In year 8 students have 25 lessons a week, these are allotted as follows:
Number of lessons per subject
Below is a general overview of the topics students are taught throughout the year in each subject.
For a more in depth outline of each subject please click on the link for the subject page.
If you would like to speak to us about any aspect of our curriculum, please get in touch.
Art
Masks – investigate masks from different cultures. Design and make a Tiki mask.
Bees – explore a range of printing techniques including mono and relief printing.
Figures – learn the proportions of the human figure. Create paintings inspired by the work of pop artist Keith Haring.
Computing
Autumn term
- Digital literacy and E-Safety
- Microbits
Spring term
- Inkscape (Vector Images)
- HTML
Summer term
- Computational thinking
- Algorithms
- Flowcharts
- Text programming (Turtle)
Design and technology
Create
- Resistant materials – mood light project. CAD/CAM
- Engineering – build a bot using working drawings
- Food and nutrition – developing skills and processes
- Textiles – geometric patterns. Analysis, design and make
- CAD/ digital art understanding vector and bitmaps
Drama
In year 8, students follow a similar curriculum to that in year 7. The curriculum progresses and students are exposed to learning new skills and drama conventions through their application of drama skills.
Students explore real life topics as well as a variety of genre and styles of theatre for their intended audience.
English language and literature
Autumn term
- Frankenstein
Key concept – empathy
Spring term
- Sherlock Holmes short stories
Key concept – curiosity: crime and punishment
Summer term
- Nought and crosses
Key concept – identity: diversity
French
Where I live: Ma zone + Chez moi, chez toi
- Home
- Area
- Environment
- Free time
- Food and drink
- Festivals and celebrations
Holidays: 3, 2, 1… Partez! + Paris, je t’adore!
- Holidays and travel
- Tourism
- Free time
- Festivals and celebrations
- Daily life
- Food and drink
- Future plans
Hobbies: Mes passetemps + t’es branché
- Free time
- Sport
- Life online
Geography
- Political Europe
- Volcanoes
- Population
- Climate
- Rivers
- Health
- Ecosystems
German
School: Schule ist klasse
- School
- Free time
- Daily life
- Future plans
- Festivals and celebrations
Holidays : Gute Reise + Ich liebe Ferien !
- Area
- Food and drink
- Tourism
- Holidays and travel
- Future plans
- Home
- Free time
- Environment
Hobbies: Bist du ein Mediafan? + Bleib gesund
- Free time
- Sport
- Life online
- Food and drink
- Social issues
History
- The transatlantic slave trade
- The Industrial Revolution
- The development of empire
- The French Revolution
- Power and protest
Maths
- Number
- Algebra
- Geometry
- Stats and probability
- Ratio and proportion
Music
- Students will be able to express themselves with more confidence and self-critique their performances. Students will perform compositions and set pieces to an audience
- Expression techniques, compositional devices and lyric creation will be studied
- Students will be able to compose and perform in at least 3 musical genres including The Blues, Rock and Pop music using authentic techniques
- Students will use more structure musical language to explain and critique music both with performance and composition
- Students will be able to explain the musical genres with reference to how these genres were developed linking iconic practitioners to each genre
- Students will experience working as part of different groups throughout the year with a key focus on respecting each other’s contribution and being empowered to support each other using positive, musical role models as a guide. Using some musical language
- Students can recognise how music directly affects everyday life
- Students will be able to appreciate how music is used to stimulate, sooth and energise
- Students will investigate, compose and perform music from the Deep South of America.
Personal development
- Drugs and alcohol
Alcohol and drug misuse and pressures relating to drug use
- Community and careers
Equality of opportunity in careers and life choices, and different types and patterns of work
- Discrimination
Discrimination in all its forms, including: racism, religious discrimination, disability, discrimination, sexism, homophobia, biphobia and transphobia
- Emotional wellbeing
Mental health and emotional wellbeing, including body image and coping strategies
- Digital literacy
Online safety, digital literacy, media reliability, and gambling hooks
- Identity and relationships
Gender identity, sexual orientation, consent, ‘sexting’, and an introduction to contraception
Physical education
In year 8, students follow a similar curriculum to that in year 7. The curriculum progresses and students are exposed to learning new skills that are more advanced as well as re-capping skills from year 7. In addition, students start to implement strategy in to performance and work as part of a team to implement tactics.
Religion, philosophy and ethics
Science
Biology
- Plants as multicellular organisms
- The structure and functions of the human skeleton
- Interdependence in an ecosystem.
- Positive and negative human interactions with ecosystems
- Variation
Chemistry
- Periodic table
- Chemical reactions and equations
- Acids and alkalis
- Energy changes during a chemical reaction
- Reactivity of common metals
- Atmosphere
Physics
- Electricity
- Renewable and non-renewable resources
- Forces as both contact and non-contact interactions
- Density as the mass per unit volume of a substance
- Internal energy as the sum of the kinetic and potential energies of particles
