Note: If you are not sure who your child’s teacher is for certain subjects or what option subjects your child is studying then please contact your child's form tutor for more information.

 

English (Mr Roberts): 
During the spring term, learners will be upskilling their descriptive writing using the techniques and devices they explore in lessons. These include “zooming in” on the details of pictures and photographs, then self assessing to make any edits to improve the work. In addition to this, students will be practising and preparing for Functional Skills exams, so they will revisit formal writing such as articles and letters. 

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English (Ms Csengei):
In the spring term we will be revising key scenes and characters from Shakespeare’s Macbeth in preparation for the Pearson Edexcel English literature GCSE examination. By the end of the half term, we will answer exam-style practice questions on the text. In the second half term, we will continue discussing the remaining poems from the Conflict poetry anthology and revise the poems that we had studied previously.

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English (Mr Sullivan and Mr Battersby):
In the spring term, learners will be continuing the iGCSE course. We will cover the structure of short stories, setting scenes, creating convincing characters, and the importance of proofreading. Learners will also draft and write their narrative coursework this term. Learners will continue to develop their exam technique and practise some past paper questions in preparation for their exam at the end of the year.

 

Maths (Mr Stephen):
During the spring term we are learning about topics ranging from unit conversions to compound units, volume calculations for 3D shapes, surface area analysis, and we conclude the term with learning about plans and elevations. 

 

Option Subjects.

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Chemistry. Physics and Biology GCSE  
The learners are revising for the retake of their Chemistry, Physics and/or Biology GCSE. They are attending some year 11 lessons alongside their revision sessions.The work is marked and the learners receive feedback on their work.

 

History GCSE (Mr Miller): 
In History this term, we will be covering one of the remaining parts of the course: Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918-39, and look at the Weimar Republic between 1918 and 1929, Hitler’s rise to power from 1919 to 1933, how the Nazis gained control after 1933 and the effect this had on life in Germany.

Design Technology (DT) Miss Norris: 
Learners will continue to work towards completing their portfolios ready for submission to the exam board. This will include continuing to develop and refine their projects and completing the required written assessments to support their knowledge and understanding.

 

Creative Digit Media (CDM) (Mr Rowntree):
In spring term 1, learners are working towards their audio unit. For some, this has involved a trip to a local shopping centre to capture audio on location for an advertisement of the Grafton Centre and for others, they are in the process of planning their products which might incorporate work towards their video unit and the creation of their Tentlee Tea advertisement.

 

They will edit the audio files with additional sound effects and / or music using Adobe Audition. 

In spring term 2, learners will work on video projects and will edit their work using Adobe Premiere. In preparation for this, they will analyse the techniques used by other filmmakers to demonstrate their understanding of how messages are portrayed on screen.

Art (Mrs Easton): 
 

BRONZE ARTS AWARD STUDENTS
In the spring term, learners are looking at Roy Litchenstein, the Pop Artist, and creating large 3D letters to be decorated with comic book style onomatopoeia words and images. 

They will ensure all their research and written tasks are complete for their Arts Awards. Once complete they will design and construct a horizontal dragon marionette puppet with wings or make a final project of choice.

 

SILVER  ARTS AWARD STUDENTS
During the spring term, learners are continuing to work on:
1-  their leadership units ( Unit 2  Part A, B, C and D)
2- producing their individually chosen projects and evaluating their concepts, the techniques and skills that have developed during this process.  

Sociology (Ms Porter):
Throughout the spring term the A level sociology students will be studying criminology.
This will include exploring a variety of sociological theories on the causes of crime. We will then look at the links between the media and crime and issues regarding crime and ethnicity, gender and social class.

 

BTEC Sport (Mr Green): 
During the spring term, BTEC sport learners will be learning about Unit 1- components of fitness, methods of training, interpretation of data and fitness testing. Learners will complete an exam on this. Going through towards the end of the spring term, learners will be creating a 6 week training programme and completing this at the local gym, showing evidence and editing the plan at different points during the programme. 

Computer Science (Mr Arnold): 
There is a lot to cover in this half term and the pace will be high to reflect this, but it is necessary to create sufficient time in year 2 of the A level program for the practical programming component of the exams. During this term, we will look at the characteristics of networks and the importance of protocols and standards; this will include the TCP/IP stack, DNS, Protocol Layering, LANsand WANs, the role of Routers and Switches, Packet and circuit switching, amongst others.

 

We will then look at web technologies, including practical tasks using HTML, CSS and Javascript. 

We will continue expanding our skills with the Python coding language. Depending on the readiness of the individual, this will either be expanding our existing skill set with additional learning such as using functions, 2 dimensional data structures and reading and writing to external files, or undertaking more substantial projects which along with coding also require analysis, design and evaluation skills.

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ICT year 12  (Mr Arnold):
In the first half term the group will complete the learning for ‘The online world’ module of the course. This will focus mainly on network communication and the physical equipment that forms the internet, along with understanding databases and online security.

In the second half term, we will commence the spreadsheet unit. We will learn further skills in the use of spreadsheets and consider the potential uses of these in a workplace. This will lead next term to creating our own complex spreadsheets to perform a vocational based task.

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ICT year 13 (Mr Arnold):
In the first half term the group will complete the learning for ‘The online world’ module of the course. This will focus mainly on network communication and the physical equipment that forms the internet, along with understanding databases and online security.

In the second half, we will commence a unit on Audio. This will focus on the technical merits of different methods of recording, including different equipment and the pros and cons of each in different scenarios; This will then be put into practice in the following term.

Photography (Ms Soskova)

Individual learners are either working towards Level 2 or level 3 qualifications. One of the courses covers basic use of cameras and accessories and the alternative course covers ‘Lighting in Photography.’ Based on these targets, learners are working around the following schedule: Introduction and recap of camera basics, building foundational knowledge in lighting concepts with many hands-on activities covering outdoors (landscape) photography, macro photography or portrait photography. We will also cover image processing and portfolio preparation.

Mandarin Chinese (Ms Tang):

Throughout the spring term, learners are getting ready for Youth Chinese Test 3 (YCT 3), which corresponds to A2 of the CEF framework. We will work on:
1 Mock tests and practicalities of the test;
2 Consolidating on topics like experiences, illnesses and checking understanding.
3 Celebrating Chinese New Year by inviting students to have a go at Chinese calligraphy.