Key Stage 3

Year 7

Autumn Term

• Unit 1: Transition Unit - Reading and writing
• Unit 2: The Terrible Fate of Humpty Dumpty - Speaking and listening, reading

Spring Term

• Unit 1: Novel - speaking and listening, reading

Summer Term

• Unit 1: Introduction to poetry - Reading
• Unit 2 Introduction to Shakespeare - Writing

Year 7 test: Reading

Author Studies: Michael Morpurgo, William Shakespeare.

Year 8

Autumn Term

• Unit 1: Novel - Reading, Writing
• Unit 2: Advertising - Speaking and Listening, Writing

Spring Term

• Unit 1: Crime and Detection - Reading, Writing
• Unit 2: Our Day Out - Speaking and Listening, Reading

Summer Term

• Unit 1: Texts from different Cultures - Reading
• Unit 2: Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream - Reading and Writing

Year 8 Test: Reading

Author Studies: Arthur Conan Doyle, Willy Russell.

Year 9

Autumn Term

• Unit 1: Visions of the future - Speaking and Listening, Writing
• Unit 2: Poetry - Reading

Spring Term

• Unit 1: American Literature - Reading, Writing
• Unit 2: Literacy Non Fiction - Reading

Summer Term

• Unit 1: Romeo and Juliet - Reading
• Unit 2: Spoken Language Assessment - Speaking and Listening

Year 9 Test : Reading and Writing

Author Studies: Wilfred Owen, John Steinbeck/Harper Lee

 

The year 7 mathematics topics are as follows –

• Arithmetic
• Algebra
• Angle/Bearings
• Area
• Decimals
• Estimating
• Fractions
• Graphs
• Measures
• Negative Numbers
• Number patterns
• Percentages
• Probability
• Ratio
• Shape
• Statistics
• Transformations
• Whole Numbers
• 3 Dimensions

The year 8 mathematics topics are –

• Arithmetic
• Algebra
• Approximation
• Area/Volume
• Bearings
• Construction
• Decimals
• Enlargement
• Fractions/Percentages
• Graphs
• Integers, powers and roots
• Measures
• Negative Numbers
• Probability
• Pythagoras
• Ratio
• Shape / Angle
• Statistics
• Symmetry
• Transformations

The year 9 mathematics topics are –

• Algebra
• Angle/Symmetry
• Area & Volume
• Equations
• Fractions/Decimals/Percentages
• Graphs
• Locating points
• Negative Numbers
• Number
• Probability
• Pythagoras
• Ratio
• Statistics
• Transformations
• Trigonometry

Please note that some subjects taught will depend on the group ability.

Year 7-9 follow the new national curriculum for science. The course is split up into “cycles” of work, each of which has a biology, chemistry and physics topic. Formal assessment is carried out at the end of each cycle.

The following topics are covered in each cycle:-

Year	Cycle1	Cycle2	Cycle3
7	Ecosystems Solids, liquids and gases Energy	Cells Chemical change Forces	Reproduction Acids and chemical reactions Space
8	Plants Pure and impure Waves - light	Gas exchange and health Earth Motion	Nutrition and digestion Atmosphere Waves-sound
9	Respiration and movement Periodic table Electricity	Genetics Materials Energy transfer

In the third cycle year 9 students begin their GCSE work.

Facilities

The department has five laboratories each with its own interactive white board. Lessons at both key stages use a wealth of resources such as computer software, worksheets and textbooks. Practical activities are frequently carried out to show how science works.

Extra-curricular

Enrichment activities are offered from time to time. For example during 2014 a joint project with Dr Alan Herbert from Birmingham University, funded by a grant from the Royal Society of science, took place as a year 7 science club looking at how we see things.

Year 7

• Colour theory and Crazy Creatures
• 'The Tempest'
• Cakes and Desserts
• Techniques/Skills

Year 8

• Aboriginal art
• Jungle landscapes
• Fish
• Fruit and Veg

Year 9

• Everyday objects
• Still Life / Cubism
• Gargoyles
• Natural Form

The year 7 computing topics are as follows –

• Producing an e-safety presentation
• Modelling using spreadsheets
• Introduction to programming using Scratch
• Data handling
• Reliability of on-line  information

The year 8 computing topics are –

• Health and safety when using ICT
• Creating an interactive information system
• Introduction to computer animation
• Further modelling using spreadsheets
• Programming using Small Basic
• Creating a computer game

The year 9 computing topics are –

• E-safety review
• Computer systems, including -

1. - software and hardware
2. - binary numbers
3. - digital representation of graphics
4. - computer networks
5. - computer and data security

• Advanced modelling using spreadsheets
• Further programming
• Creating web pages and an introduction to HTML language

Year 7

• Food: used each part of the cooker safely using some of the basic skills in cookery.  Understanding some of the methods of heat transfer and adapting and changing recipes to meet current nutritional guidelines.
• Textiles: Introduction to equipment and the opportunity for students to develop their assembly skills. students will work with a range of textiles to design, colour and applique designs.
• Truck Project: working as a team students design, develop and manufacture a number of wooden toy trucks. The module introduces them to a range of tools and skills.
• Metal design: During this module, students are re-introduced to the design process by responding to a design brief which involves them in designing and making a metal based product.
• Graphics: The fundamental method of communicating thoughts and ideas is through the graphic media.  In this module students learn skills and techniques that will help them illustrate and explain concepts and deigns.
• Smart Materials: This exciting world is explored by hands on use of these strange and wonderful material that make our world what it is today.  Students learn about the properties of these materials and how they can be considered and incorporated in their designs.

Year 8

• Food: Development of more complex recipes and wider use of kitchen appliances and utensils.  Combining convenience and fresh foods with greater understanding of food groups and the needs of individuals.
• Textiles: During this modules students research sustainability and develop a practical piece for a specific market making use of sustainable materials.
• Plastics and CAD/CAM: making full use of CAD/CAM facilities, students use their design skills to develop a clock design made from a suitable plastic material.  as a focus of this module students also learn about different types of plastic and the methods by which products are manufactured.
• Electronics: This module forms an introduction to electronics theory and is used to develop skills in constructing circuits. The module starts with the theory behind the components used and how they are used in a circuit.  The module then progresses to the construction of an audio amplification circuit.

Year 9

• Food: In depth use of different types of pastry, looking at functions of specific ingredients.  Seasonal and regional cookery and the knowledge behind preservation and shelf life goods. Emphasis  on the presentation of food.
• Textiles: The module develops technical thinking skills in which students will design and make an original novelty 'thinking out of the box' style cushion.  Students will develop designing, pattern drafting and modelling skills using a wide range of textile fabrics, together with advance skills of fabric manipulation.
• Electronics/Programming: This module builds on the year 8 electronics module and is used to develop further the students understanding of electronics and circuit construction. Students have the opportunity to construct from scratch, a circuit incorporating a microprocessor.  The students go on to write a programme that is downloaded to the circuit to personalise its [performance and function.  They will also use the CAD/CAM computer systems in school to laser cut a case they have designed themselves.
• Mechanical Toys: This modules takes the student on a journey through the whole design process starting with an investigation into how mechanisms work to create desired movements and outcomes.  With this knowledge, students design and develop their own ideas through drawing and model making which is then finally made into a final working product.  This product is then tested and evaluated.

YEAR 7

In year 7 we do units of work on storytelling (Jack and the Beanstalk), body language, spontaneous improvisation, Rose Blanche, evacuees, using soundscape and a cross curricular unit with music and art on William Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

YEAR 8

In year 8 we do units of work on melodrama, pantomime, externalised conscience (Jo), status, David Almond’s the Savage, using tableaux to stimulate performance and King Lear

Year 9

In year 9 we do units of work on soap opera, Greek theatre, Hillsborough, The First World War, ritual drama, Shakespeare’s The Seven Ages of Man speech, mountain language (based on Harold Pinter), protest, Charles Causley’s What Has Happened to Lulu and their own devised work based on a stimulus.

Year 7

• Who are the British? Celts / Romans / Vikings / Anglo Saxons
• The Changing Power of the Monarchy

Year 8

• Church State and Monarchy
• Britain in the Industrial Age

Year 9

• World War I
• USA between the Wars
• World War II

The year 7 Geography topics are as follows –

• Map & Atlas Skills
• Rocks & Resources
• The UK
• The Rural Environment
• Rivers
• Enquiry Skills

The year 8 Geography topics are –

• Europe
• Weather & Climate
• Population Change
• Ice on the Land
• Volcanoes & Earthquakes
• Tourism

The year 9 Geography topics are –

• Globalisation
• Coasts
• The Development Gap
• Middle East
• Ecosystems
• Urban Environments

KEY STAGE 3 CURRICULUM

We have recently changed our MFL curriculum, as a result of the desire to increase hours dedicated to study of a foreign language and to allow pupils an element of choice in their studies. In year 7 Pupils study both French and Spanish. They will first study three hours of Spanish a week and halfway through the academic year change to studying three hours of French. At the end of year 7, pupils choose to study either French or Spanish until the end of year 11 and they will continue to study the chosen language for three hours a week.

Very able pupils who score grade 7 or higher in their chosen language at the end of year 9 may have the opportunity to study either French or Spanish at GCSE at KS4 by completing an intensive GCSE. This course(s) would take place after school subject to funding being available.

Teaching and Learning at Key Stage 3 is centred on the new National Curriculum (2013):

It builds on the foundations of language learning at key stage 2, whether pupils continue with the same language or take up a new one. Teaching focuses on developing the breadth and depth of pupils’ competence in listening, speaking, reading and writing, based on a sound foundation of core grammar and vocabulary. It enables pupils to understand and communicate personal and factual information that goes beyond their immediate needs and interests, developing and justifying points of view in speech and writing, with increased spontaneity, independence and accuracy.

 Pupils are taught to:

Grammar and vocabulary 

• Identify and use tenses or other structures which convey the present, past, and future as appropriate to the language being studied.
• Use and manipulate a variety of key grammatical structures and patterns, including voices and moods.
• Develop and use a wide-ranging and deepening vocabulary that goes beyond their immediate needs and interests, allowing them to give and justify opinions and take part in discussion about wider issues
• Use accurate grammar, spelling and punctuation.

Linguistic competence

• Listen to a variety of forms of spoken language to obtain information and respond appropriately
• Transcribe words and short sentences that they hear with increasing accuracy
• Initiate and develop conversations, coping with unfamiliar language and unexpected responses, making use of important social conventions such as formal modes of address.
• Express and develop ideas clearly and with increasing accuracy, both orally and in writing.
• Speak coherently and confidently, with increasingly accurate pronunciation and intonation.
• Read and show comprehension of original and adapted materials from a range of different sources, understanding the purpose, important ideas and details, and provide an accurate English translation of short, suitable material.
• Read literary texts in the language [such as stories, songs, poems and letters], to stimulate ideas, develop creative expression and expand understanding of the language and culture.
• Write prose using an increasingly wide range of grammar and vocabulary, write creatively to express their own ideas and opinions, and translate short written text accurately into the foreign language.

 

Year 7 Overview of SOW in French

Year 7 Overview of SOW in French

Topic Areas

Autumn Term: Knowledge about Language

1. Non-verbal Communication and an Introduction to Language
2. Language Roots and Numbers, Months. Birthdays
3. How to learn a Language
4. Developing Reading Skills through a Story
5. Personal descriptions: Self, others and monsters
6. Assessments and Christmas Activities

Spring Term: Art

1. Introduction to art, colours and shapes
2. Developing thinking skills – High Frequency Words
3. Famous French-speaking artists
4. Assessments and Easter Activities

Summer Term: Animals and the Wider World

1. Animals and pronunciation
2. Countries/nationalities and Stereotypes
3. Present tense verbs/aller
4. Family Life and Food
5. Assessments 

Year 8 Overview of SOW in French

 Topic Areas

Autumn Term :

1. Time, Routine & School
2. Chocolate
3. The weird and wonderful world of Body art
4. The Three Little Pigs Story (Past tense verbs)

Spring Term

1. Secret Agents
2. The world of fashion

Summer Term

1. Space
2. Comic Books

 

YEAR 9 FRENCH SCHEME OF WORK OVERVIEW 

Autumn Term 1: Half Term 1 Developing Language learning skills

1. Developing dictionary skills
2. Using verb tables
3. Distinguishing between different verb tenses
4. Sentence building

Autumn Term 1: Half Term 1 and 2 Extreme Sports

1. Descriptions of extreme sports
2. Expressions of time
3. Extreme sportspeople and adjectives to describe them
4. Opinions and the conditional tense

Spring Term 2 Half Term 1 Les Choristes

1. Film genres
2. Opinions and preferences
3. Personal descriptions – school report
4. Thinking skills activities
5. Watching film
6. Understanding and creating a film review

Spring Term 2 Half Term 2 HAITI

1. Haiti the country
2. Life in Haiti
3. Revision of daily routine and time
4. School in Haiti
5. Before the Earthquake, revision of imperfect tense
6. Hopes for the future/What could be done to improve the situation for Haitians today.

Summer Term 3 Half Term 1  The music scene in France

1. Survey of current popular French songs
2. Genres of songs
3. Revision of opinions
4. Independent research of a singer/group
5. Song lyrics

Summer Term 3 Half Term 1 France and the Second World War

1. Life in France during the Occupation
2. The tragedy of Oradour
3. Study of a poem
4. Revision of the difference between the perfect and imperfect tenses.

 

KS3 Spanish

Year 7:

Section 1 Non-verbal Communication and an Introduction to Language

Section 2 Language Roots and Numbers

Section 3 Developing Reading Skills through a Story

Section 4 Personal descriptions: Self, others and monsters

Section 5 Spain and its cities and monuments: Locations, Descriptions and Opinions.

Year 8:

Section 1: Spain’s got talent

Section 2: Valentín – An introduction to Spanish cinema

Year 9

¡ Mira! Express 2

Talking about self and others

Free time and the media

Holidays

In KS3 students follow the national curriculum for music. Students will have the opportunity to develop their performance skills on a variety of instruments including Keyboard, Guitar, Percussion, and Vocals. Pupils will be encouraged to improve their composing and listening skills through a variety of practical based activities.

Year 7

In Year 7 this includes units of work on:

• Carnival of the Animals
• Keyboard & Notation
• Samba Drumming
• Folk Music
• Fanfares
• O Fortuna

Year 8

In Year 8 this includes units of work on:

• The Blues
• Gamalan
• Indian Music
• Film Music
• I Need a Dollar
• Stand By Me

Year 9

In year 9 this includes units of work on:

• Minimalism
• Reggae
• African Drumming
• Four Chord Song
• Valerie
• Fur Elise

Year 7

• Netball,
• Dance,
• Football,
• Rugby,
• Fitness,
• Basketball,
• Gymnastics,
• Tennis,
• Rounders,
• Cricket,
• Athletics,
• games for understanding.

Year 8

• Netball,
• Dance,
• Football,
• Rugby,
• Fitness,
• Basketball,
• Gymnastics,
• Tennis,
• Rounders,
• Cricket,
• Athletics,
• Badminton.

Year 9

• Netball,
• Dance,
• Football,
• Rugby,
• Fitness,
• Badminton,
• Table Tennis,
• Tennis,
• Rounders,
• Cricket,
• Athletics

RE at KS3 is based two assessment objectives. AO1 and AO2.

Assessment Objective 1 skills include being able to describe, explain and analyse, using knowledge and understanding. Learning about religion.

Assessment objective 2 skills include being able to use evidence and reasoned argument to express and evaluate personal responses, informed insights, and differing viewpoints. Learning from religion. 

Below is a list of the topics we study in each year of KS3.

Year 7

• Belief and Belonging
• Fundamental questions including creation
• Jesus
• Holy Week
• The environment

Year 8

• Rites of passage
• Muslims in Britain
• Codes for life
• Ethics
• Hinduism

Year 9

• God
• The Holocaust
• Prejudice and Discrimination
• Relationships
• Life after Death