During the first topic of year 8, students will learn about the significance of the British Empire. They will consider how Britain came to be a dominate colonial power and the impacts that this power had on those that were the colonised. Students will then come to their own historical judgement on whether the British Empire was a good or bad thing? The focus of this unit is to build and develop upon the students use of interpretations.

During topic 4, students will identify the causes (both long and short term) for the outbreak of this conflict and come to a judgement on which factor was the greatest cause in order to formulate a historical opinion.  

But what was the greatest turning point of this conflict? Was it in 1940 during the Battle of Britain? Was it the German invasion of Russia in June 1941? or was it the allied invasion of D-Day in June 1944? Students will come to their own judgement as their assess the significance of each event. Students will deploy their skills by consolidating their learning through an assessment on which turning point they consider to be the G.R.E.A.T turning point in the conflict using the model to assess significance from Christine Counsell

In the final unit of year 8 history, students will look at the complexity of the Cold War world and how Britain's position within this period changed. Equally students will explore the making of modern Britain in the post war world, students will look into the creation of the Welfare State, the ideas behind the Beveridge Report, the creation of the NHS, and the concept of the "cradle-to-grave" safety net. Students will also learn about the historical patterns of migration (post-war to modern day), cultural integration, and the evolving identity of British society.

The project asks the students to design and develop a new concept for a board game. This might be an original concept by the student or relate to a book, TV series or film of their choice. The board game graphics and packaging are designed and modelled in photo-editing software as well as being presented as a 3D CAD model too.

The modelling demands that students apply a range of skills and processes related to cards and papers in making their final prototype. Additional game pieces like the counters and dice are also modelled and 3D printed.

In order to enable students to become more confident readers and in turn improve their comprehension skills in all subjects, Y8 students will start the year rapidly reading two challenging novels: Akala's The Dark Lady

-          To build on the knowledge learned in Y7 regarding dramatic methods used in the theatre.

-          To analyse how elements of stagecraft are used to convey the theme of romantic comedy.

-          To compare how the play would be received by both an Elizabethan and a contemporary audience.

-          To explore a complete Shakespeare’s play to start preparing for a key component of the English literature GSCE.

During the second topic of year 8 students will study the period of British history associated with the Transatlantic slave trade. They will explore its origins and its impacts not just on colonialism for Britain but equally upon the lives of those that were enslaved. This topic will develop the students evaluations of historical sources considering their value to a given historical enquiry.

Students will develop upon their previous learning on the causes of the Great War by learning about the necessity of the trench system constructed along the Western Front, whether the battle of the Somme (July 1916) was a victory or defeat and how close Germany was to winning the war in 1918? The enquiry focuses on students weighing up of evidence to come to a judgement on which events were greater in significance for Germany's defeat. This unit is also useful as a link in developing prior knowledge of the thematic historical environment study at KS4.

• Empathy
• Interpersonal skills
• Decision making
• Problem Solving
• Emotional Intelligence 

- compose chords, drum beats, bass lines and melodies

- programme their work into a digital audio workstation and edit and add effects where appropriate

- evaluate work and set weekly targets for improvement

These topics lead on to more mature concepts following the animation unit in year 7 and allows discussion about why images are changed. It also helps inform students before their option choices.

The coding and potential User interface design offer elements from both computer science and ICT, this is key at this point as student select their GCSE options at this time of year and we need to be able to recommend courses based on outcomes from the sections this topic covers. 

Application in other subjects will become more relevant and students are now able to analyze data and make judgement on how to present data.  They also develop real life skill and increase in confidence. 

Students are coming to the age where they use more social media platforms and start to be old enough for their own online accounts.  

with the coding environment and have an opportunity to build on the programming

concepts they used in previous units. They will combine creative and analytical

skills to solve a real-life problem whilst working in a group.

The unit combines skills learnt in year 7 and 8, to produce an interactive outcome not possible without prior knowledge. It develops computational thinking, abstraction, ordering, organisational, project, testing and evaluation skills

which are needed going into GCSE.

• Art (painting, drawing, sketching, etc)

• Poetry

• Photography

• Dance

• Music

• Drama

• Sculpture

• Art (painting, drawing, sketching, etc)

• Poetry

• Photography

• Dance

• Music

• Drama

• Sculpture

• Christian funerals

• Islam views

• Hindu beliefs

• Non religious views

Students will continue to develop their reading skills using the online learning platform using their school email and password. Y8s will be set the target of achieving at least 300 Sparx Reader Points each week.

The project title “The Overlooked” attempts to bring attention to the everyday objects we pass without a second look, creating an interesting and aesthetic image.

Students will create an ongoing digital sketchbook that will show ICT skills, selective, evaluative and creative processes which also links to illustrating some formal elements and compositional considerations that make up images. This knowledge can help in discussing and analysing images of photographers, artists and designers that may inspire students in the future to create even more successful images.

Students will also enhance and manipulate images using Photoshop (the industry standard software for professional photographic enhancement and manipulation). From which, the outcomes can be printed out initially at school. The images can also be reproduced outside of school at an appropriate vender, creating even larger, better-quality prints - if students wish to do so - by downloading them from their Onedrive. These images may be a great addition to a home.

This topic provides the fundamental learning for the challenges of natural hazards unit at GCSE.

The topic links well with other topics which students have studied since starting KS3 and brings together elements of both physical and human geography.

This topic allows students to learn about a particular region and to also bring together other topics which they have studied across Year 7 and 8 so far. This unit also brings in more of a GIS focus too.