Year8 Cu r r i c u l u mOu t l i ne 201920
Year 8 Curriculum Outline 2019-20 Pastoral Leader – Mrs Cherry Blanchard Assistant Pastoral Leader - Ms Elizabeth Cox
Form Tutors: 8EHC Ms Elizabeth Cox 8LJC Miss Louise Cresswell 8HLC Mrs Hannah Crossley 8ECD Mrs Emma Wilshaw & Dr Christopher Dexter-Mills 8JMN Mrs Joy Naylor
ENGLISH Key Topics As in Year 7, students study a range of fiction and non-fiction texts which will include at least one novel (for example, Of Mice and Men), a Shakespeare play (for example,Twelfth Night or Henry V), some poetry and short stories. They might also study a modern play such as An Inspector Calls or a film such as Charlie Chaplin’s The Gold Rush, depending on which teacher they have. A wide range of speaking and listening, reading and writing activities will provide students with the opportunity to further develop their analytical, language and creative writing skills. Grammar is taught in context throughout the year.
Assessment ● ●
No formal assessments during the year; regular written assignments allow the teacher to monitor progress. Summer assessment
MATHEMATICS Key Topics ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Properties of numbers Powers and roots Fractions, decimals and percentages Real life graphs and straight line graphs Linear sequences Estimating Linear equations Data handling and displaying Formulae Pythagoras’ theorem Similar shapes and trigonometry Area and perimeter Geometric concepts; constructions, loci and transformations Bearings 3D objects and volume Calculator skills Using and applying ratio Probability Introduction to financial mathematics
Assessment ● ●
Normal assessment in lessons, topic tests during the year Summer assessment
COMPUTING Key Topics ● ● ● ●
Logical Thinking Analysing Trends Pi-Wars Technology in society
Assessment ●
End of topic assessments
Trips/Enrichment ● ●
Optional trip to the Computing Museum jointly with Library Ada Lovelace Day - Celebrating Stories in STEM. A range of activities and competitions throughout the week to celebrate different paths and achievements of men and women in STEM overcoming difficulties to change the world.
BIOLOGY Key Topics ● ● ● ● ● ●
Breathing Digestion Respiration Photosynthesis Evolution Inheritance
Assessment ● ●
Short end-of-topic tests Summer assessment
CHEMISTRY Key Topics ● ● ● ● ●
Periodic Table and the Elements Compounds and mixtures Chemical Energy Types of Reactions Climate and Earth Resources
Assessment ● ●
Short end-of-topic tests Summer assessment
PHYSICS Key Topics ● ● ● ●
Forces & Motion Electromagnetism Waves Energy
Assessment ● ●
Short end-of-topic tests Summer assessment
GEOGRAPHY Key Topics ● ● ●
The Geography of crime Weather and Climate Brazil
Assessment ● ● ●
Ongoing assessment throughout the year End-of-topic assessments Summer assessment
HISTORY Key Topics ● ●
Tudors and Stuarts The French Revolution 1789
Assessment ● ● ●
Ongoing assessment throughout the year End-of-topic tests Summer assessment
Trips/curricular enrichment ●
Joint trip with RS to the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey
RS & PHILOSOPHY Key Topics ● ●
A study of two world religions: Christianity and Islam (beliefs and practices) An introduction to Philosophy and Ethics
Assessment ● ● ●
Ongoing assessment throughout the year End-of topic tests Summer assessment
Trips/curricular enrichment ●
Joint trip with History to the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey
DESIGN ENGINEERING Key Topics Students will undertake two longer projects this year. They will design and make a simple robotic "bug" where they will build an electronic circuit and programme a chip to run their project. The Architecture project will be CAD based but there will be an opportunity to model designs with a range of light materials.
Assessment ●
Ongoing; using project outcomes and development and research
Field Trips ●
Short tour of Cambridge in lessons to look art and architecture
DRAMA Key Topics ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Trust exercises Spontaneous improvisation using a variety of stimuli including music and props Status work Physical theatre Chorus work Greek Theatre Using Greek myths to inspire and develop original performance work Using sound and lighting to enhance a performance Learning to evaluate performance work using theatrical terminology
Assessment ●
No formal assessments; performance work will be informally shared with the class throughout the year and the course culminates in a more structured piece of performance work
MUSIC Key Topics ● ● ●
The 12 Bar Blues Theme and Variations Music for Dance - Gigue and Tango
Assessment ●
No formal assessments; performance work will be informally shared with the class throughout the year
VISUAL ARTS Key Topics Three different projects, all linked by the theme of 'Structures' and rotate across three main areas of Fine Art, Textiles, and Digital Media. In Fine Art students study the structure of landscape, especially the natural structures of trees. They learn about how colour and form develop perspective and mood. In Textiles students study the structure of the urban environment and architecture. They use the structure of the grid to relate to warp and weft, and develop an abstract design from photographic and hand-drawn observations using sewing machine techniques. In Digital Media students examine the structure of composition and narrative in film. They record their observations and undertake journeys to document where they have been.
Assessment ●
Ongoing; using project outcomes and development and research in the student sketchbook
Field Trips ●
Various, including the Fitzwilliam Museum, the botanical gardens and walks to record local architecture
LATIN Key Topics Students will continue to extend their knowledge of Latin and they will work on a range of exercises which will develop their understanding of the mechanics of the Latin language and also its connection with English today. Cultural context will be a key part of the course, and they will be studying aspects of Roman religious belief, Roman festivals, Roman ideology (such as concepts of a hero) and the Roman beliefs concerning prophecy and fate. Towards the end of the year they will move to topics relating to Roman political history.
Assessment ● ● ● ●
Regular consolidation testing & written language work Written analysis and engagement with primary evidence from the Roman world Whole year progress tests in the second half of the Autumn Term, and in the Spring Term Summer assessment
FRENCH Key Topics ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Town Food Restaurant Shops Means of transport Countries, activities School Family Talking about travel plans Clothes Parts of the body - say how you feel and what hurt
● ●
Accept and refuse invitations Leisure activities
Main grammar points ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Consolidation of the main regular and irregular verbs in the present tense Negative words New irregular verbs in the present tense Modal verbs The immediate future Reflexive verbs Perfect tense with être and avoir Questions and the negative form in the perfect tense Regular and irregular adjectives Direct object pronouns The imperative Comparisons Conjunctions Numbers Expressions with avoir
Assessment ● ●
Regular vocabulary and grammar tests Summer assessment
Field Trips ●
Onatti play at the Senior School
SPANISH Key Topics ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
House and furniture Free time Daily routine Eating out Going shopping Asking the way Keeping healthy
Main grammar points ● ● ● ● ● ●
Present tense Impersonal verbs Use of the infinitive The immediate future Reflexive verbs Stem changing verbs
Assessment ● ●
Regular vocabulary and grammar tests Summer assessment
GLOBAL OUTLOOK Key Topics ● World music ● Language & Linguistics
GAMES Autumn & Spring Term Options ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Hockey and netball are our main competitive sports for girls Football and hockey are our main competitive sports for boys Fitness Dance Badminton Basketball Gymnastics Touch Rugby
Summer Term Options ● ● ●
●
Cricket is our main competitive sport Athletics Tennis
Volleyball
PSHE Off-timetable events (dates subject to change - check school calendar) ● Monday 6 November: Citizenship II – our place in the world: how others’ lives differ from ours ● Tuesday 22 February: Focus on the Future I – sessions on the value of money and starting to think about what happens beyond school ● Tuesday 6 March: Managing Risk I – sessions on smoking, drugs and alcohol as well as cyber-safety
Morning PSHE sessions Citizenship: ● ● ● ●
Rights
and responsibilities The Human Rights Act The role of the monarchy British Citizenship
Career development and choice
● ● ●
Knowledge vs. skills Relevance of school subjects to the outside world What is a career?
Reading week: Week beginning 16 October No formal homework will be set. During this week students will be encouraged to read and should take the opportunity to organise their files as necessary.
Summer Assessments: 21-25 May All students in the Senior School will sit school assessments during this week. The aim of the assessments is to develop students’ skills in preparing for and sitting exams, and making use of feedback. Teachers will guide their students through a revision process and strategies appropriate to their subject.
KEY DATES Please note that event details are subject to change - we will email you if there are changes to the dates below. For more detailed information on events throughout the school year, please see the Senior School calendar on our website.
Event
Date
Day
Y8 Introduction to the Year Evening
17 September
Mon
PSHE Parent Information Evening
10 October
Weds
Carol Service – Great St. Mary’s
12 December
Weds
Y8 Parents’ Evening
12 February
Tues
PSHE Parent Information Evening
29 April
Mon
Senior School and 6th Form Speech Day
TBC
TBC
Senior School and 6th Form Sports Day
11 July
Thurs