Year 8 Curriculum

All classes are mixed ability.

English - see full curriculum

Y8 Term 1	Animal Farm
Y8 Term 2	Speeches and Rhetoric
8 Term 3	Cultural Poetry
8 Term 4	Noughts and Crosses
8 Term 5	Noughts and Crosses / The Tempest
8 Term 6	The Tempest

Mathematics - see full curriculum

Y8 Term 1	Fractions, Algebra - Expression, Simplifying, Expanding, Factorising, Substitution, Solving equations and Problem solving - Sequences, FDP
Y8 Term 2	Percentages, Coordinates and graphs, Rounding and Estimation, Transformations - reflection, rotation, translation
Y8 Term 3	Angles, Data handling - mean, median, mode, range, mean from a table, estimated mean, pie charts - Using a calculator, Properties of number
Y8 Term 4	Pythagoras' Theorem, Calculations, Area, surface area, volume
Y8 Term 5	Inequalities, Ratio and proportion - including fractions, decimals, percentages and ratio problems
Y8 Term 6	Probability, Constructions

Science - see full curriculum

Y8 Terms 1-2	8A Biochemistry 8B Elements and Mixtures 8C Waves
Y8 Terms 3-4	8D Health and Fitness 8E Reactions and Sustainability 8F Electricity and Magnetism
Y8 Terms 5-6	8G Organisms and their Environment 8H Earth Science Revision for end of year assessments

Geography - see full curriculum

Y8 Term 1	Population, settlement, immigration, emigration, demographic, densely, sparsely, refugee, distribution, choropleth
Y8 Term 2	Resources, value, renewable, non renewable, sustainable, deficit, surplus, water stress, food security, farming, imapcts
Y8 Term 3	Continent, challenges, opportunities, HIV, Aids, Malaria, Distribution, tourism, economy, multiplier effect, exploitation
Y8 Terms 4-5	Rivers, landforms, physical, human, erosion, transportation, waterfall, v-shaped valley, meander, flooding, management, River structure, features, flooding, map work
Y8 Term 6	Landscapes, human activity, limestone, coral, erosion, stalagmite, stalactite, tourism, sustainable, management

History - see full curriculum

Y8 Term 1	Morebath Church
Y8 Term 2	Elizabeth Tudor
Y8 Term 3	Aztecs
Y8 Term 4	Civil War
Y8 Term 5	Industrial Revolution
Y8 Term 6	Empire and Slavery

Philosophy, Religion & Ethics - see full curriculum

Y8 Term 1	Humanism
Y8 Term 2	Belonging
Y8 Term 3	What does it mean to be an active member of society?
Y8 Terms 4-5	Pilgrimages
Y8 Term 6	Does religion promote equality?

Drama - see full curriculum

Y8 Term 1	Physical Theatre Students use non-naturalistic techniques to present stories imaginatively, exploring the conventions of physical theatre. They develop skills in narration, ensemble performance, soundscape, and chorus work to create dynamic and expressive pieces.
Y8 Term 2	Melodrama - History of Theatre Students explore the style and conventions of melodrama, developing exaggerated characters and clear storytelling through gesture, expression, and physicality. They learn to use stock characters, heightened emotion, and dramatic action to engage and entertain an audience
Y8 Term 3	Blood brothers Scripted work Students explore Blood Brothers as preparation for GCSE script work, developing skills in interpreting character and understanding context. They experiment with voice and movement to portray the same character at different ages, deepening their awareness of performance choices and storytelling.
Y8 Term 4	Improvisation Devising Students will develop confidence, creativity and teamwork through a range of improvisation activites and challenges. They will build engaging scenes without a script and respond spontaneously to dramatic situations while developing key performance skills.
Y8 Term 5	Romeo and Juliet - Speaking Shakespeare/Vocal skills Students support their Speaking & Listening learning by exploring Shakespeare’s language through performance. They develop confidence in speaking verse aloud, understanding meaning, rhythm, and emotion, and bringing Shakespeare’s words to life on stage.
Y8 Term 6	Gothic Horror / Design - Sound and Lighting Students explore the horror genre through Dracula and Frankenstein, focusing on creating atmosphere and tension. They experiment with sound effects, lighting, and performance techniques to build suspense and engage the audience.

Music - see full curriculum

Y8 Term 1	Reggae
Y8 Term 2	Waltz
Y8 Term 3	Making a band/Ukulele
Y8 Term 4	Form and Structure
Y8 Term 5	Film Music
Y8 Term 6	Musicals

Art - see full curriculum

Y8 Term 1	Portraits: Understanding what a portrait is, understanding and use of proportion in portraits, application of a variety of tones using pencil, application of a variety of tones using chalk and charcoal, understanding of continuous line, application of wire to make a drawing, accurate and imaginative use of photography to recreate a famous portrait painting.
Y8 Term 2	Day Of The Dead: An exploration into the Mexican Day of the Dead festival from Sugar skulls to Alebrijes. Pupils have a chance to explore natural and manmade patterns. Design their own responses to a range of creative briefs. Students explore Tonal pencil, coloured pencils & watercolour across this project.
Y8 Term 3	Cubist Ceramics: Understanding of cubist theory, understanding and use of proportion in portraits, imaginative application of line and colour to design a ceramic relief portrait, use of ceramic techniques (slab building, ceramic addition and ceramic subtraction), accurate application of paint.
Y8 Term 4	Stanley Spencer: Beginning with Artist research into the life and work of the artist Stanley Spencer. Students investigate tone through a range of media culminating in a detailed tonal painting inspired by one of Stanley Spencers famous self-portraits. (brush control, paint mixing, tonal gradients & paint techniques are revisited across this project)
Y8 Term 5	Architecture: Understanding what Architecture is. Looking at a wide range of building designs as well as artists that have been inspired by buildings. John Piper, Ian Murphy & the legendary architect Antoni Gaudi. One point perspective is explored in this project, imaginative use of shape and colour as well as the practical implementation of Art in the outside world.
Y8 Term 6	COMICS! Through this project pupils explore a wide range of cartoons and comics. Exploring character design, caricature, narrative story telling with the outcome of this project being their own Superhero comic design.

Physical Education - see full curriculum

Y8 Term 1	Rugby, Badminton, Multi-skills, Climbing/Gymnastics/Fitness, Hockey, Dance, Badminton
Y8 Term 2	Rugby, Badminton, Multi-skills, Climbing/Gymnastics/Fitness, Hockey, Dance, Badminton
Y8 Term 3	Football, Hockey, Climbing/Gymnastics/Fitness, Netball, Multi-skills
Y8 Term 4	Football, Hockey, Cross Country, Basketball/Handball/Invasion Games, Netball, Rugby
Y8 Term 5	Tennis/pickle ball, Athletics, Rounders, Cricket, Tag Rugby, Basketball/Handball/Invasion Games
Y8 Term 6	Tennis/pickle ball, Athletics, Rounders, Cricket, Tag Rugby, Basketball/Handball/Invasion Games

Spanish - see full curriculum

Y8 Term 1	Mis Vacaciones (My holidays)
Y8 Term 2	Todo sobre mi vida (All about my life)
Y8 Term 3	¡A comer! (Food and eating out)
Y8 Term 4	¿Qué hacemos? (Making plans to go out)
Y8 Terms 5-6	Operación verano (Planning a summer trip)

German - see full curriculum

Y8 Term 1	Ich liebe Ferien (Holidays)
Y8 Term 2	Bist du ein Medienfan? (Media)
Y8 Term 3	Bleib gesund (Food and Health)
Y8 Terms 4-5	Klassenreisen machen Spaß (School trips)
Y8 Term 6	Wir gehen aus (Going out)

French - see full curriculum

Y8 Term 1	La Rentrée (Back to school)
Y8 Term 2	En classe (In class)
Y8 Term 3	Mon temps libre (My free time)
Y8 Term 4	Ma vie de famille (Family life)
Y8 Terms 5-6	En ville (In town)

Computing - see full curriculum

Y8 Term 1	Advanced Word Processing
Y8 Term 2	Computer Systems
Y8 Term 3	Advance PowerPoint
Y8 Term 4	Advance Computer Systems
Y8 Term 5	Intro to Spreadsheet
Y8 Term 6	Intro to Programming

Design Technology - see full curriculum

Food & Nutrition	Eatwell Guide: theory of healthy eating Layered Pasta Salad: presentation and knife skills; healthy eating Spaghetti Bolognese: - cooking meat safely, simmering Fruit Crumble: rubbing in method; stewing Macaroni Cheese: roux sauce making and pasta cooking Flavoured Bread Plait: breadmaking, baking and shaping
Product Design	Pop up Cards. Task analysis; research/initial ideas; testing different mechanisms, final design; test model; final prototype.
Resistant Materials	Clocks: health and safety rules in the workshop; product analysis of existing clock designs; introduction to materials, e.g. MDF, acrylic and plywood; design 4-6 different ideas; annotation skills; modelling skills - final design; finish model and annotate what went well and what needs to be improved/developed; making changes to improve design; creating templates for all components; tool demonstration; cutting, shaping, polishing acrylic; assembling components.
Fashion & Textiles	Sweet Inspired Cushion Covers: Health and Safety, continue and extend understanding of using a sewing machine and how to apply different stitches & techniques e.g. Applique, working with fabric and practical skills e.g. tacking, making a hem and finishing.

PSHE - see full curriculum

Jigsaw RSE Information Leaflet

Year 8 - Overview