Curriculum Information Term 1 

Assessment information Term 1 

Observational Learning Task  

Topic: Insects 

• Beetle studies 

• Sgraffito Insect 

• Artist study:  

We will look at a range of Art skills including: symmetrical drawing; mark making techniques & patterns 

Skills: pencil; biro; crayon; fine-liner 

Baseline assessment 

Mark making beetle 

Student’s work will be assessed at least every 6 lessons 

Curriculum Information Term 2

Assessment information Term  2

Topic: Insects 

We will look at a range of Art skills including: sgraffito techniques; artist research and response; collage 

Sgraffito pattern design 

 Artist collage response 

Curriculum Information Term 1 

Assessment information Term 1 

War, Peace and Justice

• Whose life is it?
• Is belief worth a life?
• What is the law?
• What are crime and punishment?

 No formal assessment this term

Curriculum Information Term 2

Assessment information Term  2

 War, Peace and Justice

• Punishment – why and how should we do it?
• Should we ever use violence?
• Is war ever justified?
• What are the causes of war today?

Capital punishment is always wrong. Discuss.

Curriculum Information Term 1 

Assessment information Term 1 

Students will be introduced to Python programming. Topics will include variables and data Types, arithmetic operators . 

Python Quiz, Python Project, Homework 

Curriculum Information Term 2

Assessment information Term  2

Students will be introduced to Modern Computer systems, Modern Computer System components, Operating systems and Software Application, Network Protocols, Emerging Technologies- AI, Virtual reality, IOT, Assessment 

Systems Architecture Quiz, Systems Architecture Project,   

Curriculum Information 

Assessment information 

In Design Technology students will rotate around 4 subject areas and IT during the year. Students spend approximately 7 weeks in each subject area. They will be building on foundation skills learnt in Year 7 with a core focus on Design.  
 
Electronics:  

Students will make a portable steady hand game. The project reinforces soldering technique and introduces students to a wider range of components. Students accurately measure, customise their wooden base and wire.  They will also be introduced to more advanced drawing techniques such as orthographic projection. 
 
Food & Nutrition:  
Students will be looking at eating a healthy balanced diet and food from a range of different cultures. They will gain the confidence to cook a main meal and it is our hope that students will be able to repeat the meals we make in school for dinner at home. 
Theory: Students look at Food Provenance – where our food comes from, what the function of ingredients are in a recipe and what Fusion food is. They are taught to create their own fusion dishes considering the choice of the ingredients based on maximising nutrition, taste and visual appeal.  
The dishes made in Year 8 are Savoury Rice, Fajitas, Pizza and a Fusion dish that they have designed.   
Please note that all recipes and cooking dates will be on Go4Schools.  We have also introduced a recipe book which they will be given at the start of their food rotation. Students need to bring a container with a locking lid to take their food home in.  
 
Product Design:  
Students in year 8 will produce a phone stand from plywood, developing the skills they would need should they choose to take product design at GCSE. They will learn to mark out accurately, saw using different saws, chisel and finish their phone stands to a high quality finish.  They will also gain an understanding of what a product analysis is and why they are useful to designers. They will learn about different timber materials including their properties and uses. 

Textiles: 

Students will be making a Graffiti inspired textile case that includes a decorative panel, using recycled/found fabric. Students are welcome to buy and bring any of their own fabrics they may have access to.  They will also be challenged to “draw with scissors”, inspired by Henri Matisse’s cut-outs. They will cut out shapes and layer these fabrics to create an illustrative textile outcome. 

  During each rotation students will be assessed on Design work, Homework and their Product outcome 

Curriculum Information Term 1 

Assessment information Term 1 

Curriculum Information Term 2

Assessment information Term  2

What has happened to Lulu?

Curriculum Information Term 1 

Assessment information Term 1 

Term 1 - Gothic Fiction 

Students will explore the context of 19th century Britain, through the lens of the gothic genre. They will look at a series of key extracts from across the gothic genre, including its influences on modern fiction.  

Students will also focus on effective descriptions, using the gothic extracts as a starting point for writing their own descriptions of settings.  

Term 2 - 19th Century Non-Fiction  

Students will learn about the context of the changing world in the 19th century, which also feeds into their study of Gothic literature. They will explore a range of forms of writing including: 

• Travel writing  

• Letter writing 

• Articles  

• Reports 

 Formative: written questions on comprehension and vocabulary. Short piece of descriptive writing.  

Summative: comprehension questions & extended piece of descriptive writing.  

Formative: knowledge quiz, vocabulary test, and comprehension tasks. 

Summative: knowledge quiz, vocabulary test, and comprehension tasks. 

Weekly Educake reading skills homework set on Go4Schools. 

Curriculum Information Term 1 

Assessment information Term 1 

Natural Hazards

Plate tectonics, tectonic hazards, earthquakes, volcanoes, management and mitigation of hazards.

Foundation for GCSE Natural Hazards topic.

• Extended writing question on tsunami case study
• End of unit- summative assessment of unit content

Curriculum Information Term 2

Assessment information Term  2

Global population

• Demographics
• Transition model
• Population control

• China’s one Child policy extended writing.

Curriculum Information Term 1 

Assessment information Term 1 

Curriculum Information Term 2

Assessment information Term  2

Curriculum Information Term 1 

Assessment information Term 1 

  The Industrial Revolution 

• Why was there an Industrial Revolution 

• Working conditions in the Industrial Revolution – factories 

• Working conditions in the Industrial Revolution – coal mines 

• Significant individuals from the Industrial Revolution 

• Victorian Public Health 

  ‘Conditions in the factories were the worst part of C19th life’. How far do you agree? 

Curriculum Information Term 2

Assessment information Term  2

  Slavery and the American Civil War 
• Transatlantic slave trade 
• Life on a plantation  
• Resistance movements  
• Abolishment of slavery  
• American Civil War 

 Who was the most important key individual to the abolishment of slavery? 

Curriculum Information Term 1 

Assessment information Term 1 

Unit C1 Proud to be me 

1. Employability & Enterprise Skills 

2. Proud to be Me 

3. Careers and Aspirations 

4. Self-Esteem and the Media  

5. The Importance of Happiness 

6. What Makes Me Angry? 

7. Exploring Careers 

Life Skills is not assessed by grades, other than a baseline and final assessment to measure positive progress. 

Curriculum Information Term 2

Assessment information Term  2

Unit C2 Physical Health & Mental Wellbeing 

1. Health and Wellbeing 

2. What is Mental Health? 

3. Positive Body Image 

4. Child Abuse 

5. Types of Bullying 

6. Healthy Eating and Cholesterol 

7. Stress Management 

Life Skills is not assessed by grades, other than a baseline and final assessment to measure positive progress. 

Curriculum Information Term 1 

Assessment information Term 1 

Curriculum Information Term 2

Assessment information Term  2

 Working in the cartesian plane – coordinates in all four quadrants, lines parallel to the axes, plotting straight line graphs, linking graphs to direct proportion, non-linear graphs, finding the midpoint of a line segment  
 
Representing data – scatter graphs, frequency tables, two-way tables, types of data  
 
Tables and probability – construct a sample space for one or more events, find probabilities from a sample space, finding probabilities from two way tables and Venn diagrams, using the product rule for finding possible outcomes 

In class 45 minute non-calculator assessment to include:  
 
Ratio and scale  
 
Multiplicative change  
 
Multiplying and dividing fractions  
 
Working in the cartesian plane. 

Curriculum Information Term 1 

Assessment information Term 1 

All About the Bass: bass clef notation, recapping treble clef notation, different types of bass lines, extended right hand technique on the keyboard, simple left hand accompaniments. 

Notation test 

Practical keyboard assessment 

Curriculum Information Term 2

Assessment information Term  2

Complete Keyboard Performances 

Film Music: uses of music in films. Musical devices used to create film music. Creating music for different scenes in films. Cue sheets 

 Final keyboard skills practical assessment. 

Bass clef notation test 

Feedback on film music composition work. 

Listening exercises 

Curriculum Information Term 1 

Assessment information Term 1 

Trampolining - Boys 

Netball - Girls 

Rugby - Boys 

Badminton - Girls 

Interhouse Football  

Verbal formative assessment of skills and knowledge, understanding and application in conditioned and competitive conditions. 

Completion of core task at beginning and end of block of work. 

Curriculum Information Term 2

Assessment information Term  2

Rugby/OAA - boys 

OAA/football – girls 

Trampolining/badminton – boys 

Netball/trampolining - girls 

Interhouse Indoor athletics 

  Verbal formative assessment of skills and knowledge, understanding and application in conditioned and competitive conditions. 

Completion of core task at beginning and end of block of work. 

Curriculum Information Term 1 and 2

Assessment information Term 1 and 2

Different science groups may have a slightly different order of topics through each term.

Topics (Collins KS3 course)

Force 2 part 1

• Equilibrium
• Drag
• Stretch and compression
• Hooke’s Law

Forces 2 part 2

• Pressure
• Floating and sinking

Organisms 2 part 1

• Breathing
• Gas Exchange
• Disease and lifestyle

Organisms 2 part 2

• Healthy diet
• Human digestive system

Matter 2 part 1

• The Periodic Table
• Metals
• Non-metals
• Patterns in the Periodic Table

Matter 2 part 2

• Compounds
• Polymers, ceramics and composites

Electromagnets 2 part 1

• Forces and Fields
• Magnets

Electromagnets 2 part 2

• Electromagnets
• Uses of electromagnets
• Investigation

All groups will also have 1 lesson a fortnight where they develop their Working Scientifically skills.

In term 1 and 2 they will look at

• What is a scientist?
• The History of Scientific Discoveries and Peer Review
• Does colour affect Temperature?
• Darwin’s Finches

Weekly EDUCAKE homework (www.educake.co.uk)

throughout the year.

Always set on a Monday, Due in on a Sunday (last Sunday of a holiday if the homework was set on the last week of a term).

Every topic will have a part 1 and part 2 assessment (approximately 20-25 marks) to track progress through the year.

Curriculum Information Term 1 and 2

Assessment information Term 1 

Recap of phonics. 

Using the present tense, opinions & instructional language to talk about school subjects, teachers, rules and facilities. 

Using high level structures to discuss what you would change. 

Using the 1st person preterite to say what you did at school the previous day/week. 

Cumulative scores from 5 vocabulary quizzes  

Writing: Four word question (FQ2) 

Assessment information Term 2

Cumulative scores from 5 vocabulary quizzes  

Reading/Grammar: Grammar gap fill questions