Year 8 Curriculum Plan 2022

Year 8 Curriculum Plan Subject

Autumn Term

English

‘Poetry through time’: Students will study a range of poetic forms and structures from across different eras. Students will develop their skills in analysing language and structure. Students will complete an analysis of one of the poems studied for their assessment.

Ratio and Scale: Students will continue their learning of ratio from year 7.

Students will learn proportional problems involving the ratio m:n, comparing ratios and fractions and understanding π as a ratio.

Multiplicative Change: Students will extend their learning from ratio and scale, linking this to various forms including graphs and currency conversion. Multiplying and Dividing Fractions: Students will deepen their understanding by using multiple representations to multiply and divide any fraction with another fraction or integer.

Electricity and Magnetism: Students will study electrical circuits in series and parallel and investigate resistance in a circuit. Students will investigate magnets, magnetic fields and electromagnets.

Reproduction: The reproductive systems in humans, the process of fertilisation and role of the placenta during pregnancy and the development of the foetus.

Networks: Students will develop an understanding of wired and wireless networks, how they are arranged, and the hardware needed. They will explore what the internet is and the services it provides including the world wide web.

Mathematics

Science

Computer Science

Physical Education Geography

Football

Netball

Rugby

History

What was the most significant event of the Stuart period? Students will look at key events that occurred during the Stuart period. This includes the gunpowder plot, the civil war, the regicide and the Great Plague.

Religious Studies

What is the covenant? Students will learn about the Abrahamic faiths. They will study what a covenant is, Abraham and Ibrahim, Moses, the New Covenant, Islam and the Kaaba.

Spanish

Holidays: Students will start the year talking about holidays. We will introduce the preterite tense in order to be able to talk about a past holiday and review previous learning of present tense to be able to use multiple tenses together in all skill areas. Phonics will be covered within each topic.

Creative writing: Gothic - Students will be analysing conventions of gothic fiction through the study of a range of famous extracts. Students will practice writing, editing and redrafting their work.

Working in the Cartesian Plane: Students will learn to draw and recognise graphs, exploring both positive and negative gradients and linking these to linear sequence.

Collecting and Representing Data: Students will learn the difference between discrete and continuous data, being able to represent these as scatter graphs or in frequency tables. Students will also learn to describe non-linear relationships.

Tables: Students will learn how to represent and find probabilities from samples space diagrams, two-way tables and Venn diagrams.

Chemical reactions: Students will study chemical symbols, formulae and equations.

They will cover testing for gases and oxidation reactions. They will also look at how metals react in acids and any patterns in reactivity and explore exothermic and endothermic reactions.

Web development: Students will develop a website using google sites and improve programming skills using HTML to code a website. The two different methods will be compared and contrasted. Students will also learn how they would host websites online.

Table Tennis Fitness Basketball

Astounding Africa: Students will continue to build on their knowledge and understanding of places embedded throughout year 7 by exploring Africa. Students will explore the human development of Africa, as well as how humans interact with these extreme environments.

How convincing is Emma Griffin’s interpretation about the impact of the Industrial Revolution on ordinary people? Students will look at what the industrial revolution was and how it affected the lives of men, women and children. They will also look at the effects of the Industrial revolution in Lancashire.

Who was Jesus? Students will explore the life and teachings of Jesus and his relevance to modern Christians. Topics will include: How does the birth narrative fulfil prophecy? Miracles, Baptism, Discipleship, the last week of Jesus’ life and remembering Jesus’ death through lent and Easter.

All about my life: Students will revise present tense whilst discussing what they do with their mobile phones. They will go on to cover music and television, embedding grammar learning on present and preterite tenses covered in previous topic.

Year 8 Curriculum Plan Subject

Spring Term

English

Students will complete ‘Creative Writing: Gothic’ from the Autumn and produce their own gothic short story.

Students will then learn to write like journalists about the Days that shook the world. Reading and researching events from history through a combination of archived footage, eyewitness accounts and articles.

Brackets, equations and inequalities: Students will learn to use directed number with algebra, expand a pair of binomials and extend this knowledge to solve both equations and inequalities involving brackets.

Sequences: Students will learn to generate sequences from a rule given as words and algebraically. Students will learn to find a generalised nth term of a simple linear equation. Indices: Students will learn to simplify expressions using laws of indices for multiplication and division. Students will explore powers of powers.

Science

Waves: Students will study sound waves and how to calculate the speed of sound.

They will use ray diagrams to explain what happens to light rays during reflection and refraction and how light is dispersed.

Computer Science

Programming: Students will be introduced to text-based programming using Python. They will develop a wide range of skills such as assigning variables, calculations and data casting to develop programs.

Basketball Table Tennis Fitness

Continuing from Spring HT1, students will know how to establish a moral imperative, research and fact-check whilst placing a focus on planning, writing and crafting an article.

By studying world seminal literature, students are exposed to influential writing through the allegorical novella ‘Animal Farm’.

Fractions and Percentages: Students will learn to calculate fractions and percentages of amounts, explore percentages as multipliers for an increase or decrease and work with percentage change. Students will learn to choose an appropriate method to solve percentage problems. Standard Index Form: Students will learn to convert fluently between any number written as an ordinary number or in standard form. Students will learn to add and subtract numbers written in standard form both mentally and with a calculator. Number Sense: Students will learn to use estimations to check calculations. Students will understand and use error interval notation and solve problems involving time and the calendar.

Evolution and Inheritance: Students will study the variation in organisms. They will look at the structure of DNA and different genetic disorders, their causes and effects. Students will also study natural selection, fossils and extinction of organisms.

Cybersecurity: Students will explore key cybersecurity threats including malware and social engineering and investigate techniques to protect from these vulnerabilities.

OAA Boxercise/Dance Badminton

Amazing Asia: Students will study the Asian powerhouse of China and look at how they’re becoming a dominating global power. A particular focus on globalisation and the middle east.

South America: Students will focus on the South American continent, exploring the interactions between human and physical geographical elements including Brazil and its use of the Amazon Rainforest.

How democratic was Britain by 1900? Students will look at the push for reform by the working class. Students will study key topics of Chartism, Peterloo and the women’s Suffrage movement.

What is the purpose of life? Students will explore philosophical questions from a Hinduism perspective. They will learn about: the Hindu Moral Code, the four stages of life, Dharma, Samsara and the Bhagavad Gita. Students will also create a samsara board game.

Food and Eating Out: Students will learn to give their opinions about different foods and drinks. Students will also learn to say what they eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner, using the key verbs for each meal. Students will also get the chance to learn about traditional Spanish food and drink.

Did the blood of others build Britain? Students will look at Britain’s role in the slave trade and why our participation in slavery was challenged by abolitionists.

Mathematics

Physical Education Geography

History Religious Studies

Spanish

Do we need to suffer? Students will explore the question of suffering through the study of Buddhism. They will learn about: Siddartha – 4 sights, 4 Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, Meditation, Worship and the Sangha.

Food and Eating out: Students will continue with the topic of food and eating out, learning how to use the language learnt in real-life situations. Students will look at how to order different food at restaurants as well as how to complain about problems during meals at a restaurant. Students will also be able to talk about quantities of food, developing their use of numbers over 100.

Year 8 Curriculum Plan Subject

Summer Term

English

Continuing ‘Animal Farm’, students will gain a knowledge of Early 20th Century Russian politics whilst identifying how rhetoric is used as a means of oppression.

Students will then study the language and dramatic conventions of ‘Romeo and Juliet’, looking at key extracts and structuring their responses to themes and characters.

Angles in Parallel Lines and Polygons: Students will learn to use basic angle rules and notations. Students will investigate angles between parallel lines and the transversal. Students will learn to construct triangles and quadrilaterals. Students will calculate missing interior angles of regular polygons. Area of Trapezia and Circles: Students will learn to find the area of a trapezium, circle and compound shapes including areas taught in previous years. Line Symmetry and Reflection: Students will learn to recognise symmetry and reflect a shape in either a horizontal, vertical or diagonal line.

Earth’s resources: Students will look at the Earth’s structure and the rock cycle.

How metals are extracted and electrolysis. How carbon is recycled, global warming and the impact of Humans on the environment.

Graphics and 3D Design: Students will manipulate 2D graphics using various software and will be introduced to 3D graphics. They will focus on the use of 3D printers in industry, possible job opportunities and produce their own 3D print.

Mathematics

Science Computer Science

Physical Education Geography History Religious Studies

Spanish

Boxercise/Dance

Handball

Athletics

South America: Students will continue to focus on the South American continent, exploring the interactions between human and physical geographical elements including Brazil and its use of the Amazon Rainforest.

What does it mean to be British? Students will look at what the British Empire was and how Britain came to dominate the world. Students will then focus on the experiences of those living under British rule in India, America, Australia and Africa.

Does religion encourage equality? Students will study the issue of equality through the Islamic religion including the topics of: The Life of the Prophet Muhammad, beliefs and teachings about poverty and injustice, Alms giving, Islamic Relief, the role of women, Shariah Law and Islamophobia.

What shall we do? Students will learn how to arrange to go out to meet people and how to respond to an invitation, including making excuses. Reflexive verbs will be covered whilst discussing getting ready to go out, along with clothes and demonstrative adjectives (this/these) when discussing what they are going to wear.

All three tenses covered (preterite, present and near future) will be used together to talk about sporting events.

Continuing the study of ‘Romeo and Juliet’, students will revise dramatic conventions, analyse structural choices and explore the themes of conflict and oppression.

The Data Handling Cycle: Students will learn how to design and criticise questionnaires. Using Data students will draw and interpret various statistical diagrams including bar charts, line charts, pie charts choosing the most appropriate of these for a given data set.

Measures of Location: Students will understand and use the mean, median and mode choosing the most appropriate of the three averages and the range to compare distributions.

Pressure and Motion: Student will study pressure in liquids and gases, calculating pressure and investigating the effect of heat. They will also study density, levers and Speed/distance/time graphs including acceleration.

Ethical, cultural and Environmental impacts: Students will discuss the benefits and negative impacts that technology has on the world to help them make informed choices for the future. This will focus on the environmental impacts of technology and how they can be more considerate users.

Danish Longball Cricket Rounders Global Issues: Students will finish the year by consolidating their knowledge of the continents they’ve studied so far. In this unit students will study big geographical talking points such as Climate change, Plastic Pollution, Global Biomes and more.

How much had changed in Russia by 1924?

Students will look at the rule of the Tsars in Russia and how this system came to an end. Students will look at the rise of dictatorships.

What beliefs are central to Christianity? Students will explore the key Christian beliefs and how they are put into action. They will learn about the Apostle’s and Nicene Creed, the Trinity, Biblical miracles and modern-day healings, religious phenomenon and Chilean Miners.

Operation Summer: Students will expand their range of adjectives used to describe a holiday home. This will include making comparisons. They will use se puede to say what you can do whilst on holiday. Directions will also be covered, using the imperative, along with using three tenses together more confidently when talking about summer camps. There will be a focus on improving listening skills through tackling challenging listening activities.

Year 8 Curriculum Plan Creative Subjects

Rotations 1-3

Art

Steampunk Insects: Using the formal elements and drawing techniques as guides, students will produce accurate drawings of insects. These drawings will then be used and added to with design work in the style of steam punk artwork and craft. Students will then go on to produce a piece of textiles work showing links to their design work. They will map out their design onto hessian and dd shaped detail using appliqué. Various stitching methods will then be used to decorate the students work, including back stitch, seeding, cross stitch, satin stitch and the use of French knots.

Drama

Soap Opera: Students will develop their knowledge of soap operas.

Students will look at the history of soap operas and develop characters through voice and movement. They will explore scripts to better understand the conventions of a soap opera and create improvisations from storylines.

Food & Design Technology

Food Science: Students will explore the science behind cooking including heat transference, food storage, preservation and different cooking methods. Students will analyse the functional and chemical properties and working characteristics of the ingredients they cook with.

Music

Exploring Music Technology: Students will study the development of music technology over time. Students look at technology from a variety of decades and will analyse how important this technology was in the birth of new genres such as Disco and Hip Hop.

Natural Forms – Printing: Students will begin by investigating the concept of natural forms, drawing natural objects and looking into the work of Artists and Craftspeople who use natural forms as inspiration. We will focus on the idea that natural forms can contain elements of pattern and texture especially when viewed in a macro format.

Drawings of a variety of natural forms including flowers, plants, seed heads, seashells and leaves will be produced by the students. Outlines of these drawings will be transposed onto lino and students will cut out their designs. Students will experiment with creating textures and patterns using printing techniques and create a printed final piece.

Melodrama: Students will explore the key elements of melodrama. In this topic they will learn about the history of melodrama, stock characters, key features of a melodrama including slapstick comedy and silent movies. Students will get the opportunity to explore different acting styles including mime.

Under the Sea Clay Tiles: Students will be introduced to the subject matter of coral sea life. They will investigate the texture within images of coral reefs and coral polyps. They will discuss the idea of creating textures using pencil to depict different types of underwater surface environments.

Students will work to develop skills and understanding in the use of clay as artistic medium. They will explore the process of creating surface texture and add relief details.

Students will work with the clay to exploring the basics of the material, they will use cutting tools and other modelling tools. Students will produce their clay piece using a variety of modelling skills and techniques and will complete this with colour in the style of Diane Lublinski.

Shakespeare: Students will explore the play of A midsummer night's dream. They will understand the language and context of the play. Through practical exploration they will gain an understanding of the plot, characters and some production elements. Students will also be exploring the use of setting by performing in a site-specific area.

Exploring Material Properties: Students will explore the functional properties of construction materials (timber), wood joints, finishing techniques and design styles. Students will explore the design process when designing, making and evaluating products to achieve a solution in a given style whilst continuing to develop confidence when using a range of tools and equipment.

Exploring Electronic Dance Music: Students will learn how to effectively use a digital audio workspace to create electronic dance music. Students will explore modern dance music, understanding the key characteristics which they will use when composing and sequencing their own piece.

Nutrition, Food Safety & Food Choice: Students will develop their knowledge and understanding of hygiene by exploring HACCP. Students will continue to explore macro and micronutrients and their associated functions. Students will learn about factors that affect food choice, the laws that underpin food packaging, food miles and food waste.

Exploring Musical Theatre: Students will explore the use of music in traditional and contemporary theatre. Analysing a variety of plays, students will discover how music is used to create emotion and tell a story in a theatrical production.

Students will focus on vocals, instrumentation and dynamics within the music.