Hello everyone!
Welcome back and happy New Year! It has been a positive start to Term 2, with students settling quickly back into routines after the winter break. The first week has been full of enthusiasm, collaboration and a strong focus on learning as we begin our new topics and challenges together.
This week in English, students studied the witches and their role in creating tension and unease at the start of Macbeth, learning about Jacobean beliefs in witchcraft and how Shakespeare uses the supernatural to intrigue his audience. They then explored the introduction of Macbeth and Banquo, focusing on their contrasting reactions to the witches’ prophecies, and demonstrated this understanding through a creative interview task set just after the witches disappear. Finally, students examined Macbeth’s first meeting with King Duncan in Act 1 Scene 4, analysing how Duncan’s praise creates dramatic irony and deepens our understanding of Macbeth’s inner conflict and growing ambition.
For our unit entry point, students took part in a “Challenges of Increasing Difficulty” activity. They worked in teams to complete a series of egg and spoon races, starting with a basic race and then facing progressively harder challenges. Each round added a new obstacle, including balancing a bean bag on their head, completing a three-legged race, and navigating hurdles and cones. Students had to adapt, cooperate and persevere as the tasks became more difficult.
This week in History, students explored how women’s lives in Britain began to change in the late 19th century and why the right to vote became such an important issue. They looked at how laws affecting education, work and family life slowly reduced some barriers for women, while also recognising that many inequalities remained. Through a short role-play election set in 1900, students experienced what it was like to be able to speak but not vote, helping them understand how political exclusion affected decision-making and why women campaigned for suffrage.
In Geography, students explored how barriers can affect children’s life chances. In Task 1, they learned about child poverty as a global issue, examining how a lack of money can create barriers to education, health, and housing, and how support from schools, communities, and charities can help overcome these challenges. In Task 2, students built on this understanding by learning about refugees and forced migration, exploring why some families are forced to leave their homes due to danger or conflict and the difficulties children face during and after their journeys. Across both lessons, students used stories and discussion to understand how facing and overcoming barriers can increase future possibilities.
In Science this week, students completed a Knowledge Harvest to introduce our new unit on Forces. They shared what they already know about movement, speed, energy and friction, and worked collaboratively to create a forces mind map of key vocabulary and questions. Students also linked their ideas to real life, discussing how understanding forces helps people overcome challenges such as travelling safely and efficiently. This activity helped identify prior knowledge and misconceptions, and created a reference point we will return to throughout the unit.
Maths
Year 7
This week we picked up again with our unit on solving problems with multiplication and division that we started before the winter holiday. This unit will take another week and a half before our first unit test of the new year.
This week, students studied the following topics:
- Multiplying by 0.1 and 0.01 (H)
- Converting metric units
- Using formal methods to multiply integers
- Using formal methods to multiply decimals
Year 8
This week, students learnt about sequences, covering the following topics:
- Generating sequences given a rule in words (Spr.2.1)
- Generating sequences using a simple algebraic rule (Spr.2.2)
- Generating sequences using a more complex algebraic rule (Spr.2.3)
- Finding the rule for the nth term of a linear sequence (Spr.2.4 – Higher)
Students completed an assessment on these topics and performed very well, demonstrating a strong understanding of the material.
The week concluded with an introduction to indices.
Year 9
This week, students studied the following topics:
- Spr.1.6 – HCF and LCM (R)
- Spr.1.7 – Adding and subtracting fractions
- Spr.1.8 – Multiplying and dividing fractions
- Spr.1.9 – Solving problems with fractions
- Spr.1.10 – Numbers in standard form
Students focused on improving accuracy and confidence when working with fractions, applying appropriate methods, and simplifying answers correctly.
They also practised solving multi-step problems and clearly showing all working.
Assessment:
There will be a test on Monday covering all of the above topics.
