What Your Child Will Be Learning In Key Stage 3
All children in State schools follow the National Curriculum, which sets out the subjects and skills they have a right to learn. There are four key stages that cover your child’s education until they are 16 at Kingsmead. In Year 7, children begin Key Stage 3 that covers Years 7, 8 and 9, when the children are aged between 11 and 14.
The National Curriculum allows all children to be educated in a way that is balanced and challenging. It lists the subjects and skills that every child has a right to learn and enables teachers to measure how well children are doing, so that they can help them do better. At Kingsmead, the delivery of the National Curriculum is brought to life by the outstanding facilities we have!
At Kingsmead, in Key Stage 3 your child will study:
- English
- Maths
- Science
- Design & Technology
- History
- Citizenship, Health and Religion (CHRE)
- Geography
- Art
- Music
- Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
- French
- Physical Education (PE) and Dance
- Drama
In addition, there are many after-school activities and, where appropriate, trips are organised to enhance students learning.
English
The Key Stage 3 curriculum is divided into reading, writing, speaking and listening. The topics taught in Year 7 include: dream journey (allowing students to develop their creative writing skills); poetry, selected by their teacher, and Shakespeare, either ‘Hamlet’ or ‘A Midsummer Nights Dream.’
Maths
Students develop a range of skills for calculating including methods, ‘pen and paper’ techniques and using calculators and computers.
Science
The Key Stage 3 curriculum is divided into 5 themes that are introduced in Year 7. The themes are: Cells, Interdependence, Particles, Forces and Energy.
Design & Technology
Students will study Food Technology, Textiles Technology (FTT) and Materials and Graphics Technology (MGT). Students will learn to use new equipment and will be introduced to food ingredients; preparation and hygiene; basic drawing and design skills and workshop safety.
History
Students will develop skills in describing and explaining historical change, understand different interpretations of history and use and evaluate evidence from the past. The Key Stage 3 curriculum covers British History from the Romans to the 20th Century, with other units on Slavery and 20th Century World History.
Citizenship, Health and Religious Education (CHRE)
The Key Stage 3 curriculum is made up of one programme, consisting of: Sex and Relationships, Drugs Education, Religious Education and Citizenship.
Geography
The Key Stage 3 curriculum in divided into a series of themes. The themes taught in Year 7 are: What Is Geography? Map Skills, Settlement—where we live and why we live there, and Population and Migration.
Art
The course is divided into termly units. In Year 7 Term 1 the work is about portraits, In Term 2 the students will creature sculptures of heads and in Term 3 they will focus upon drawing techniques, mostly by observing still-life displays in the classroom.
Music
The course is a topic-based approach in which students can experiment with sound and how it is used to make music. The topics studied in Year 7 are; Rhythm and Pulse - Baroque Music, The Concerto - Classical Music and Music from the Caribbean.
Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
Using ICT, students will plan and create presentations about themselves, learn to use data and information sources, plan and create a leaflet about the subjects they study at Key Stage 3. Students are introduced to the use of spreadsheets and collection of data and study how technology is used to control many everyday events.
French
In Year 7 students develop their language skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing through studying topics such as introducing oneself; descriptions; in the classroom/school; hobbies and interests and food and drink.
Physical Education (P.E.), and Dance
PE offers students opportunities to become skilful performers, acquire and develop skills, learn to select and apply skills, tactics and compositional ideas and develop their ideas in a creative way. Students will participate in a variety of sports, including: Hockey; Football; Netball; Tennis; Rounders; Softball; Gymnastics; Dance and Athletics.
Drama
Students will be introduced to the basic building blocks, upon which successful drama can flourish. In Year 7 students will learn a variety of skills, which are developed throughout the year. For the first two terms the course is constructed around five myths and legends. In the second half of the Summer term, all students follow a scheme of work based on Shakespeare's ‘King Lear.’
