Year 8 Curriculum
Art
Pupils build on their skills through the following projects:
- Aboriginal Art: focusing on line, pattern and colour mixing
- Observational Drawing: looking at food packaging and concentrating on lettering and shading techniques
- Portraits: learning about proportion and tonal shading
BITE
The BITE Faculty has incorporated units that will further enhance and develop students’ skills in Year 8.
This works towards achieving our goal of providing our students with skills needed to help improve their life chances. This programme of study, at Year 8, will incorporate Computing, ICT and Enterprise elements. This scheme of work is relevant to the modern student, as well as being challenging.
During Year 8, our students will be provided with a broad range of topics that are fun and engaging for all our students.
Our new curriculum will also incorporate aspects of these five key areas below:-
- Digital Literacy
- Skills
- Technology in the World
- Safety, Security and the Law
- Technical Understanding
Topics covered include cryptography, networks, cyber-security, spreadsheets and databases.
This will provide our learners with a greater insight of how technology has and can develop or have an impact on their lives. There will also be exciting opportunities to learn how to effectively use ICT applications, necessary for students in the world of work or in industry. By the end of Year 8 students will have progressed to having the skills necessary to follow an ICT or computing pathway.
Design and Technology
There are two main areas which are focused on
Resistant Materials | Electronic Lantern Project
Developing from Year 7 the lantern project consists of designing and making an electronic lantern with professional packaging. This uses a range of skills using scalpels, soldering, wood work joints also designing nets and developing brand identities.
Resistant Materials | Automata Project
Continuing in year 8 with the Automata project. This combines mechanisms and woodwork, the students can choose an area which they are interested in to design and make a moving toy.
Drama
Drama is a growing part of the school curriculum at Hamstead Hall with lessons delivered to Year 8 and 9 once every 2 weeks.
These lessons are designed to develop skills in working effectively with others as well as teaching performance and communication skills. Drama is taught and assessed in three disciplines, creating, performing and evaluating. This is to gain a full range of drama and life skills and build a foundation for future study at GCSE.
Assessments will be conducted on a term by term basis with development, performance and evaluation as key indicators of progress. An end of year report will take into account progress made throughout the year in all practical lessons. The units cover a wide range of themes and drama skills such as using script, exploring themes and issues, devising, role play, character development, confidence building and team work.
English
Topics covered this year include Non-fiction media, poetry, writing, shakespeare, non-fiction adventure and the reading of a novel.
Geography
Topics covered include ecosystems, weather, climate, rivers and settlements.
History
Autumn Term
Pupils study the significance of political and religious power through a study of the Tudors and the Reformation.
Spring Term
Pupils study challenges to monarchy through a comparison of Elizabeth I and Akbar of India and the English Civil War.
Summer Term
Pupils study the history of West Africa before European Colonisation.
Mathematics
The Mathematics Department will be covering the following areas of the new curriculum during Year 8 to ensure that all our students meet their expected progress.
Autumn 1
- Numbers and the number system
- Calculating
Autumn 2
- Visualising and constructing
- Understanding risk I
- Algebraic proficiency: tinkering
Spring 1
- Algebraic proficiency: tinkering (continued)
- Exploring fractions, decimals and percentages
- Proportional reasoning
- Pattern sniffing
Spring 2
- Investigating angles
- Calculating fractions, decimals and percentages
- Solving equations and inequalities
Summer 1
- Calculating space
- Algebraic proficiency: visualising
- Understanding risk II
Summer 2
- Presentation of data
- Measuring data
Modern Foreign Languages
In Year 8, we build on the skills acquired in Year 7.
As we progress, we add new tenses (past and future), allowing students to express present, past and future events. We do extensive work on sentence building and giving and justifying opinions. Our Schemes of Work reflect the demands of the GCSE course.
The assessments also mirror the type of tasks they will have to carry out when sitting their examination. Translation and the integration of authentic literary texts in French now form an integral part of what pupils learn.
Main topics, grammatical and syntactical features studied in Year 8:
Daily routine | this includes the study of reflexive verbs
- School life
- Irregular verbs
- Modal verbs
- Prepositions à and de
- Near future
- Perfect tense (with ‘avoir’ and ‘être’) of regular and irregular verbs
- Partitive articles
- Infinitive structures
Music
Autumn Term
Blues Music | Development of chord playing and understanding of structure through learning the 12 bar blues
Rock n ’Roll | development of improvisation skills using the Blues scale
Spring Term
Soul Music | understanding ostinato bass lines and development of musical arrangement
Reggae | understanding of rhythmic devices such as syncopation
Summer Term
Introduction to Guitar | pupils will learn the basics of how to play the Guitar. They will learn the basic chords and how to play a simple riff.
Introduction to Song writing | development of structure, arrangement and numerous starting points such as chords, bass line, drums, lyrics and melody.
Physical Education
Range and Content
These are the areas within PE that the students will be developing throughout the year through a range of different activities. They will also be developing their leadership skills throughout all lessons.
ARA
Accurate Replication of Skills
OO
Outwitting an Opponent
ESE
Exercising Safely and Effectively
PML
Performing at Maximum Level
ISP
Identifying and Solving Problems
ECICE
Exploring and Communicating Ideas, Concepts, Emotions
At the start of the year students are placed into ability groups in Physical Education.
They have two PE lessons per week and the activities they follow are rotated half termly throughout the whole year. Students are assessed for every activity using the EdExcel
- GCSE Physical Education criteria.
- Badminton
- Football
- Rugby
- Netball
- Basketball
- Trampolining
- Hockey
- Table Tennis
- Health Related Exercise
- Dance
- Rock Climbing
- Handball
- Outdoor Adventurous Activities
- Cricket
- Rounders
- Softball Athletics
- Religious Education
Autumn TermIslam
Pilgimage
Spring
Chinese New Year
Buddhism
Summer
Hinduism
Rites of Passage
Science
The Year 8 Science curriculum at Hamstead Hall Academy continues with challenging KS3 Science curriculum that engages with learners of all abilities.
The curriculum is based on ‘Smart Science’ but adapted to suit the needs of Hamstead Hall learners.
Through it we aim to:- Provide memorable learning experiences that challenge students of all abilities. Develop transferable personal learning and thinking skills that develop students as learners.
Topics covered include acids and alkalis, energy, waves, photosynthesis, reactions and reproduction.
Please download the PDF below to view information on the year 8 curriculum in greater detail.