Year 8

Year 8

The Year 8 curriculum for 2024-25 will be as follows, delivered across a two week timetable in three 100 minute lessons per day:

English 6 lessons	Maths 6 lessons	Science 5 lessons
PE 2 lessons	French 1 lesson	Spanish 1 lesson
History 1 lesson	Geography 1 lesson	Religious Studies 1 lesson
Computing 1 lesson	Technology 2 lessons covering food, textiles and resistant materials
Art 1 lesson	Music 1 lesson	Drama 1 lesson

 

The Year 8 curriculum was praised by Ofsted for being broad, ambitious and demanding. It is designed to ensure that all students gain the necessary knowledge, character and skills to be successful in life. 

More detail about what students will learn in each subject can be found below. 

What will all students learn in Year 8?

 

English

Unit 1: Comparing political speeches (Martin Luther King, Barack Obama, Jacinda Arden, Colonel Tim Collins and Winston Churchill)

Unit 2: Love poetry (seen and unseen poems)

Unit 3: Narrative writing (novel openings including pre 20th century literature)

Unit 4:  Play (Philip Pullman’s stage adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein)  

Unit 5: Novel (Ruby in the Smoke, the Lie Tree or Salt to the Sea)

Fortnightly lessons of P4C (Philosophy for Children)

 

Maths

Autumn term: ratio and scale; multiplicative change; multiplying and dividing fractions; working in the cartesian plane; representing data; tables and probability; number sense

Spring term: brackets, equations and inequalities; sequences; indices; fractions and percentages; standard index form

Summer term: angles in parallel lines and polygons; area of trapezia and circles; line symmetry and reflection; the data handling cycle; measures of location

 

Science

Unit 1: Which forces make objects float, sink or cause damage?

Unit 2: How do cells get energy and how do plants grow?

Unit 3: What happens when substances warm up and cool down?

Unit 4: What are light and sound and how are they different?

Unit 5: What are the different types of chemical reactions?

Unit 6: How do organ systems work?

Unit 7: How do magnets work and what can they be used for?

Unit 8: How can using the earth’s resources affect our atmosphere and cause pollution?

Unit 9: How do we arrange the elements in the periodic table? 

Unit 10: How did life evolve from single cells? 

 

PE

• Rugby
• Netball
• Basketball
• Handball
• Gymnastics 
• Fitness Suite
• Badminton
• Table Tennis
• Hockey 
• Dodgeball 
• Tag Rugby 
• Athletics
• Summer Games 
• Team-building

 

French

Updates coming September 2024

 

Spanish

Updates coming September 2024

 

History

In all units, students will learn how to make chronological and thematic links, assess change and continuity, evaluate significance, and analyse and evaluate primary and secondary evidence, including different interpretations:

Unit 1: The making of the UK (Tudors and Stuarts)

Unit 2: Mysteries of the new world

Unit 3: Sugar, empire and slavery

Unit 4: The Holocaust

Unit 5: Crime and punishment in Whitechapel

Unit 6: Women’s rights

 

Geography 

In all units, students will learn map skills (including OS maps and compass directions) numerical skills including data analysis, how to analyse graphs and how to use case studies and carry out investigations:

Unit 1: Climate Change

Unit 2: The Equator

Unit 3: Antarctica

Unit 4: Challenges facing the UK

Unit 5: India

Unit 6: Enquiry into the community of Wallsend

 

Religious Studies 

Across these units, students will learn the key beliefs and practices of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Sikh, Buddhism and Hinduism as well as considering their responses to philosophical and ethical dilemmas

Unit 1: How do religious believers express faith?

Unit 2: Why is there evil in the world?

Unit 3: Why is life so special?

Unit 4: Do animals have rights?

Unit 5: War: what is it good for?

Unit 6: How do religious people celebrate?

 

Computing

Unit 1: Layers of computer systems (Embedded systems and peripherals; operating systems and utility software; the fetch execute cycle; hardware and software; networks, the internet and the world wide web)

Unit 2: Data representation (Units of data, sizes and storage; binary and binary conversion; character sets; image representation; compression)

Unit 3: Lego Spike Prime (Quality checking; Hopper race programming challenge; prosthetic arm programming challenge; engineering tests of strength and climbing surfaces; data types, sequencing, selection, iteration, variables and loops)

 

Technology

Resistant Materials

• 3D Container Architecture: Using the work of others as inspiration to influence design. Technical drawing skills to communicate ideas effectively. Creating nets to produce 3D structures. Problem-solving and innovation to create a final outcome. 
• Mechanical Display: Understanding motions and cam mechanisms to design, make and evaluate a moving mechanical display for a convention event of choice.

Textiles

• Skills: hand-embroidery; sewing machine; fabric printing; research into the work of Ellie Hipkin for inspiration
• Empower through embroidery: research into Victoria Villasana for inspiration; hand-embroidery; fabric printing; sewing machine

Food Technology

• Hand-held pastry products: food safety and hygiene; food spoilage and high risk foods; various pastry-making methods including shortcrust, puff pastry and filo; making of pasties, sausage rolls and sweet mince tarts; written evaluations; nutritional labelling
• Multicultural food (Italy): practical skills including sauce-making (reduction and starch), fresh pasta (including lasagne and ravioli) and bread/pizza; written evaluations; food science

 

Art

Unit 1: Pop art. Students will explore the movement through artist analysis, the use of media and various techniques. Within the project, students will explore repeated pattern, typography, tonal drawing, mark making and digital manipulation before planning and making a unique pop art inspired final piece.

Unit 2: Insects. Students will explore a range of media and techniques including printing, pointillism, collage and watercolour painting to produce insect-inspired art pieces. They will also look at the artist Daneil Mackie to inspire some 3D work.

Unit 3: Portraiture. Students will learn how to draw realistic facial features and convert a 2D portraiture image into a 3D cardboard relief. They will study the artist Brno Del Zou and learn how to develop his photography-based style into a mixed media collage.

Students will then reflect on their Year 7 and 8 art skills and conclude the year by planning their own piece of art influenced by surrealist portraiture and hybrid animals. This end of year task allows students to explore their imagination and creativity.

 

Music

Over the course of the year, students will develop further and embed skills in musical theory through listening to music, performing and composing. 

• Applying knowledge of the elements of music through appraising music
• Composing music of different genres using keyboards and computer software
• Performing multiple pieces using keyboards and ukuleles in an ensemble and as a solo
  • Unit 1: Hooks, riffs and blues
  • Unit 2: Music for special occasions and Christmas 
  • Unit 3: Careers – Performer (Ukulele), video game composer (music technology), DJ-ing   
  • Unit 4: Variations in music 
  • Unit 5: Heroes and villains in film music

 

Drama

• Writing and performing a monologue
• Characterisation and slapstick comedy through rehearsal: Home Alone
• Understanding roles within the performing arts
• Devising based on a theme (friendship)
• Deepening character development skills
• Responding to and using a script
• Cross cutting and freeze frame techniques: Chicken (Theatre in education)
• Acting styles: naturalistic, verbatim and classical
• Developing acting and performance skills
• Musical Theatre