Gridlink and Gridlink International School

YEARS 7-9 (AGES 11-14)

(UK KEY STAGE 3 CURRICULUM STUDIES)

Standard courses follow the UK national curriculum, which describes programmes of study and attainment targets for pupils in British schools. These programmes can be varied for pupils with special educational needs, and are given as a guide to the possibilities for individually-tailored courses.

YEAR 8 (Age 12-13)

English

Pupils' abilities will be developed across the range of Speaking and Listening, Reading, and Writing.

Multimedia projects and programmes will be used to assist develop and assess listening and speaking skills. Books, poetry and other text information appropriate to the individual's level of development will be used during the course.

Pupils will be expected to produce both word-processed and hand-written work. They will be encouraged to recognise and use the vocabulary and grammar of standard English, and to understand the use of speech in differing situations. They will be taught to read with understanding and to analyse and respond to what they read. In writing they will be encouraged to develop both compositional and presentational skills, including use of IT.

Pupils will learn to respond to a range of texts with understanding of significant points and ideas, themes, events and characters. They will be encouraged to write in lively and thoughtful, varied and interesting ways.

Maths

Pupils will be taught mathematics drawn from all the sections of study - Using and Applying Mathematics, Number, Algebra, Shape, Space and Measures, and Handling data.

Their programme will be according to individual need as assessed at the start of the course, and based on both maths learning systems on the computer and off-computer "text book" work. Pupils will be introduced to the use of IT in their maths work.

Science

The programme of study will follow the National Curriculum across the subjects - Experimental and Investigative Science, Life Processes and Living Things, Materials and Their Properties, and Physical Processes. Pupils will be encouraged to use IT where appropriate in the presentation of their work.

The year's course will normally cover the following topics -

Populations - survival and competition
Using Forces - balanced forces, tension, bending and stretching, average speed
Elements - elements, compounds and mixtures, separation, matals/non-metals, reactions
Food and Digestion - digestion, teeth and decay
Earth and Space - earth, sun, moon, solar system
Staying Alive - respiration and circulation
Sight and Sound - refraction, the spectrumelectromagnetic waves, sound
Water - the water cycle, clouds, rain
Energy - burning fuels, renewable/non-renewable resources

Chemical Reactions - reactions, heating, rusting, speed of reaction
Electricity - electric charges, currents, logic
Plants at Work - energy, leaves and plant growth, flowering and seed production

It will be useful for pupils to obtain or have access to some simple equipment to assist with their understanding of practical work - eg kitchen scales, spring balance, battery/lamp/wires for circuits.

Materials used will include multimedia CD-Roms in addition to course texts and worksheets.

History

Pupils will study the following units -

1. The Making of the United Kingdom 1500-1750

Some of the major political, social and religious changes that shaped the history of Britain during this period. Monarchy, parliament and people, conflict and settlement.

2. The French Revolution and Napoleon

Land and people, the Revolution, Napoleon and the new Europe.

Alternatives to study unit 2 include -

Roman Empire
Crusades
Italian Renaissance
European expansion in the early modern period
Reformation and Counter-reformation in the sixteenth century
Impact of the Ottoman empire on Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries,
The reign of Peter the Great
German and Italian unification
Eurpean expansion in the nineteenth century.

Materials used will include multimedia CD-Roms in addition to course texts and worksheets.

Geography

In key stage 3 pupils will be given the opportunity to develop skills across the following areas - investigating themes and places, studies answering geographical questions, geographical patterns and physical processes, human interaction with the environment, global contexts.

The normal course of study in year 8 will include introductions to -

Weathering, rivers and coasts - including water pollution
Primary activities, including interaction with the environment, physical and human influences, farming.
Secondary activities - location of industry and environmental problems
Environmental concerns - wildlife, renewable resources, oil and electricity
Population - spread and migration
Developing countries, specifically Kenya and Egypt

Materials used will include multimedia CD-Roms in addition to course texts and worksheets.

Information Technology

Development of skills in Information Technology will occur naturally through work across the curriculum.

Where offered as a separate subject -

Pupils will be taught to relate the use of IT to the purposes for which information is to be processed and communicated, and to consider its advantages and drawbacks.

Pupils will be encouraged to use IT to generate, access and present information. They will be introduced to concepts of control and simulation.

Pupils will be introduced to the basic anatomy and functions of computer hardware.

Pupils will be taught to use a word processor, create simple spreadsheets and desktop publishing documents. They will be taught to access simple database information.

Modern Foreign Languages

Subjects offered are French, German and Spanish.

Pupils will build on their knowledge and skills in -

Communicating
Language skills
Language learning skills
Cultural awareness

by studying the following areas of experience -

Everyday activities
Personal and social life
The world around us

Materials used will include texts, multimedia IT applications and may include cassettes.

Courses in Art, Music and Design Technology will be tailored to individuals' needs and the distance learning situation, including availability of materials and equipment.