Physical & Creative Arts

Year 7

All students will complete a ten week rotation, working in each of the four areas Technology, Pixl Leadership, Art and Graphics and Performing Arts.

Technology – students will do week one in hard technology areas – workshop timber and textiles, with Food and Nutrition in week two.

In Technology week one students develop skills around 3D sketching and the presentation of ideas. Practically, students will complete a Mobile phone holder that we are making out of soft wood for the frame and using fabric that they will decorate and sew for the holder part in textiles. Students will use hand tools to mark out, drill and assemble the frame. In Textiles they will learn how to use a sewing machine and sew basic seams alongside fabric decoration. Homework will mainly focus on developing sketching, designing skills and hand sewing skills.

Technology week two: Food – students will be learning ‘Skills for Life’, cooking  different recipes during the rotation and completing theory work in class as well as having homework activities to support their understanding of food hygiene and safety. Recipes include Soup, Croque Monsieur, Bolognese, Scones, Scone based pizza and Sweet and Sour Chicken.

Useful website: BBC/Food/Recipes.  Students can see homework tasks and ingredients required for each lesson on ClassCharts or on windows outside the Food Room.

We would like to thank all parents/carers for supporting the department by providing ingredients for students in their food lessons.

These lessons are a combination of Drama, Music and Dance.

In drama, pupils are introduced to the essentials of learning through drama and the study of different styles of theatre. Students develop their acting skills (vocal, physical, facial, emotional) by applying techniques and theatrical form to a range of exciting content.  This included the study of the Roses of Eyam and the opportunity to perform a short scripted play.

In music, pupils learn the essential skills of a musician, composer, and performer. Our MIC Control programme looks into the essentials of creating music in groups or as soloists. Our team of dedicated sessional tutors can also provide opportunities to learn an instrument such as Guitar (electric, acoustic, bass) Drums, Keyboard or Vocals.

In dance, pupils learn to choreograph simple routines in a variety of styles including contemporary and street dance. At the end of the rotation, they are asked to come up with their own choreography in response to a theme.

Performing Arts lessons will be completely or mostly practical.  Classroom routines, behaviours and etiquette for Performing Arts are built into all Year 7 lessons. Home learning and teacher assessments are set three times in each rotation.

Useful website: BBC Bitesize Music and Drama

Year 7  Art Curriculum

Students follow a progressive curriculum over 3 to 5 years, experiencing a range of art/craft media, experimenting with techniques and skills and discovering artists, sculptors and crafts people.

Year 7 are developing their observational skills studying natural forms and then exploring the theme of stories and illustration where we experiment with watercolour techniques and learn about Beatrix Potter and Quentin Blake.

In Year 7 graphics students are taught a variety of drawing and designing techniques to enable them to design and develop creative ideas in future lessons in design and technology. Students demonstrate their ability and skills they have learnt by creating a Race and Chase board game, including the board, the counters and other materials.

Year 8

All students will complete a ten week rotation, working in each of the four areas Technology, Pixl Leadership, Art and Graphics and Performing Arts.

Technology – students will do week one in hard technology areas – CAD/CAM in the DT computer room, with Food and Nutrition in week two.

In Technology week one students continue to develop skills around 3D sketching and the presentation of ideas. Practically, students will complete an Earphone wrap that they are making out of acrylic and using the software 2D design to model and create their designs. The laser machine will cut out the final design.

Technology week two: Food – The focus is ‘Foods from Other Cultures’.  Students will cook different recipes during the rotation and complete theory work in class and also homework to support their understanding of food hygiene and safety.  Recipes they will cook include Macaroni Cheese to practice making a Roux Sauce, Savoury Flan to learn about coagulation of eggs and other recipes to practice making pastry, revise cooking with high risk foods and introduce them to foods from other cultures. They will be expected to adapt recipes and develop their own curry or casserole recipe.

Helpful website: BBC/Food/Recipes

Students can see homework tasks and ingredients required for each lesson on ClassCharts or on windows outside the Food Room. We would like to thank all parents/carers for supporting the department by providing ingredients for students in their food lessons.

Students will have chosen a specialist studies option in one of the two different DT subjects:  GCSE Food, or GCSE Timber DT.

GCSE Timber DT – students will be introduced to the new GCSE in Design Technology. The work in Year 9 will focus on core technical principles as well as Designing and making principles. Autumn term will be developing key making skills learnt in KS3 with an introduction to working across the material areas. The term will culminate in an inspirational visit to The Eden Project in Cornwall.

Other areas that students will study during the rest of the year will be Mechanisms, Smart materials, Timbers, Polymers and Ferrous and Nonferrous metals. Students will be taught through a variety of practical and theory lessons as well as mini assessment projects and folder work to allow them to explore and experiment with the standard of work that will be set in year 10 and 11.

Helpful website : educas.co.uk, technologystudent.com

GSCE Food – students will be introduced to the new GCSE in Food Preparation and Nutrition.

The course aims to extend students’ knowledge and understanding of food, diet and health, further developing their practical skills in food preparation and different cooking techniques enabling them to make informed decisions about their own diet and food choices. They will focus on the Eat well Guide and healthy eating for different groups of people, multicultural cooking (mainly focusing on Asia), investigate the chemical structure of ingredients and perform food experiments to explore the function of ingredients. The practical’s involve high skill activities to give students an insight into the standards expected at GCSE.  Students are expected to adapt recipes depending on their confidence at cooking and add extra tasks to their practicals to add challenge.

Helpful website: BBC/Food/Recipes or BBC/Goodfood/Recipes

Students can see homework tasks and ingredients required for each lesson on ClassCharts or on windows outside the Food Rooms.  Students will not cook every week due to the large amount of theory work needing to be covered.

We would like to thank all parents/carers for supporting the department by providing ingredients for students in their food lessons.

Students specialising in Drama have five lessons per fortnight. They build on their foundation learning and apply this together a Depth Study of a full length play (Our Day Out, Animal Farm etc), study an influential practitioner; and create their own Theatre-In-Education and films. They will discover more advanced theatre making techniques as well as maturing their teamwork skills by showing dedication, confidence and a personable approach. Students in this stage are expected to lead their learning more independently by leading workshops, presenting to the class and devising performances for younger audiences. Home learning and teacher assessments are set at least once per half term.