Year 9 Curriculum Guide
Autumn Term 2016
English
In English this term Year 9 will be covering the following topics:
Shakespeare: studying the life and theatre of Shakespeare and the
Elizabethan era. With particular reference to the text of ‘A Midsummer
Night’s Dream’, students will look at all aspects of the playwright’s
craft and revise and improve their ability to extract evidence from the
text and explain it, in order to support their own points.
The Contemporary Novel: reading the book ‘White Dolphin’ by Gill
Lewis.
We will focus on seeing how the writer engages the reader,
particularly looking at the perspective and influence of the first person
narrator. Reading the novel naturally leads on to discussions around
issues such as the environment, families and bullying, allowing
students to work on their important Speaking and Listening skills.
Maths
Placing value, rounding off, negative numbers, order of operation,
square and square root, cube and cube root, powers, factors and
prime numbers.
Science
1. Chemistry 1
Chapter 4: Acids and alkali
2. Biology 2
Chapter 1: Health and lifestyle
3. Chemistry 2
Chapter 1: The Periodic Table
4. Physics 2
Chapter 1: Electricity and magnetism
History
The Twentieth Century – A Changing World
The Great War
1. How was family life affected?
2. Short term causes of the war.
3. Long term causes of the war.
4. Joining up.
5. Cowardice or bravery.
6. What was it like in the trenches?
7. How did life on the home front affect women?
8. Armistice.
9. World War Two
Geography
The students will make an early beginning on the new GCSE
Geography course. The first areas of study include many of the
natural hazards which affect life on Earth. Having looked at the
structure of the planet the study areas will include topics such as
earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, hurricanes and global warming.
Three years to final examinations will help the candidates complete
the work in greater depth.
French

Review introductions: name, age and birthday, place of living,
family

TV programmes and cinema; likes/dislikes and giving opinions

Media: talking about new technology (internet and social
media)

Jobs in masculine and feminine

Review numbers 70 – 1000; pocket money

Grammar: the perfect tense; describe what you did last
weekend
ICT
In ICT this term year 9 will be covering the following topics:
 Excel (spreadsheets)
Entering data, text and border enhancement, formulas/using
functions, creating charts and printing data and formula.
 Powerpoint
Creating a simple presentation – inserting text, graphics and
using animation techniques. Printing options.
 Paint
Creating posters
RE
Although both year groups will study the same topic, lesson content
tasks will be differentiated according to pupils’ ages and ability levels.
In RE this term pupils will be studying the topic:
Inspirational People: what we understand by this term and learning
about the stories, personalities and teachings of leaders in three of the
major world religions – Christianity, Buddhism and Islam. Pupils will
explore how faith choices affect the ways people live and interact with
others and with the wider world. They will reflect on their own
experiences in a variety of ways and be able to develop their opinions
and their appreciation of diversity.
Art
Perspective/Surrealism – An understanding of 1 and 2 point
perspective will be taught in relation to the Art movement of
Surrealism. The idea that an imaginary piece of art is very much
linked to observation and the real world will be emphasised through
the investigation of the artists Magritte and Dali
3 weeks – Aerial Perspective – basic rules
3 weeks – One point perspective
3 weeks – Two point perspective
2 weeks – Dali/Magritte transcriptions
3 weeks – Own composition using knowledge gained from above.
Environmental Science
Begin to look at the problems facing the tiger and the threat of
extinction.
Numbers of tigers in the wild, in captivity including America
Advantages and disadvantages of animals in zoos and wildlife parks
and captive breeding
Why are tigers struggling in the wild?
What do you think?
Use National Geographical DVD to look at tigers both in the wild and
captivity.
So what have we learnt so far?
Review topic by short test. Multi choice answers.
What agencies help wild life?
How can we protect our wildlife such as tigers, rhinoceros and
elephants?
The problem of climate change on wildlife i.e. polar bears.
DVD polar bear
After Half term
Let’s go Bats!
Squirrels - Red and Grey
Fungi Survey and habitats
Food miles and hydroponic growing of vegetables
Mechanisation and pesticides on farms
Printed September 2016