this term is the link between good nutrition and physical activity (in particular the importance of young women being physically active using the ‘This Girl Can’ resources) for better physical and mental health.

Philosophy and Religion

In Term 6, Year 7 students have had the opportunity to explore their creative ideas through our annual Spirited Arts competition. Students have been encouraged to create an inspired piece of artwork based on a range of themes, including topics such as “God’s Good Earth” and “Searching for God”. The Spirited Arts project has required students to draw upon their subject knowledge from throughout the academic year, picking out knowledge from prior topics such as ‘Caring for Others’ and ‘Belief in God’ in order to create an inspired plan for their artwork. After tackling a challenging assessment period, this has allowed our PRE students to demonstrate the subject knowledge they have acquired in a practical and creative project.

In Year 8 students have been exploring the topic of Miracles, examining what is meant by a miracle and how they can be understood. This topic dives into various religious faiths such as Christianity and Hinduism, examining stories of the past which depict miracles such as Jesus walking on water, as well as more modern examples such as Hindu deity statues seemingly appearing to drink milk?! Students have also been encouraged to challenge their own perception of the mundane by examining concepts such as magic, including the work of the world famous ‘Dynamo Magician Impossible’ to question if it is possible for humans to perform extraordinary acts which defy scientific logic. The topic of miracles continues to inspire heated debate and discussion of what miracles mean to people from different belief systems whether atheist, agnostic or a firm believer of any religious background.