Curriculum
Year 7 themes cover a wide variety of exciting and engaging topics. Below you can find a short description of each of the themes in year 7.
Each theme is delivered over a period of 3 or 4 weeks and incorporates group work and audienced learning around a Driving Question.
| Subject | |
| English |  |
| Science |  |
| Geography |  |
| History |  |
| RE |  |
| Technology |  |
| Computer Science |  |
Autumn term
| Subject focus | |
DRIVING QUESTION: How do I shape my community and how does my community shape me?
The intention of this theme is to expand students’ awareness of what it means to be part of a community. This is explored at local, national, and international levels as well as secular and religious community structures. Students will consider the benefits of pluralism, diversity, and British values. As the idea of community is brought into focus, students will also consider how politics is a tool for change and how MPs are an integral part of this. Students will learn about inspiring people and will contemplate the qualities of a person who is an inspiring global citizen. Finally, students will work collaboratively with their peers to complete a class-agreed ‘Citizen’ project.
Find out more about Citizen Me.
| Subject focus | |
DRIVING QUESTION: Is the Earth Alive?
The intent of the theme is to use the mystique that has intrigued mankind throughout history about what goes on beneath the Earth’s surface to spark students curiosity. The theme focuses on a fascinating mix between scientific explanations, religious beliefs and key literary pieces with the centre of the Earth as a common link. The theme borrows its name from Jules Verne’s classic science fiction novel of the same name. The book introduces the students to the theme with a clear focus on inference as a literary skill when studying the text. Students will also explore the religious and scientific ideas of how the universe came into being. As the theme progresses students will discuss the impact of important scientific figures and discoveries on how, as humans, we understand our position in the universe.
Find out more about Journey to the Centre of the Earth.
| Subject focus | |
DRIVING QUESTION: How did events in the medieval period shape our society today?
The intention of this theme is to provide an in-depth study of the political, military and social history of the Middle Ages. We will work towards answering the driving question by considering events that took place in Britain and the wider world during this time. We will explore the events surrounding the Norman Conquest in 1066 and investigate the way in which the Norman invaders maintained control of England. To do this, we will use and analyse sources and interpretations. Significant emphasis is placed on the role of religion and its impact on Medieval Britain. By the end of the theme, students will be expected to explore some of the more complex aspects of history such as significance and importance. The journey of lessons in the theme alongside the supporting resources allows students to explain how events in the medieval period helped shape our society today.
Find out more about In Days of Old.
| Subject focus | |
DRIVING QUESTION: Are Fairy Tales relevant today?
The intention of this theme is to complete a depth study of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Students will complete character and language analysis with a focus on being able to cite specific textual evidence. Furthermore, students will need to use their creative skills to create fairy tale settings and perform to an audience. Students will then need to use this knowledge to explore fairy tales around the world and to assess their relevance today.
Find out more about Fairy Tales.
spring term
| Subject focus | |
DRIVING QUESTION: Why do people go on journeys and how do they change the people who embark on them?
This intention of this theme is to enable students to consider a range of reasons as to why people undertake journeys, and the effects that embarking on these journeys may have on them. We begin the theme by looking at the map skills that enable travellers successfully to get from one place to another. Building on these skills, students are able both to plan a journey and to write about a journey they have previously undertaken. The theme enables students to demonstrate their place knowledge of the Middle East, and the importance of this region to many of today’s major world religions. Taking Christianity, Islam and Sikhism in turn, students explore religious pilgrimages that followers of these religions undertake, the reasons they take these journeys and what the lasting effects of these journeys may be. Students can contrast religious pilgrimages and poetry of today with those from the Medieval period: have pilgrims’ reasons for undertaking these journeys changed over the centuries?
| Subject focus | |
DRIVING QUESTION: Could robots ever have the same rights as humans?
In this theme students will consider both philosophical ideas and mathematical principles. iRobot connects two very different learning strands. The core of the theme, as suggested by the Driving Question, considers the future of robots from a socio-political point of view. In order to answer the driving question, students will first consider what it means to be human. Students will explore abstract concepts such as the soul, human rights and, to a certain extent, freedom. Underpinning the more philosophical ideas is the study of concrete concepts relating to the mechanics of both robots and humans. Students will explore programming by first considering key mathematical principles and relating these to control. By the end of this theme students will have a greater sense of the driving forces behind human ingenuity as well as a respect for the principles that underpin what it means to be human.
| Subject focus | |
DRIVING QUESTION: Does water always win?
Many of us take water for granted. In the UK, we can turn a tap and clean water flows from it instantly. But have you ever stopped to consider what it is exactly? Where it comes from? And just how important is it?
In this theme students will be encouraged to consider many of the processes on Earth in which water is involved. They will examine water in its role as:
- A chemical that is recycled and supports life
- A physical force that shapes landscapes and impacts life
- A source of comfort and aid
- A link between all aspects of the natural world
Life would not exist without water. But there are many instances where human activities can affect the quality of water. Students will examine the causes and effects of pollution on the quality of water and the impact that this has on ecosystems. They will question which has the most power – water, or the life that it supports – by considering the driving question: Does water always win?
| Subject focus | |
DRIVING QUESTION: What factors affect growth?
The Growing theme is largely Humanities based. In terms of Geography, students will study various settlement types and will consider what factors make a good settlement. They will look at town development and growth. In addition, they will study population growth and factors that contribute to this with a particular focus on comparisons of HICs and LICs. Students will complete extended writing tasks in the form of recount texts after studying the key features of diary writing. Furthermore, students will consider personal issues around ‘growing’ such as peer pressure and relationships. In terms of Science, students will investigate the growth of micro-organisms and what factors may affect their growth.
summer term
| Subject focus | |
DRIVING QUESTION: Did life in England turn upside down between 1485 and 1685?
‘Off with your Head’ takes its name from the famous line used by The Queen of Hearts from Lewis Carroll’s infamous Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The theme takes off by looking at who the Tudors were. Further lessons develop the ideas from the introduction with a lesson dedicated to Tudor Kings and Queens and students will proceed to explore the notion of whether key figures from history should be considered heroes or villains based on historical sources. The strong links to History continues throughout as students begin to broaden their knowledge base of the era and look more closely at the Tudors and the Stuarts and fit them into context with events that were happening in Britain at the time. One such event being the civil war where students get an in depth look at key battles from this and the key personnel involved. The historical figure of Oliver Cromwell is a perfect example of a key figure of Britain’s past that has divided opinion on whether he was a great leader or cool blooded tyrant. This allows students to formulate their own opinions and write these opinions as a discursive text that will act as a key assessment.
Find out more about Off With Your Head here
| Subject focus | |
Review and Exam Weeks will be held twice during the year, at the end of the Autumn term and in the Summer term.
There will also be a series of Focus Days embedded within themes where students can explore an idea in greater depth. Focus Days can include off-site visits, guest speakers and workshops.
