Multiplicative Reasoning – Discovery of the relationship between speed, distance and time and velocity/ time graphs

Geometrical Properties – Surface area and volumes of cuboids and cylinders

Algebraic Manipulation – Expanding and factorising, drawing straight line graphs, rearranging, solving by balancing.

Arithmetic Procedures – Factors & multiples, indices laws, ordering decimals.

Chaos and Disorder - Students start with a Dystopian unit, introducing students to characters who face real world challenges, enabling them to form opinions on important issues. This unit also provides opportunities for students to write their own creative pieces. We then study Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, a play bursting with mischief, magic and love. As well as developing their understanding of the conventions of a play, students will trace the complex plot and subplot, tracking the journeys of the various characters. This is followed by studying a range of War Poetry, building on students' understanding of form, structure and language as well as developing their comparative skills. The year finishes with George Orwell's seminal novel Animal Farm, an allegorical text which introduces students to writing for a distinct purpose. Alongside the study of the novel, students will be exposed to a selection of non-fiction texts to enable them to prepare their own piece of transactional writing which they will present to their peers strengthening their spoken language skills.Throughout the year students will continue to develop their active reading strategies, focusing on when to apply different strategies to different tasks. They will continue to develop their analytical writing skills, adding further steps to the deconstructed essay. They will also continue to develop an additional set of creative writing sentences to enhance their creative writing. 

Throughout the year students will strengthen their ability to use active reading strategies and form an  understanding of which strategies to use for different tasks.They will continue to develop their knowledge of the strands of an analytical essay and develop additional creative writing sentences. 

Students in Year 8 will complete an online reading assessment at the start of term two and this will be used to help track progress from Year 7, and also identify any students that may require further support. In addition students will complete assessments at the end of each unit of work. These assessments will be based around the following areas: reading, comprehension and development of the deconstructed essay; knowledge developed throughout the unit, including knowledge of tier 3 vocabulary; tier 2 vocabulary; grammar, punctuation and spelling and either a creative or transactional writing task, which includes the construction of the creative writing sentences taught. 

Plants - food production and reproduction, Micro-organisms - uses and dangers

Vital processes - breathing and respiration, Genetics - inheritance and the environment.

Periodic Table - patterns between elements, Metals - linking properties and uses

Rocks and the Earth - the structure of the Earth, Space - the universe around us

Reactivity - chemical reactions and collision theory

Describing Movement - speed, acceleration and direction, Light - properties of visible light

Electricity and Magnetism - resistance and the properties of magnets

A study of the Legal and Ethical Issues of computing include key laws focusing on The Data Protection Act, GDPR, Copyright and The Computer Misuse Act are learnt. Programming Constructs are taught using Python and is used to introduce text base programming. Web Design will teach students how the internet works and to create a professional website. Networks cover how computing devices are connected and how data travels in packets.

Students will improve their understanding of the discipline of history through a focus on sources and interpretations in Year 8. 

They will start their journey with an introduction to the concepts of Empire and Slavery. The students progress to an investigation of Industrialisation and it’s impact and in turn examine  the 20th century and it’s significance. This allows students to see how Britain's role in the world has changed and leads to the study of decolonisation in the final term.

In year 8 geographical themes continue, starting with a look at extreme environments. Students will then examine global population issues before covering the physical geography of places through the lens of adventure landscapes. Extreme weather, with a link to climate change follows, giving students an understanding of some of the global process that affect our weather and climate. Current trends such as global conflict will also be covered and the year concludes with a unit on the geography of sport, linking to global competitions such as the Olympics.

A mainly thematic approach, but with a strong use of religious teachings from different religions, aimed at exploring the religious influence in people’s responses to social, moral and philosophical issues. Religion and Human Rights (oppression, poverty, dictatorship, apartheid), Martin Luther King Junior, The problem of evil and suffering from a Buddhist perspective, festivals and pilgrimage group project.

Through a combination of Teaching Games Through Understand approach, develop strategies and tactics that can outwit an opponent in a range of sporting activities. Students are taught tactical knowledge combination of games (e.g rugby, football, netball), striking and fielding (e.g. rounders and cricket), swimming, net games (e.g badminton, table tennis);athletic based activities, artistic movements (e.g. gymnastics and dance) and outdoor adventure activities through drop everything and play weeks.

Introduction to different styles & genres; naturalism as well as non-naturalistic styles. Exploration; chorus, masks, physicality, audience impact, believability, unison and canon. Genres; melodrama, suspense & Commedia Dell 'Arte. Devised Study; drama with meaning. Research; improvisation, structuring, non-verbal communication, speech & movement, characterisation, stimuli, images & script. Introduction to different theatre practitioners.

Development of choreographic, performance, analytical and evaluative skills

Students study contemporary, musical theatre and street dance exploring features of the style and their associated action, space, dynamics and relationships. Dance is choreographed in a specific style including the use of dance relationships, enhancing students communication and problem solving skills. Performance skills are developed with a focus on alignment, extension and projection when performing before an audience as a group. 

This year develops cooking skills, weighing and measuring, and transferable skills such as organisation and timings when cooking. A range of cooking skills are used to produce dishes such as burgers, curry, jam tarts, pies and there are opportunities to choose ingredients independently.  Students carry out investigation into food groups and the effect on the human body and impact lifestyle. 

Food - Exploring the work of the artists Claus Oldenburg and Shelia Marshall students will develop their observational drawing skills and understanding of scale, pattern and colour in clay and paint to create a food inspired 3D final outcome.

Aboriginal Art - Exploring storytelling through early cave art and the use of pattern and symbols. Students will investigate the art work of Bronwyn Bancroft and develop designs using paint, clay and mixed media to create a Boomerang outcome. 

British Values night light, children’s themed bookend & desk tidy –students investigate, develop designs and create 3D models using craft knives, hot glue guns and corrugated card. Computer aided design and manufacturing is taught as well as how to build electronic circuits. Students work with soldering irons, PCB drills, the laser machine and other workshop machinery. Students journey through the design process and turn their ideas into reality. 

Students widen their musical experiences through further performing, listening and composition topics. The scheme of work is varied to include: Battle of the Bands, The Blues and EDM music.

The scheme links with the elements of music and builds the following skills: performing on various instruments, including guitar, keyboard and ukulele; development of compositional techniques using music technology and traditional methods; development of listening and appraising skills to build on their musical knowledge and understanding.

Students follow the NCELP (National Centre for Excellence for Language Pedagogy) course in French or Spanish, funded and researched by the DfE. Both courses are based on vocabulary, grammar and phonics, and provide research informed SOWs, aimed at the new GCSE and designed to improve the success of foreign language learning. It is NOT topic based but focuses on the same 4 key skills as always, plus phonics and grammar. 
At the end of Year 7, our current Year 8 students opted to continue with either French or Spanish. Their second year of NCELP learning is mapped as follows: