Year 7 Subject Information
| Subject | Art & Design |
| Main Topics Covered During Year 7 | The Art Elements – “Tools of the Trade”- Organic Forms Project – Covers drawing and mixed media skills and the Art Elements; shape, form, line, tone, texture as well as composition leading to an observational drawing assessment. Analysis of the elements that make a good drawing. The art language/artist analysis/evaluating own, and work of others is covered in this project. Students will look at a range of Artists that relate to both their understanding of the Art Elements and to consider the deeper meanings in artwork. We will be introducing Think aloud reading tasks based on Sally Matthews, Chris Ofili, Henri Matisse, Jason Scarpace. Students will look at the work of Alma Thomas and learn to be confident with the mixing of colours and the colour wheel. The art language/artist analysis/evaluating own, and work of others is also covered in this project. Summer Eco Project- This will be a group-based work where students will design and create eco-friendly sea life sculptures following research into Artists who raise awareness of our role as humans to not waste and consider the environment, we live in. This also links with our school values and the Christian symbol of the fish- God’s fish. Artists will include Penelope Davis, David Edgar, and projects such as the Bristol Wales. Throughout the year we do offer a few ‘Attendance matters’ messy & creative lessons that explore teamwork and further experimentation with media and ideas regarding poster campaigns. This work is exhibited around the school, and we have prizes for the best outcomes. |
How Are Students Grouped? |
Students are taught in mixed ability classes. |
| Home Learning Plans |
One set differentiated Home Learning task will be set once every half term with small collecting homework tasks given as required. (Collecting Home Learning tasks may include collecting materials, finding relevant artists/adverts/learning about the colour wheel etc…). Formal Home learning tasks will focus on drawing, Artist analysis and imaginative tasks. KS3 Students are encouraged to join us after school. Details of which staff/room are available will be displayed weekly on each Art classroom door. These sessions run between 3.05pm till 4.05pm. This is an opportunity for students to complete Home Learning or extend class work/catch up on missed work/learning or access 1:1 advice. Resources will often be shared via group email/class charts and be added to the Art Department twitter (@ArtTrinityCA1) e.g., colour theory for Year 7. We do also at times share good examples of students work on our twitter account and share work via the displays in class/school. |
| Main Knowledge, Understanding and Skills to Develop | • Understanding the art elements: Line, Tone, Texture, Pattern, Colour, Shape and Form. • To analyse artists’ use of media, art elements, ideas, and intentions. • To write about their own work and that of others analysing and evaluating key words. • To improve and extend a range of practical skills including drawing, painting, printmaking, 3D modelling, collage, colour mixing. • To make progress based on peer assessment & next step feedback provided by their Art teacher. • Students are taught to use materials and equipment safely. • To learn the key words, appropriate for our subject. Students will refer to our Department Literacy Mat which will be referred to in student’s sketchbooks. • We promote spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development in our subject by exploring different Artists and Cultures interpretations of life experiences and events. • Students explore how Art works reflect different moral attitudes/beliefs and explore their own feelings and responses to those artworks. We develop team skills and respect for the learning environment, resources, and peers and teaching staff alike. • Students work together to evaluate and review each other’s work; helping each other to succeed. We encourage students to explore and contrast different beliefs and ways of living in Britain and abroad. Students develop aesthetic and critical awareness of artwork from around the world. We also encourage students to enter competitions both locally, nationally, and internationally. |
Year 7 Subject Information
| Subject | Computer Science |
| Main Topics Covered During Year 7 |
E-Safety and Introduction to Trinity Systems Making the most of Office Game Development in Scratch Image Manipulation in Fireworks Spreadsheet Modelling Python Programming Introduction |
How Are Students Grouped? |
Students are taught in mixed ability classes. |
| Home Learning Plans |
Available on Classcharts when necessary. |
| Main Knowledge, Understanding and Skills to Develop | Be able to safely use the school network and the internet. Be aware of the risks involved with using social media. Be able to produce algorithms and create basic computer programs using different programming languages. Identify the components of a computer and understand how they work together. Be able to model scenarios. |
Year 7 Subject Information
| Subject | Design and Technology – Cooking and Nutrition |
| Main Topics Covered During Year 7 |
Food Safety – understand the importance of food safety and hygiene. Food Choice – evaluate the sensory qualities through food tasting and testing. Food Commodities – investigate basic food materials and ingredients, know how to uses them in recipes eg fruit Food Provenance – understand where food comes from, know how it is processed/reared and transported. Evaluate the impact of this on the environment. Nutrition and Health – understand the importance of the Eatwell Guide and the function of nutrients in maintaining health Food Science – investigate the functions of ingredients pastry and cookies Skills focus – students will cook a range of healthy recipes including some of the following; drinks, salads, top noodles, rock buns, fruit crumble, pizza, soup, fruit muffins and some of their own choice There will be regular topic tests followed by an end of year assessment. to track student progress. |
How Are Students Grouped? |
Students are taught in mixed ability classes. |
| Home Learning Plans |
There will be a series of home learning tasks that will support ongoing project work during the year. This work will form part of students’ assessment and will be used to determine the progress that they are making. Students will be required to bring ingredients for their practical lessons. |
| Main Knowledge, Understanding and Skills to Develop | Know how to work safely and hygienically and be able to organise a work area Develop basic practical skills -weighing and measuring, preparation of ingredients such as cutting, chopping, rubbing in etc. Use of the oven/hob. Know how to adapt and develop recipes. Use sensory evaluation to analyse food products. Carry out research and use this to develop creative/challenging practical ideas. Trial and evaluate ideas through peer and self-assessment. Have a good understanding of the importance of a ‘balanced diet’, ‘Eat Well Plate’ and nutrients found in food. |
Year 7 Subject Information
| Subject | Design and Technology – Product Design/Resistant materials, Graphics and Textiles |
| Main Topics Covered During Year 7 |
In Year 7 DT students will participate in design/make or modelling project per term. This allows students to learn and work with a variety of materials starting with traditional fabrics, card, boards, wood, metals and plastics and learn basic decorative and finishing skills. Projects will usually take a themed approach as this is the expectation now at GCSE. Topics include Nature and the environment, robotics, packaging, storage and such like. On average projects will be 9 weeks long and each project will end with a formal end of unit test. |
How Are Students Grouped? |
Students are taught in mixed ability classes. |
| Home Learning Plans |
There will be a series of home learning tasks that will support ongoing project work during the year. This work will form part of students’ assessment and will be used to determine the progress that they are making. A student version of 2D Design can be downloaded for free from the school website (students should ask their teacher about this) this is the CAD/CAM software which is used by all year groups. www.technologystudent.com is a useful and student friendly site which is interactive. Homework can also include attending workshops to complete practical tasks where needed. |
| Main Knowledge, Understanding and Skills to Develop | Pupils will be expected to be able to analyse a design and explain advantages and disadvantages. Produce design ideas which are relevant to a design brief and sketch in a variety of views. Write out the sequence of carrying out a practical activity. Know how to use machines safely. Recognise tools and explain how to use them. Be able to identify materials. Identify hazards and explain how to use machines and equipment safely. Be prepared to work independently and within a team. |
Year 7 Subject Information
| Subject | English |
| Main Topics Covered During Year 7 |
Across Key Stage Three each year group will cover a Novel, Play and Poetry Anthology. Within each unit of work analysis of fiction, non-fiction and writing skills will be interleaved linked by a theme. The Year 7 course focuses on the following texts and themes: • Macbeth and The Crucible – Witchcraft; Each week students will also complete a 300 word writing challenge, based on a variety of non-fiction and fiction tasks, in order to develop literacy and creative writing skills. |
How Are Students Grouped? |
Students will be organised into mixed ability groups based data from Primary Schools. Students are tracked against the KS3 threshold skills, echoing those required at KS4, and moved between groups, if necessary. |
| Home Learning Plans |
There are unit specific homework tasks which are set by the class teacher on an individual basis, but these reflect the department’s development of ‘flipped learning’. |
| Main Knowledge, Understanding and Skills to Develop | English Language Reading and Writing Threshold Skills: C01 Structure and Coherence: to develop an understanding that texts are put together with intent. C02 Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar: to use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures for clarity, purpose and effect, with an accurate spelling and punctuation. C03 Awareness of Impact: to develop an understanding that writing is shaped by the priorities of a writer and the needs of a reader, it will include the teaching of genre, audience and purpose. C04 Understanding Context: to explore and develop an understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they were written. C05 Using Evidence: to develop and shape a critical response by interpreting the thoughts of the writer directly. C06 Analysing Technique: to develop an understanding that writers use a variety of linguistic and structural techniques to achieve their ends. |
Year 7 Subject Information
| Subject | Geography |
| Main Topics Covered During Year 7 |
All our Year 7 students will study the following topics: • Pollution • Atlas and OS Map Skills • Settlements • India • Rivers and Glaciation • Zombie Apocalypse Map Skills |
How Are Students Grouped? |
Students have one Geography lesson per week. Initially they are taught in form groups. |
| Home Learning Plans |
KS3 students will be assigned home learning projects – Maximum 1 per term – (smaller individual homework as appropriate – e.g., revision for end of topic assessments, completion of work, etc.) Projects will bring together learning from the lessons and topics that the students have been studying as well as encouraging students to carry out their own research. Students will be given presentation options to match with their own approach to learning style. |
| Main Knowledge, Understanding and Skills to Develop | Year 7 students will start the year by investigating the challenges that the world faces, and these include the enhanced greenhouse effect, plastic pollution, and oil spills. The rest of the year includes a combination of skills lessons which help to develop Atlas and OS Map skills and lessons that involve studying the country of India, investigating how rivers work and how they can be linked to glaciation and students will then have to save the world from a zombie apocalypse, using the skills that they gained earlier in the year. |
Year 7 Subject Information
| Subject | History |
| Main Topics Covered During Year 7 |
The Middle Ages 1066-1500: • The Battle of Hastings and the Norman Conquest • The Crusades • Medieval Kings (especially King John) • Life in the Village and Town Life • The Black Death • The Peasants’ Revolt |
How Are Students Grouped? |
Students are currently being taught as Form groups. |
| Home Learning Plans |
Term 1 A project on Medieval Castles and a second one on the Medieval Church. Term 2 A project on English Kings in the Middle Ages. Term 3 A project on Wales/Ireland/Scotland in the Middle Ages. Revision for tests and assessments will be set as appropriate. |
| Main Knowledge, Understanding and Skills to Develop | Communication Skills – Describing and explaining in paragraphs. Using sources – Comprehension, comparison and evaluation of reliability. Causation – Why events happen in history. Change – What changes took place and who was affected. Interpretations – Understanding there are different views about history and how these views come about. |
Year 7 Subject Information
| Subject | Learn to Learn |
| Main Topics Covered During Year 7 |
All the units in this subject involve investigation work. Sometimes this involves students using skills of inference and deduction to solve a mystery, or problem-solving skills used on a logistical problem. Learn to Learn also has schemes of learning that develop numeracy skills. This frequently involves group work or paired work. Most of the units also involve presentations, so the skills involved in presenting and listening to presentations are also taught. Students will also be shown ways to help transfer information from their short-term memory to their long-term memory. |
How Are Students Grouped? |
Students are taught in mixed ability groups. |
| Home Learning Plans |
Students will be asked from time to time to work on their memory: either to devise a strategy to learn some information, or to practise learning the information itself. In addition, teachers may set students preparation work for in-class presentations. Students may also be asked to conduct research into a topic, in order to present it to others, or to test their memory skills. |
| Main Knowledge, Understanding and Skills to Develop | The Learn to Learn curriculum teaches skills that are needed in every other secondary subject. We look at the skills needed in English and Maths to solve problems and to develop students critical thinking in those areas. The subject also teaches ways of developing group-working skills and how best to collaborate with others – whilst also reinforcing the school’s focus on SLANT and helping to develop independent learners. |
Year 7 Subject Information
| Subject | Mathematics |
| Main Topics Covered During Year 7 |
We will study Number, Algebra, Geometry and Probability. |
How Are Students Grouped? |
Students are set based upon KS2 and in-house baseline data. There are nine groups. |
| Home Learning Plans |
Maths homework is set regularly by the class teacher. Pupils should expect to receive one homework assignment per week. This will be set as a written exercise or an online task. The main online resource on which homework will be set is Sparx Maths. www.sparxmaths.uk |
| Main Knowledge, Understanding and Skills to Develop | Students will practice written and mental calculations throughout the year involving decimals, fractions and percentages. We will also look at the role of place value, powers and roots, sequences, directed numbers and primes. In algebra we will study its notation, the use of variables and solving equations in context. We will develop geometric reasoning through constructing and measuring. In probability we will learn about sets. |
Year 7 Subject Information
| Subject | MFL – French and Spanish |
| Main Topics Covered During Year 7 |
The areas of experience covered in Year 7 are: |
How Are Students Grouped? |
Groups are set in form groups. Students have a reading and listening progress check before half term and a writing and speaking assessment in the second half term. Language skills are continually assessed throughout the year. Their performance in the progress checks allows for students to understand their focus for improvement and allows the teacher to continue to differentiate the work accordingly. |
| Home Learning Plans |
Students are regularly set homework which is based around learning the key vocabulary, grammar and linguistic skill linked to the topic area they are studying. There is also access to the language support materials which allows parents and students to clarify any language they do not understand. |
| Main Knowledge, Understanding and Skills to Develop | The four main areas of Modern Language study apply to all year groups: • Listening • Reading and Translation into English • Speaking • Writing and Translation into the target language Students develop their use of the language moving from word level to complex sentences which include reference to a past or future tense. Students are encouraged to give personal responses and opinions in their work. They will have access to a variety of structures which they can effectively use in their work. Listening and reading skills develop through identifying main points/detail recognising tense change and using the context to understand unfamiliar language. They will be encouraged to look at photos and detail what they see, a much needed skill at GCSE level. Students will be using the basic and more complex grammar structures to manipulate the language on a regular basis. They will also have access to authentic materials and cultural references throughout the year incorporating film, music, literature, art as well as other cultural references. |
Year 7 Subject Information
| Subject | Music |
| Main Topics Covered During Year 7 |
Through a variety of practical and theoretical activities students learn about music notation, performance, composition and aquire skills in singing, keyboard, DAW, Ukulele and Drumming. Topics include: Music with Marches (4 beats in a bar), Waltzes (Music with 3 beats in a bar), The Baroque era, The Classical era, The Romantic era, Music for Heroes. |
How Are Students Grouped? |
Students are currently taught in mixed ability form groups. |
| Home Learning Plans |
Students receive one homework project each half term and this research work is in preparation for the following half-term’s topic. Students will show their research through the appraising task and the appraising task will be either teacher, peer or self-assessed with G and I feedback. |
| Main Knowledge, Understanding and Skills to Develop | Music Notation – Pitches and Rhythm Keyboard Skills. Composition Skills. Performance Skills. Context of the Music. Key Musical Language. |
Year 7 Subject Information
| Subject | Physical Education |
| Main Topics Covered During Year 7 |
Students will take part in a variety of the following activities: |
How Are Students Grouped? |
Mixed ability for approximately six weeks enabling us to make a baseline assessment. Students are then put into ability groups, these groups are then reviewed. |
| Home Learning Plans |
Homework is not set BUT we do expect students to: • Develop skills/fitness outside of lessons where possible. • Take up opportunities to join extra-curricular clubs. • Pack PE kit the night before the lesson. |
| Main Knowledge, Understanding and Skills to Develop | Aims: Acquire and develop new and previously learned skills, become more competent, confident in their techniques, and apply these across different sports and physical activities. Understand what makes a performance effective and how to apply these principles to their own and others’ work. Develop the confidence and interest to get involved in exercise, sports and activities out of school and in later life. Be physically active for sustained periods of time. Understand and apply the long term health benefits of physical activity. Develop knowledge and understanding of the activities covered, through work in lessons, extracurricular activities, watching/reading. Develop the ability to work with others in group situations, giving help and advice. Expectations To bring full/correct Trinity kit for all lessons. To give your best in all activities. Remember Healthy Body = Healthy Mind. Attitude and Effort = Achievement. |
Year 7 Subject Information
| Subject | Religious Studies |
| Main Topics Covered During Year 7 |
Topics covered: |
How Are Students Grouped? |
Students are currently being taught as Form groups. |
| Home Learning Plans |
Students have a mixture of Home Learning set once a fortnight. There will be a range of tasks including research tasks, extended pieces of writing, extension pieces to consolidate learning. |
| Main Knowledge, Understanding and Skills to Develop | The main aim of RS is to develop pupils’ religious literacy. They will have the ability to hold balanced and well-informed conversations about religious and non-religious worldviews. They are taught to see these views through theological, philosophical, and human science lenses. Theology – this is about believing. It looks at where beliefs have come from, how they have changed over time, how they are applied differently in different contexts and how they relate to each other. Philosophy – this is about thinking. It is about finding out how and whether things make sense. It deals with questions of morality and ethics. It takes seriously questions about reality, knowledge, and existence. Human Sciences – this is about living. It explores the diverse ways in which people practise their beliefs. It engages with the impact of beliefs on individuals, communities, and societies. Pupils’ will have opportunities to explore and interpret texts, stories, traditions and concepts through film, artefacts, textbooks and independent and/or class research. |
Year 7 Subject Information
| Subject | Science |
| Main Topics Covered During Year 7 |
Students will start with an introduction to working scientifically. This will include how to work safely as well as an introduction to practical skills. They will then study: Biology – movement, cells, interdependence, plant reproduction, variation and human reproduction. Chemistry – particle model, separating mixtures, structure of the Earth and the universe. Physics – speed, gravity, energy costs, energy transfer, sound and light. |
How Are Students Grouped? |
Students are taught in mixed ability groups. |
| Home Learning Plans |
Students are set regular homework – this will usually be questions using the educake website (students are provided an individual username for this site), but might also be learning, research, reading or a written homework designed to consolidate or extend learning in class. |
| Main Knowledge, Understanding and Skills to Develop |
Knowledge and understanding of key facts from topics listed above. |