ENGLISH 

In the Summer Year 8 will study How to Train Your Dragon. In the first half of the term the focus will be on story telling and description. The second part of the term will be more focused on instruction writing,  fact finding and presentation of information. There will be opportunities for more formal speaking and listening  tasks. 

MATHS 

In the first half of the Summer term, the Year 8 students learn about shapes. This will include shape recognition for 2D and 3D shapes, identifying the features of both 2D and 3D shapes and for those that already have those skills secured, calculating area and volume of 3D shapes.

This leads well onto the second half of the term where the students will learn about area and perimeter. This topic gives the students the opportunity to further consolidate their learning on addition and multiplication / multi-step word problems for those that need extended learning. We are lucky enough to have double lessons once a week, which gives us a great opportunity to go out in the community and put what we have learnt in the classroom, into practice. End of year assessments will also take place.

SCIENCE 

Cycles of Life – In this theme we find out about how living things reproduce. We explore this in both humans and plants. At the end of the theme some aspects of genetics and inheritance will be considered. 

Communication – The first part of this theme is about sound and how our ears work. The second part looks at the way in which electricity has been used to help us communicate over long distances. 

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.

This term the students will have the opportunity to question why people’s attitudes have changed towards the environment. Greta Thunberg will be the role model this term sparking discussions and learning around deforestation. 

Following last term, the students will have a chance to question and answer how the industry changed our relationship with the environment.  

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 explore special stories, looking at some of the six main religions of the world and finding out about writings that are special to each one. They will also think about the reasons why certain stories are important for a particular group of people. There will be opportunities to find out about different types of writing – for instance, biography, poetry and letters – in these traditional stories and pupils will have the chance to use thinking skills strategies to help with their learning. 

ART 

In the Summer term our project is ‘Imaginary World’ and pupils will be looking at landscapes and the artistic movement Fauvism. They will look at a range of artists from John Constable and William Turner to Henri Matisse and David Hockney. We will also be studying a range of techniques and processes including photography, perspective, printing, drawing and painting. Pupils will get the opportunity to work outside and use the world around them as inspiration for their artwork.  

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 take a short course in West African Drumming, with visits from specialists and further work on polyrhythm in the classroom.

The Alfriston Singing Course continues this term as we work towards the summer show, improving singing technique, active listening and simple harmony work.

Towards the end of term students will have a short introduction to Garageband. They will learn to manipulate loops to form a piece demonstrating excellent structure and organisation. A focus on engagement with explanations, resilience in independent work, and risk taking is promoted.

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 

This term will be spent introducing new athletic skills, including the importance of warming-up, sprint and middle distance running, long jump, high jump and not forgetting the throwing events. Good hurdling technique will also be introduced. Resilience will be a focus point as pupils will be encouraged to gain personal best performances in a range of athletic events, before confidently competing in Alfriston School Sports Day. Hitting, fielding and bowling skills will be developed to make pupils confident team players and a better understanding of the rules for Cricket and Rounders. 

SOCIAL SKILLS 

Lessons will be delivered on a rotation of theory, discussion/circle time, and practical activities to allow for learning and practice. During the third term pupils will be exploring relationship skills such as what makes a good friend and peer pressure. Pupils will also develop their decision-making skills, including their ability to think of multiple solutions to a problem and the consequences which might follow. Finally, pupils will challenge their ability to make goals and persist in achieving them. 

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 

In Home Economics the pupils 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. 

Pupils will understand the importance of being active and looking after themselves. They will learn that a variety of food is needed in the diet because different foods contain different substances that are needed for health. They will learn that all food and drink provide nutrients and understand that energy is provided by the different nutrients groups. 

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 8 pupils will continue to develop and build their relationships with each other and the natural environment. Team work and co-operation continue to be the main focus. Alongside this the students will also be introduced to using tools such as knives, loppers and saws.