ENGLISH
Year 9 will be exploring the theme of conflict in the form of poetry. They will look at poetry from, and about, World War 1 and 2. In the second part of the term they will look at Texts Across Time, where they will contrast two stories from different eras, looking at the similarities of themes and characterisation. Formal assessments in reading will take place. Library sessions will include one to one reading and group reading sessions where appropriate.
MATHS
The Spring term in Year 9 sees the students learning about shopping and budgeting, jobs and wages, and Functional Skills word problems, where if necessary the staff will continue to develop basic operation and number skills. For those students that are secure with this, the teacher will differentiate the work to appropriately challenge with skills such as fractions, factors and prime numbers.
We also aim to do a whole school Mathematics project where we hold a community event to raise money for a selected charity. Online independent work continues with Mangahigh. 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.
SCIENCE
Metals and Non-metals – Pupils will first find out a little more about the Periodic table. Once we have established that elements can be grouped as metals and non-metals we will then go on to look at the way in which metals react. Pupils will consider the reactions of metals with oxygen, water and acid and will use their findings to construct a reactivity series.
Looking into Space – Pupils will find out about the movement of the Earth, the Moon and the planets. This knowledge will then be used to explain the periods of time that we know as days, months, seasons and years. Finally, pupils will find out more about the objects that make up our Solar System.
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 in History, we will be learning about the damage that has been done to the environment in the past and how we can be change makers in the present day to ensure the best futures for all.
In Geography this half term, we will learn to understand the importance of our environment in 2021 and how we used it. We will also explore the pushback on fossil fuels and how to protect the forests.
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 explore Islam and will be looking at the Muslim religion in detail and working with one of the mosques in High Wycombe. Pupils will examine what being a Muslim is in Britain today and in other cultures. They will be able to think about the reasons behind some of the beliefs and practices and explore pattern and shape in this religious context. Pupils will have the opportunity to work independently during this topic.
ART
In the Spring term the project is ‘Change Your Style’. Pupils will be looking at how art and design has changed over the years; they will look at the work of traditional designers such as William Morris and some modern designers such as Lotta Jansdotter and Cath Kidston. Pupils will experiment with a range of textiles art including felting, silk painting, tie dye and several printing techniques.
DESIGN CRAFTS
During the spring term Design Crafts students will have the opportunity to take part in a cross curricular project with the Dance and Drama department. After an initial research phase, students will co-create a range of Props, costumes and scenery that they will wear for an in-school performance.
Year 9 students will explore costume and prop design, creating visual presentations of their research and designs they will collaborate with the drama and dance departments to create wearable pieces for the performance.
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 learn more challenging keyboard pieces to improve skills, dexterity, pair work skills, resilience in individual practice, and risk taking in performance. Lessons and methods are differentiated so that students work at their own level. Some students will begin to play with both hands.
We then move to further Improvisation and Composition. Students will learn about the Blues via Intentional Listening and will learn to improvise over the 12 bar structure using Keyboards and Garageband.
DANCE
Dance from around the world – This term, pupils will explore different dance styles from around the world such as Gumboot dancing and Bollywood. Building on the key words learnt last term: Action, Space, Dynamics and Relationship, to create and choreography their own routines to perform.
PE
Invasion games will be used to encourage tactical awareness, positional play and team formations. Time will be also be given to Health Related Fitness work, which will include HITT and SAQ activities. Pupils’ basic gymnastics skills will be further developed using large and small apparatus incorporating the theme ‘flight’ as appropriate risk taking and resilience are encouraged.
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 second term pupils will be developing their self-management skills. Pupils will develop a greater understanding for their thoughts, feelings and behaviours and how to manage these in different scenarios and with a variety of coping skills. Pupils will then begin to develop their social awareness by challenging their social communication skills and exploring and accepting others’ perspectives.
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.
Spring 1: Pupils will explore relationships and examine the importance of emotions, Identifying and expressing feelings, Self-esteem and unkind comments, Managing strong feelings, Romantic feelings and sexual attraction.
Spring 2: Pupils will focus on the topic of Changing and Growing. There will be a strong focus on changes at puberty, Self-care, Different types of relationships Healthy and Unhealthy relationships, Consent, Different types of relationships.
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 be concentrating on buying, storing, preparing and cooking food safely and hygienically. We will continue work on healthy eating and ensure that they are learning more about food spoilage and decay. The pupils will learn when food spoils and be able to judge this by its appearance, taste, texture and odour change. They will understand how to use date marks and food storage instructions on food packaging. Pupils will be working on a project that investigates the differences between shop bought and homemade.
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 9 pupils will continue to work on traditional Forest School tasks in addition to working alongside the Chiltern Rangers. They will become much more familiar with the use of tools and will also begin to learn about woodland management. Team work and cooperation continues to be a key element as they design their own programmes.