Spring

Curriculum Newsletter

ENGLISH

What are we doing this term? Pupils will be studying their first full novel of the year, ‘The Wolves of Willoughby Chase’, in the lead up to half term. This text contains incredibly rich vocabulary, and the aim of the unit is to help pupils to increase their vocabulary and effectively prepare them for writing essays to test their reading skills - at Key Stage 3 and 4 reading is assessed in a very different way to Key stage 2, and this unit provides a bridge between the Key Stages. After half term pupils will study Poetry, with a focus on poetry from a wide range of cultures. Pupils will read poems from the following poets: John Agard, Benjamin Zephaniah, Tatamkhulu Afrika, Niyi Osundare, Grace Nichols, Imtiaz Dharker, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Sujata Bhatt, Tom Leonard and Moniza Alvi. The focus of this unit is to explore a variety of different per-spectives and attitudes to culture, with the pupils developing their analytical writing skills in their final essay.

What can you do to support your child? Talk to them about words. Ask them about the new words that they are encountering in English lessons and in their tutor time vocabulary sessions. Encourage them to use them in conversations that you have with them.

Wider reading: Read up on the author's life and find out more about her other novels here: http://www.joanaiken.com/

On the Key Stage 3 bitesize website, you can read up on different poetic forms and structures - follow this link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zmbj382 .

Test your knowledge of a range of poetic terminology here: https://www.purposegames.com/game/poetry-terms-quiz-quiz

Some of the poems your child will study used to be on the old GCSE syllabus - use the following link to read up on some of them:

SCIENCE

Pupils are continuing their important Key Stage 3 study of science. The goal of Year 7 and 8 science is to give pupils the chance to have as many hands-on experiences of science as possible, whilst developing their scientific skills and knowledge. Our aim is to have pupils who are actively engaged in learning science and enjoying the experiences that they are having in the labs.

This term pupils will study the topics of forces and motion, chemical reactions, and food and digestion. Pupils under-standing of the knowledge learned here will be assessed via an examination shortly before the Easter holidays.

In addition to our regular curriculum work we are always keen to enrich pupils understanding of science through visitors and trips. In our last term we had a visit from BAE systems and all pupils in Year 8 had the chance to see some cutting-edge technology used by engineers.

Reminders/Key dates:

Easter holiday 6 April - 17 April Summer term 20 April - 17 July Ski Trip 1 Feb - 8 Feb

Class Photos 11 February

Parents’ Evening 3 March

School Production 4 March - 7 March

MATHS

Pupils will be studying Fractions and Probability in this term – leading up to half term, pupils will be applying their knowledge of fraction notations to describe parts of a shape, compare fractions, use equivalent fractions, add / subtract fractions and calculate with fractions. Pupils will also explore the relevance of converting a percentage to a fraction, decimal and vice-versa. This will serve as a strong background in the second half of the term where they will be introduced to probability; this will focus on pupils learning about how to use words to

YEAR 7

https://revisionworld.com/a2-level-level-revision/english-literature-gcse-level/poetry/poems-other-cultures-traditions

http://www.joanaiken.com/https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zmbj382https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zmbj382https://www.purposegames.com/game/poetry-terms-quiz-quizhttps://www.purposegames.com/game/poetry-terms-quiz-quizhttps://www.purposegames.com/game/poetry-terms-quiz-quizhttps://revisionworld.com/a2-level-level-revision/english-literature-gcse-level/poetry/poems-other-cultures-traditionshttps://revisionworld.com/a2-level-level-revision/english-literature-gcse-level/poetry/poems-other-cultures-traditionshttps://revisionworld.com/a2-level-level-revision/english-literature-gcse-level/poetry/poems-other-cultures-traditions

Spring

PE

This term Year 7 girls will be developing their performance skills in gymnastics after they have started with Outdoor Adventure Activities. They will finish the term by learning the game of lacrosse.

Year 7 boys start the year by developing their own performance in dodgeball, football and basketball.

HISTORY

In history this term, we will begin our final overview topic on the middle-ages focusing on the political events affecting the British Isles and internationally through the Crusades. Our pupils will also study the development, and use, of castles and their role in medieval society.

ART

Year 7 pupils are currently looking at the theme of ‘Natural Forms’. They are starting this topic by improving their proficiency in tonal drawing by looking at the work of Christopher Marley and his photographs of insects. Pupils will be using watercolours and colouring pencils for their insect work. They will then move on to study the work of printmaker Angie Lewin and experiment with different printing techniques.

MUSIC

Pupils in Year 7 are studying ‘Form and Structure’ and this unit begins by establishing what is ‘Form and Structure’ in music and why it is important. Through performing, composing, improvising and listening and appraising, pupils then explore four different musical structures: Question and Answer Phrases, Binary Form, Ternary Form and Rondo Form.

Pupils begin with an exploration into Question and Answer phrases as one of the simplest types of musical structures, relating this to Call and Response singing and how musical Question and Answer phrases balance with each other to form a complete structure. Binary and Ternary Forms are then explored with an emphasis on how musical contrast is achieved between ‘A’ and ‘B’ sections revising the Elements of Music. Rondo Form is explored as a type of recurring musical structure with pupils adding pentatonic improvisations as ‘Episodes’ between a whole-class ‘A’ section.

After half-term pupils will be studying ‘Minimalism.’ This topic develops pupils’ understanding of polyrhythmic music and contemporary minimalist styles exploring how different polyrhythmic textures and musical conventions are used by minimalist composers including the use of repetitive and changing rhythmic and melodic motifs in different styles of minimalist music. The main focus of this unit is rhythm: cyclic rhythm, polyrhythm and moving in/out of phase and also looks at structure including cyclic structure and motivic transformation. Pupils explore a range of minimalist music including ‘Clapping Music’, ‘Tubular Bells’ and ‘Oxygene’ (Part IV).

Further learning/ways to support this learning:

- Attending a concert (school or other) that includes music in different forms and structures – Binary,

Ternary and Rondo forms. - Visiting art galleries (real or virtual/online) to explore

how artists have used form and structure within visual art.

- Visiting an art gallery e.g. Tate Modern to investigate examples of minimalist art.

- Watch performances of minimalist music on the internet e.g. YouTube®.

GEOGRAPHY

Our first topic this term is ‘What’s Beneath Our Feet?’ – our study of rocks and soils. We will be learning about types of rock and how they are linked in the rock cycle, together with the landscapes they form and why. This will be followed with soil and its link with rock. Having learned about contour lines, what they tell us and how, we will apply all of our learning in a decision making exercise based on a real farm in Wales. We shall see if pupils and the farmer agree about how best to use the land!

Following this we start our topic ‘Water Power’ with a focus on rivers, their processes and how these shape our landscapes. This topic will end with an in-depth study of the causes and effects of flooding together with human response to this.

Throughout the term, pupils will learn and use a variety of geographical skills such as use of different types of map, interpretation of contour lines, how to explain a pattern or process and decision making based on a range of prior knowledge.

Homework quizzes will be set regularly on ‘ShowMyHomework.’ These quizzes are designed to help pupils remember information – and for longer. Each quiz needs to be completed at least twice and this is even more effective if attempts are spaced across a week.

Year 7

describe probabilities, listing and counting outcomes. In addition, they will be taught how to record data, estimate probability based on experimental data and make conclusions based on the results of an experiment.

We would like to encourage pupils to continue completing their homework, to reinforce their learning in class.

Spring

Pupils have begun studying the playtext 'The Terrible Fate of Humpty Dumpty'. They will be rehearsing and performing key extracts from the play, as well as identifying the key themes and context of the piece, including bullying. The end of the term will give pupils the opportunity to stage an extended extract from the play with full production values: costume, lighting and sound.

Please encourage your child to book a rehearsal space at lunchtime or after school in the lead up to any as-sessed performances. Watch theatre online at home via the internet, or visit the theatre as a family - The Place Theatre in Bedford offers affordable prices for fantastic high-quality performances on our doorstep!

FOOD TECHNOLOGY

Pupils will be enjoying double lessons in smaller groups this term. Pupils will be cooking in every lesson so please make sure they are checking ‘Show My Home-work’ every fortnight to access the list of the ingredients.

Pupils will learn how to use raw meat safely and make dishes like spaghetti bolognaise, chicken goujons and curry. We will also practise baking methods and learn how to make bread, cakes and some delicious desserts.

Please help us by ensuring pupils are organised with their ingredients and as always, please let us know if you require support with this.

MFL

What are we doing this term? Pupils will begin by describing the school day, using adverbs of time and the subject pronoun ‘we’ and will then move on to talking about food and meals. Leading up to half term, there will be an end of module test which will assess learning on the different aspects of school life covered in the second half of the Autumn Term and in more recent weeks. After the half term break, pupils will talk about how they spend their free time: they will use regular verbs to describe how they use computers and mobile phones, and the different parts of the verbs ‘play’ and ‘do’ to discuss sports and other activities. They will also look at how verbs change according to subject pronouns, in particular, ‘he’, ‘she’ and ‘they’. Towards the end of term pupils will find out about some of the most popular extreme sports in French-speaking countries around the world.

Miss Vandewyer and Miss Girard continue to make arrangements for this year’s Year 7 trip to Château Beaumont in Northern France, which will take place in July. We are already looking forward to fencing, climbing, visiting a goat’s cheese farm and walking through the streets of the beautiful Mont-Saint-Michel.

PSHCE

Personal, Social, Health, Citizenship and Economic.

January is traditionally our ‘Bright Futures’ month with a focus on careers and aspirations. Year 7 pupils have started to learn about different employability skills e.g. interpersonal skills and teamwork. This is a good time for Year 7 pupils to start thinking about different career ideas and we would encourage you to talk to your child about this at home. Year 7 will be sent a CV template via email and will be expected to start their own CV which they can update each year.

RE

This half term pupils will be studying ‘What do people believe about God and the Universe?’ This is a philosophical topic that will examine critically both religious and scientific explanations for the origins of the universe and life. Pupils will study literal and liberal interpretations of religious stories and consider whether

DT

Unit 1: - Communication Skills Sketching techniques, pupils will learn a range of different drawing techniques.

Unit 1: - Investigating Investigating Skills, pupils will learn how to analyse a product and look at improvements they can make to the product.

Unit 3: - Modelling Pupils will demonstrate their ideas by modelling their design ideas and making a prototype.

Unit: - CAD and CAM Pupils in Year 7 and 8 will be using a range of different computer aided design packages to develop their design ideas.

Year 7

DRAMA someone can both believe in God and accept scientific fact. After we have completed this topic pupils will move on to examine Christianity, specifically focusing on why Christians believe that Jesus was God incarnate. To support your child with their learning it is important that they are aware of current affairs e.g. by watching the news and discussing any ethical or philosophical stories.

Spring

What can you do to support your child? Helping your child does not mean having to know French. Similarly to the advice in English, encourage them to become 'word detectives'; making links with English and other languages that they know will help them to guess what words mean. Ask your child to teach you something in French; having a skill that their parent does not have is a major boost for pupils and can be very motivating. The most effective way to learn vocabulary is by practising, little and often. Some pupils prefer to use a vocabulary sheet, whilst others prefer to use free language learning websites such as Duolinguo and Memrise. Castle Newnham also subscribes to the Linguascope website which is useful for more general learning and practice; pupils wanting to access this site at home should ask a member of the Modern Languages team for the username and password.

Message from the Vice Principal

I hope you have enjoyed the spring term newsletter.

Following on from assessments and reports at the end of last term, Year 7 are now fully into embracing their different subjects with different teachers.

We always welcome feedback from parents about how useful you find these newsletters as well as suggestions for articles/information you might like included.

Year 7