ENGLISH
Year 7 will spend the first half term exploring their creative writing in response to ‘The Arrival’ by Shaun Tan which explores contemporary issues of people moving place .
After May half term, Year 7 will look at persuasive writing. They will explore a range of posters and adverts and consider how they show meaning, creating some adverts of their own. Opportunities to use their speaking and listening skills will come in the form of informal presentations and drama opportunities associated with advertising.
MATHS
In the Summer term, our focus is on word problems and the basic operations within the Mathematics curriculum. Again, we do this in a variety of ways including games, online learning and practical activities. With the weather usually better, it is a great time to get out of the classroom and go exploring!
It is important for us to assess our students fully at the end of the year so we can support them in the following academic year.
SCIENCE
Electricity on the move – In this theme we spend time making many electrical circuits that do many different things. To understand what is happening in each case we measure current and find out about resistance.
Balance in Life – In this theme we find out more about living things and what they need to survive. We spend some time exploring photosynthesis and the importance of this for all life on Earth by exploring food chains and food webs.
ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
Environmental Studies incorporates work from History, Geography and practical outdoor learning. This outdoor learning provides the students with opportunities to learn and enhance their horticultural and animal care skills.
In History we will explore why people move around the world, focusing on migration, the relationship between climate change and children’s rights within these.
This term we will focus on how where we live affects the use of natural resources, focusing on socio-economic impacts. The students will research companies such as Water Aid.
RELIGION AND ETHICS (R AND E)
The Religion and Ethics balanced curriculum is designed to help pupils begin to explore and engage with the six main religions from a spiritual and ethical perspective to stimulate their interest and understanding. The subject naturally is geared towards discussion, debate and a variety of opinions when exploring a range of spiritual, moral, social and cultural issues. Pupils are encouraged to appreciate and respect the British values of tolerance and freedom of speech when exploring their own beliefs and that of others.
Pupils will consider symbols that are important to some people in their worship and beliefs and examine how worshippers express themselves. There will be examples of art, music, dance and clothing that can be shared and investigated from a variety of world religions. They will also find out how some people put their beliefs into action and they will have the chance to use thinking skills strategies to help with their learning.
ART
In the Summer term pupils will be exploring the theme of ‘Food’ through Art. They will look at how artists have shown what we eat over the years. Part of the project will focus on Pop Art and the work of artists Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Wayne Thiebaud. Pupils will get the chance to create their own artwork in response to the work of others. They will explore drawing, photography, printing and sculpture.
DESIGN CRAFTS
This term students will be working across the Design Crafts department to create a collaborative body of work for an exhibition that will be accessible by the wider community. Working to a set theme and brief each year group will work on an aspect of the theme creating a range of 2D and 3D works. Students will have the opportunity to engage with a wide range of materials, equipment and bespoke skills workshops to reflect their ability levels. Each group will create their own designs but will work together across the year groups to co-create the wider exhibition. This work will be exhibited to the wider community and students will participate in curating, installing, presenting and stewarding their exhibition to the community.
MUSIC
The music curriculum at Alfriston has been carefully designed to be therapeutic, and to promote confidence and a growth mindset for all our girls. We aim to be absolutely inclusive and to meet our girls whatever their level or need. Our Learning for Living skills of Engagement, Independence, Risk Taking, Resilience and Social Interaction are promoted in every lesson, and in some of our topics, Organisation will be an important focus.
Students will continue to compose at their own level. Chrome lab is introduced and basic skills taught, in order that the girls can compose riffs and melodies over specific chord sequences. We aim to foster pride in the work and even those who do not enjoy live performing will have excellent opportunities to share work, and begin to build resilience and risk taking skills.
The Alfriston Singing Course continues this term as we work towards the summer show, improving singing technique, active listening and simple harmony work.
DANCE
Dance through the movies – This term, pupils will learn a variety of different dance styles such as street and contemporary. Taking inspiration from the movies, pupils will recreate what they see on screen and choreography their own routines.
PE
Basic Athletic skills will be introduced, including running technique, starts, finish, throwing an object and standing jumps, which will provide pupils with the confidence to participate within Alfriston School Sports Day. Health and Safety athletics rules will be taught. Striking and Fielding games which will be fun, competitive and introduce basic ball skills requiring co-ordination and team work will also be taught. An overnight residential, involving two days of activities will take place where pupils will experience a variety of outdoor activities and sleep away from home.
SOCIAL SKILLS
Pupils will be split into smaller groups and receive a rotation of Social Skills, Occupational Therapy, and Speech and Language Therapy. For the Social Skills Classes pupils will talk through what they have covered in Occupational Therapy and Speech and Language Therapy and it will be reinforced in a circle time format. Following this, pupils will play games or do team building exercises in order to build friendships with the other pupils, learn/practise social and emotional skills, and become accustomed to the style of Social Skills lessons ready for year 8 and 9 when the classes are much larger.
For the Occupational Therapy Classes pupils will cover the use of the homework diary, for example what is included in the homework diary and how it can be used, what needs to go in a homework diary and completing homework diary scenarios. Remaining sessions will be used to rehearse previous sessions and either repeat, if needed, or explore at a higher level.
For the Speech and Language Therapy Classes pupils will explore expressing of opinions, which includes being passive, assertive and aggressive, identifying pros and cons, and expressing your ideas coherently to others. The final topic is friendship skills where pupils will explore asking social questions, what makes a good friend and starting conversations with friends.
PSHE
PSHE at all key stages aims to promote positive well-being and mental health enabling pupils to take responsibility for their learning and future life choices.
Pupils will have opportunities to understand and reflect on their experiences and understand how they are developing personally, emotionally and socially, encompassing many of the spiritual, moral, social, cultural and health issues in their lives and that of others in wider society. This will enable them to be have a deeper understanding of themselves, others and the world they live in while building meaningful relationships. It will also enable pupils to develop leadership of themselves and others and develop personal and transferable skills related to the Learning for Living skills such as confidence and resilience.
There will be opportunities for pupils to find out what the school is like, how it functions as well as its rules. They will then think about friendships and relationships and begin to consider their future challenges and choices.
Summer 1: Pupils will examine Healthy Lifestyles which incorporates mental and physical well-being. They will look at Healthy Eating, Taking Care of physical health, Mental Wellbeing, Body Image, Medicinal drugs and vaccinations, Drugs, alcohol and tobacco.
Summer 2: Pupils will explore the world we live in and focus on diversity. Pupils will discuss and examine differences between people and understanding cultural differences. Pupils will also explore rules and laws, taking care of the environment, belonging to a community and studying different occupations.
HOME ECONOMICS
The pupils working in Home Economics will focus on basic cooking and food preparation skills. Pupils will learn how to work safely in the kitchen as well as developing, an understanding of what Home Economics is and learn the important hygiene and healthy eating rules. They will learn about basic nutrition and the importance of a balanced diet. Pupils will cook a wide range of dishes from a variety of simple recipes. Pupils will gain independence in the kitchen and begin to discuss the skills they are learning.
Year 7 pupils will focus on the importance of a healthy diet. They will learn that it is made up from a variety and balance of different foods and drinks, as depicted in the ‘Eatwell’ Guide. They will be able to identify and classify unfamiliar dishes according to the 5 groups depicted in the Eatwell guide.
FOREST SCHOOL
The pupils working in Forest School will be outside in the woodland area having a hands-on opportunity to learn about the natural environment through directed tasks and exploration. They will be guided to use their own initiative to solve problems and cooperate with others. The students will be given a large amount of freedom in their learning.
In Year 7 there will be a large focus on organising ourselves and being prepared for each lesson as well as becoming familiar with the rules and ready for learning. The main theme throughout the lessons will be building relationships and team work. Some of the activities throughout the year will include den building, fire lighting and exploration.