Year 8 Subject Information

Subject	Art & Design
Main Topics Covered During Year 8	Perspective Project – Covers drawing skills and the Art Elements; shape, form, line, tone, texture, and composition leading to an observational drawing test. Analysis of the elements that make a good drawing; building on confidence and drawing skills taught in Year 7. Students will be taught to draw confidently using one/two-point perspective. Students will study a range of architecture styles and learn to refine their drawings of shapes/forms and use tone to help create their buildings. Developing an understanding of the art language/artist analysis and evaluating own and work. Students will also learn to refine their watercolour techniques when working on cityscapes/landscapes, building on previous colour theory work from year 7. Students will study a range of architecture styles and learn to refine their drawings of shapes/forms and use tone to help create their buildings. Developing an understanding of the art language/artist analysis and evaluating own and work of others is integral to this project. Students will also design and print tessellated designs based on M.C Escher’s work. Links to mathematics explored. 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 formal set home learning differentiated 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 perspective etc…). Formal home learning tasks will focus on drawing and Artist analysis. 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 3.05 pm till 4.05 pm. 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., Cubism videos for Year 8. 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, collage, colour mixing. • To make progress based on peer assessment and next step feedback provided by your 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, environments, 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 8 Subject Information

Subject	Computer Science
Main Topics Covered During Year 8	Building a website using HTML Programming in Python
How Are Students Grouped?	Students are taught in mixed ability classes.
Home Learning Plans	Work set on Classcharts when necessary.
Main Knowledge, Understanding and Skills to Develop	Identify key HTML structures Be able to code simple pages using HTML Understand web concepts Analyse code and spot errors Be able to code simple Python programs

Year 8 Subject Information

Subject	Design and Technology – Cooking and Nutrition
Main Topics Covered During Year 8	Nutrition and Health – understand the function and sources of macronutrients: protein, fats and carbohydrates. Food Commodities – investigate basic food materials and ingredients, know how to uses them in recipes; potatoes and vegetables, fish, cereals. Food Science – investigate the effects of cooking methods eg denaturation and coagulation of proteins raising agents. Food Provenance – understand the importance of avoiding food waste. Food labelling information. Food Safety – understand the importance of food safety and hygiene, plan their own practical session using a time-plan. Food Choice – evaluate the sensory qualities through food tasting and testing. Skills focus – students will cook a range of healthy recipes including some of the following; pasta salad, frittata, fish fingers, samosas, cheesecake, biscuits, savoury rice, fruity cupcakes, meat suace, bread and some recipes 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. Students will need to bring ingredients for practical lessons.
Main Knowledge, Understanding and Skills to Develop	Have a broad understanding of the main topics covered. Know how to develop recipes to meet specific criteria. Carry out relevant research and use this to design a range of original products. Nutritional analysis. Be able to work safely and independently and develop a range of practical skills.

Year 8 Subject Information

Subject	Design and Technology – Product Design, Textiles, Graphics, Resistant Materials
Main Topics Covered During Year 8	In Year 8 in DT students will participate in 2 design/make or modelling project. One will be a focussed practical task focussing on skills, whilst the other will be a design and making focussed task. This allows students to learn and work with a variety of materials embedding their knowledge they gained in Year 7 on fabrics, card, boards, timbers, metals and plastics and developing knowledge in systems and control. Projects will usually take a themed approach as this is the expectation now at GCSE. On average, projects will be 12 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, revision for tests and literacy and numeracy tasks linked to the subject.
Main Knowledge, Understanding and Skills to Develop	Pupils will build on materials and skills developed in Year 7. Then proceed to gain knowledge in areas of systems and control, developing and testing. Pupils will develop their evaluating and analysing skills more in depth.

Year 8 Subject Information

Subject	English
Main Topics Covered During Year 8	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 8 course focuses on the following texts and themes: • To Kill a Mockingbird – Prejudice and Discrimination; • The Taming of the Shrew – Identity; • Poetry Anthology (ranging from 1900’s to Modern-day) – Prejudice, Identity and Discrimination. 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 on their KS2 reading results and their performance in Y7. 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 8 Subject Information

Subject	Geography
Main Topics Covered During Year 8	China Tropical Rainforests Uganda Tectonics and Rocks Alaska Coasts
How Are Students Grouped?	Students are taught in mixed ability classes.
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	Our Year 8 Geography students will further practice their map skills and atlas skills. They will continue to add to their geographical vocabulary of specialist terms for each unit. They will in addition be increasingly aware of the choices that we face in each country and each part of the world about how we use our resources. Students will also begin to develop the skills that enables them to assess a situation and try to make a judgement, using whatever information they have been given.

Year 8 Subject Information

Subject	History
Main Topics Covered During Year 8	Britain 1500 – 1750 (Tudors and Stuarts). Topics include Henry VII, Henry VIII and the Break with Rome, Edward VI and Mary I and Religious changes, Elizabeth’s Reign (Mary, Queen of Scots; the Armada), James I, Charles I and the Civil War, Oliver Cromwell, the Glorious Revolution. Britain 1750 – 1900 Topics include Population, the Agricultural Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, the Transport Revolution, Victorian life, political changes. The British Empire and India. Topics include the Mughal Empire, the east India Company, the events of 1857, the Raj, Gandhi and Indian independence, India and Pakistan since 1947.
How Are Students Grouped?	Classes are currently being taught in form groups.
Home Learning Plans	We set Home Learning tasks every half term eg on Tudor and Stuart Lifestyle, The Voyages of Discovery, Richard Arkwright, The Jacobites, Political Leaders 1750-1900, Monarchs 1750-1900, Modern India. 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 8 Subject Information

Subject	Learn to Learn
Main Topics Covered During Year 8	The Year 8 Learn to Learn programme supplements and supports the progress students made in Year 7 in the subject. The Year 8 Learn to Learn curriculum is built around twelve lessons and will work in rotation with other subjects. Just as in 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 8 Subject Information

Subject	Maths
Main Topics Covered During Year 8	We will study Number, Ratio, Algebra, Geometry, Data and Probability.
How Are Students Grouped?	Students are set based upon KS2 and in-house 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 begin to work with ratios and standard form and learn the index laws. In algebra we will begin to manipulate and simplify expressions and formulae, solve more complex equations and delve further into sequences. We will learn about the properties of shape, including angle reasoning and areas of trapeziums and circles. We will look at the way tables can be used to help determine probabilities and how data can be presented and analysed.

Year 8 Subject Information

Subject	MFL – French
Main Topics Covered During Year 8	Free time including TV and new technologies Fashion and opinions on fashion. Food and drink (recipes, restaurant dialogues). French speaking world festivals, holidays and planning future events. Musicians from the French speaking world
How Are Students Grouped?	Students are grouped according to data received via summative and formative assessments on the four skill areas. Students are regularly assessed by the teacher and via departmental monitoring to ensure that they are in the correct set. 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. Other homework activities could look like the following; • Sentence manipulation, changing the tense, register, person, adjectives and gender. • Differentiated translation activities. • Reading activity asking students to gist read, read for main points of detail to show good comprehension skills and use the model as a source of creating their own writing. • Written task criteria –in 40 -100 words write a paragraph about a particular area of study. Criteria given to students to ensure they know the success ingredients. • Listening homework from various websites including Kerboodle, Active Learn, Bitesize etc… Answers checked in class
Main Knowledge, Understanding and Skills to Develop	• Pronunciation patterns. • Dictionary skills and using it for the correct use of the word. • Detailing what is happening in photos, cartoons and other images. • Identifying their own targets and strengths through regular peer and self-assessment opportunities. • Improved understanding of the literacy terms in language and employment of these in discussion. • Grammatical Accuracy (using different tenses). • Identify points of view. • Listening to longer passages for main points of detail including opinions, reasons, justifications and tenses. • Reading longer passages for main points of detail and being able to manipulate and replace the language. • Recall and retrieval of vocabulary and strategies for learning answers. • Develop writing and speaking using a range of tenses, connectives, opinions, reasons and justifications.

Year 8 Subject Information

Subject	MFL – Spanish
Main Topics Covered During Year 8	Free time including TV and new technologies Fashion and opinions on fashion. Food and drink (recipes, restaurant dialogues). Spanish speaking world festivals, holidays and planning future events. Musicians from the Spanish speaking world
How Are Students Grouped?	Students are grouped according to data received via summative and formative assessments on the four skill areas. Students are regularly assessed by the teacher and via departmental monitoring to ensure that they are in the correct set. 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. Other homework activities could look like the following; • Sentence manipulation, changing the tense, register, person, adjectives and gender. • Differentiated translation activities. • Reading activity asking students to gist read, read for main points of detail to show good comprehension skills and use the model as a source of creating their own writing. • Written task criteria –in 40 -100 words write a paragraph about a particular area of study. Criteria given to students to ensure they know the success ingredients. • Listening homework from various websites including Kerboodle, Active Learn, Bitesize etc… Answers checked in class
Main Knowledge, Understanding and Skills to Develop	• Pronunciation patterns. • Dictionary skills and using it for the correct use of the word. • Detailing what is happening in photos, cartoons and other images. • Identifying their own targets and strengths through regular peer and self-assessment opportunities. • Improved understanding of the literacy terms in language and employment of these in discussion. • Grammatical Accuracy (using different tenses). • Identify points of view. • Listening to longer passages for main points of detail including opinions, reasons, justifications and tenses. • Reading longer passages for main points of detail and being able to manipulate and replace the language. • Recall and retrieval of vocabulary and strategies for learning answers. • Develop writing and speaking using a range of tenses, connectives, opinions, reasons and justifications.

Year 8 Subject Information

Subject	Music
Main Topics Covered During Year 8	Through a variety of practical and theoretical activities students learn about music notation, performance, composition and implement skills in singing, keyboard, DAW, Ukulele and Drumming. Topics include: The Blues, 4 chord songs, music for adverts, body percussion, band skills.
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 Theory – notation, pitch, rhythm, keys, chords, and rhythms Keyboard Skills. Composition Skills. Performance Skills. Context of the Music. Key Musical Language.

Year 8 Subject Information

Subject	Physical Education
Main Topics Covered During Year 8	Students will take part in a variety of the following activities: • Athletics • Badminton • Basketball • Cricket • Dance • Fitness • Football • Gymnastics • Hockey • Netball • Pickleball • Rounders • Rugby • Short Tennis • Swimming • Tennis • Trampolining The activities will be dependent on availability of facilities. Topics include: The Blues, 4 chord songs, music for adverts, body percussion, band skills.
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	Aims: • Develop previous skills, become more competent and confident in their techniques, and apply these across a range of different sports and physical activities. • Understand what makes a performance effective and how to apply these principles to their own and others’ work. • Continue to develop confidence and interest. Get involved in exercise, sports and activities outside of school. • Be physically active for sustained periods of time. • Understand and apply the long-term health benefits of physical activity. • Further develop knowledge and understanding of the activities covered, through work in lessons, extra-curricular activities, watching/reading. • Develop ability to lead small groups. Expectations To bring full/correct Trinity kit to every lesson. To try my best in all activities. Remember Healthy Body = Healthy Mind. Attitude and Effort = Achievement.

Year 8 Subject Information

Subject	Religious Studies
Main Topics Covered During Year 8	1. The Journey of Life: Pilgrimage & Prayer. 2. Well Being; Relationships and the Wider Community. 3. Archbishop of York Youth Trust Young Leaders Award. The Award is accessed through a combination of taught modules Faith, Hope and Action. Faith – Faith and Leadership, great leaders and the role of charities in society. Hope – Sessions exploring hope, community and the positive difference young people can make in their local area. Students examine how we can build community, bring unity and support the most vulnerable in our society, before beginning to plan and prepare for their Action Projects. Action – Students have further time to plan and prepare for their Action Projects and to carry out their Action Projects. There is also a final reflection and evaluation session. The Award is internally assessed, based upon pupil’s involvement in lessons and community activities. A selection of pupil’s portfolios and evidence booklets will be sent to the Trust. Community activities – Hope and Action: • Personal Volunteering Work. • In School Charity and Community Service. • Wider Community Service. The activities should lead to ‘change’ within the community. At the end of the Award, after completion of the Action Projects, each student must complete a Reflection and Evidence Booklet. They will appraise how they have developed, in terms of Leadership and Character skills, and reflect on their preparation, implementation and impact of each Action Project, providing additional evidence that showcases what they did. This Booklet will be used to assess what level of award each student has achieved on completion, based on the Leadership and Character skills they have shown across the Award. The three categories are developing, accomplished, or exemplary leader. Students will be awarded with a certificate – indicating their status as either Developing/Accomplished or Exemplary Leaders, and a badge. This will take place in the final week of term in a Celebration Assembly where certificates and badges will be issued by Directors from the Archbishop Award Team.
How Are Students Grouped?	Year 8 are currently taught in Form groups
Home Learning Plans	Most of the home learning is based around their personal challenges. There will be additional research for the Archbishops Award as and when required. The Award requires that all student are involved in all three community activities – learning and volunteering outside the classroom. 1 Personal Volunteering Challenges: They will need to think of something which they can do on their own or in small groups to help serve the community. This could be a sponsored walk/run/swim/climb, running an activity about serving others in their scouts/guides or youth group, collecting old newspaper for the local animal refuge centre etc…Three challenges are to be completed here and evidence must be collected and recorded. 2 School Community Project: For example; organising a field litter pick, painting a tired area of school, organising charity cake stalls, helping clean up or serve in the canteen. 3 Group Community Project: This could be serving in a local hospice, redecorating a local park, creating a community garden, putting on a performance for elderly residents, running sports clubs for the local primary school. This will be arranged by School and will take place in July. All students will be out of school for a morning and the timetable will be suspended.
Main Knowledge, Understanding and Skills to Develop	The Archbishop of York Youth Trust Young Leaders Award should enable students to see the connections between faith and action. It should also empower them to ‘be the change you want to see’ in school, communities and the world. It will empower them to make a difference in their local community, while helping them to develop key leadership skills.

Year 8 Subject Information

Subject	Science
Main Topics Covered During Year 8	We will use the first half of the year to complete the teaching of KS3 including the following topics: Biology – Respiration and photosynthesis. Evolution and Inheritance Chemistry – Climate and Earth resources. Types of Reactions and Chemical Energy Physics – Potential Difference and Resistance and Magnetism. GCSE content will start in February/March and will cover the topics of: Biology: Communicable disease Chemistry: Atmosphere and Using Resources Physics: Particle model and Energy
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. Application of knowledge. Experimental technique. Analysis of data. Maths skills.