Welcome to Year 9, the last year of Key Stage 3 before students embark on two years of GCSE courses in years 10 and 11. This year will be expecting students to seize new challenges in and out of the classroom and to take more responsibility for their learning and personal organization.
The curriculum in Year 9 continues to offer a broad and balanced education, consolidating the work from Year 7 and Year 8. Our curriculum is based on the National Curriculum of England and also aims to take into account the rich diversity of nationalities in the student body. During Year 9 students will have the opportunity to shape their curriculum for the following two years by choosing some of the subjects they wish to study at GCSE. Further information about the options process will be given during this year.
Monday to Friday 08:45–15:30.
6 x 50 minute lessons with a break and tutor time in the morning and a 1 hour lunch break.
The school operates a two-week timetable so lessons in Week A will be different to those in Week B.
l Art and Design (3 lessons per fortnight)
l Biology (3)
l Computing (3)
l Chemistry (3)
l Design and Technology / Food Preparation and Nutrition (3)
l Drama (2)
l Dutch (5)
l English (7)
l Geography (3)
l History (3)
l Language 1 (French, German or Spanish) (3)
l Language 2 (French, German or Spanish) (3)
l Mathematics (7)
l Music (3)
l PHSE (2)
l Physical Education (4)
l Physics (3)
Each Form has a brief 5-minute meeting with their tutor at the beginning of the day, followed by a 20 minute lesson later on in the morning. The Form Tutor is there to help with problems, encourage students to organise themselves for the day, check homework entries and to discuss matters of importance.
Homework is an important part of the learning process, consolidating or building on work done in class and helping students to develop good independent work habits. Homework is set by subject teachers according to a homework timetable which is shared with students to help them organise their time. In Year 9, students can expect one or two subject homeworks per night which in total should take between one and two hours to complete.
Art lessons aim to initiate the students in the process of creating and developing their ideas. The students will learn how to analyse, record, and evaluate their own work, that of others, and that of artists from major movements. This year, the students will have the opportunity to explore lino cutting and printing, use of stencils, photography, charcoal, painting textiles and drawing with graphite. They will also learn basic techniques to properly use perspective, light and shadow, pattern, shape, composition, and colour. Year 9 will, therefore, be a continuation of learning the skills needed to develop ideas and improve their execution.
The course is divided into 3 main projects, and one extension project, if time allows.
1. Realism - Perspective and tonal study
l Artist page composition and artwork analysis.
l Practical: one and two-point perspective.
l Theory: a journey through the history of Realism.
l Tonal study: charcoal- optical illusions.
l Final art piece: graphite drawing.
2. Pop Art - Lino printing and stencil
l Artist page composition and artwork analysis.
l Practical: lino cutting and printing.
l Theory: Pop Art.
l Practical: stencil.
l Final art piece: mixed media.
3. Textiles around the world - Colour and Pattern
l Artist page composition.
l Theory: colour and pattern.
l Research: patterns around the world.
l Practical: painting textiles.
l Final art piece: a collaborative textile piece.
4. Experimenting with painting and abstraction
The main source for assessing the students’ achievement and progress in this course will be the sketchbooks used throughout the year to carry out their theoretical and practical works, artist pages, and homework. Each project will end with a final art piece that will also be an important part of the assessment.
Useful websites/reading suggestions/local activities
Suggested activities:
l Chamber of Wonders
l Gemeentemuseum Den Haag
l Mauritshuis Museum
l Museum Beelden aan Zee
l Escher Museum
Websites:
l https://smarthistory.org/
l www.wikiart.org/es
Suggested reference books:
l A world history of Art by Hugh Honour and John Fleming.
The Year 9 Computing course is designed to introduce and build upon knowledge of some of the core fundamental concepts of computer science, including abstraction, logic, algorithms and data representation. Students will have repeated practical experience of writing computer programs in order to solve problems, and will evaluate and apply information technology, including unfamiliar technologies, analytically to solve such problems. Throughout Key Stage 3 we aim to develop our students into responsible, competent, confident and creative users of information and communication technology.
Students will study the following topics:
This unit of work takes an introductory look at some of the core building blocks of computer science. It serves as the taster course for GCSE Computer Science. Students will learn about the functions of computer hardware and software, both internal and external. They will look at binary representations of data and understand how everything inside a computer can ultimately be represented using sequences of 0s and 1s. The concept of Boolean logic will be introduced and students will learn to create truth tables for logic gates. Computer networking and the internet will be included as well as an introduction to basic processing architecture. The key guiding principle is that of ‘how does that work?’ The varied answer to that question is what makes computer science such an exciting subject to study.
In this unit, students will get a chance to improve their programming skills in a graphical environment provided by the processing software. This heightens interest and raises achievement for all students to see instant graphical results when running their code. Students will learn how to draw basic shapes as well as create animation and master keyboard and mouse interaction. The key programming constructs of sequence, selection and repetition will be reinforced and computational
thinking techniques will be used throughout. Students will work through part of an online programming course on Khan Academy as well as working directly with the Processing IDE to run their programs, picking up elements of Java and JavaScript syntax as they go.
Students will revisit spreadsheets, learning the skills of creating formulae to work with numbers and the importance of layout and formatting. Built-in Spreadsheet functions will be introduced to highlight the power and versatility and more able students will learn to create macros and manipulate them using VBA. Charting skills will also be emphasised as will working with large data sets. Being able to use a spreadsheet is an essential skill for any student to learn and will be applicable throughout their school career in a variety of cross-curricular situations.
Students will receive regular fortnightly homework assignments that will be assessed. They will also receive feedback for each piece of submitted work. The main assessed piece of project work will be the technology presentation. There will be one assessed project during the first two terms and an exam for all Year 9 students during the third term.
There will also be regular quizzes and tests throughout the year to test students’ understanding. Use will be made of online coding platforms such as Code Academy and Khan Academy which track student progress through a series of tasks and activities, and provides useful feedback on individual student performance.
During Year 9, students build on their KS3 drama experience through a focus of playtexts, practitioners and theatre evaluation. The course remains practical and workshop based, with a focus on using GCSE theatre terminology to support prospective theatre candidates. Furthermore, the units encourage students to link themes in literature and theatre to real life experience.
During this course, students discover the story of the Windrush Generation through carefully selected scenes from Small Island. Students will practically rehearse scripted scenes and use Konstantin Stanislavski’s naturalism techniques to refine their theatre making process.
During this practical unit, students will learn about abstract theatre practitioner Steven Berkoff and apply these skills to Kafka’s Metamorphosis extracts. They will perform and critique each other’s performances and learn to evaluate the success and impact of Berkovian techniques on stage.
‘Inside every adolescent brain, 86 billion neurons connect and collide to produce the most frustrating, chaotic and exhilarating changes that will ever happen to us.’ In this new unit, students theatrically investigate how their own brains work through a blueprint of a play which they adapt and perform to make personal to themselves.
During the summer term, students learn about theatre company Frantic Assembly and the physical theatre techniques they use to create stories for the stage. Lessons are entirely workshop based and result in a devised, purely physical performance at the end of term.
At the end of every lesson is a performance. Students will take on at least one of the following roles:
(a) Performer - increasing confidence while putting their new learning into practice.
(b) Audience – developing evaluation and concentration skills while building appreciation and mutual respect for each other’s work.
After each performance, there will be a class discussion to draw out areas that either need developing further or can be used as a good example. Emphasis will be on how the audience interpret the drama and whether that was the intention of the performer.
The development of individual students is carefully monitored by the teacher (specifically focusing on creating /devising, performing and responding). Students will be continuously encouraged and made aware of their strengths and shown how to develop any areas that need improving. In addition to this, peer and self-assessment are used regularly in order to collaboratively progress in the subject. The majority of feedback given is verbal.
Useful websites/reading suggestions
l www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zk6pyrd
l https://dramaresource.com/drama-apps
l www.franticassembly.co.uk
Design and Technology (DT) in Year 9 aims to consolidate and build upon the work completed in Year 7 & 8, in preparation for GCSE. Year 9 students will now be experienced with working in the DT environment, and they will be able to work safely with a wide range of media, materials and equipment. Designing techniques include hand sketching with annotation and the use of Computer-Aided Design (CAD).The students will develop their knowledge of materials and how they can be formed using hand-tools, specialist machinery and equipment, as well as ComputerAided Machinery. At the end of the Design and Make process, the Year 9 students will be able to propose how to test their finished product for quality and fitness-for-purpose. They will also be able to evaluate their product against the original specification, demonstrating how successful they have been, in creating a solution to the problem they were set. This will include any modifications to improve the final design.
The Design Technology course involves several different Design and Make Assignments (DMA), Focused Practical Tasks (FPT), investigations, analysis and evaluation. The assignments are designed to develop and assess the whole range of designing and making skills as well as testing and evaluation of a final practical outcome. FPTs are used for teachers to demonstrate new skills and processes involving materials and equipment and for students to practise them safely. This helps to raise the level of knowledge and understanding of specialist DT skills and terminology.
DT assesses three main areas of study: Designing, Making, Knowledge and Understanding.
Throughout Key Stage 3, the students keep a DT resource folder, where they record their work, using the DT process of Designing and Making as a guide. The projects are assessed at key points and targets are set to help the students towards future progress. There is an end of year assessment to evaluate the individual level of knowledge and understanding accrued during the Year 9 DT course.
Useful websites
l www.technologystudent.com
l www.bbcbitesize.co.uk
All students in Year 9 study Dutch and they are divided into four sets. The sets range from those students with little or no experience of the language who are (near) beginners, going on to intermediate level and those who are quite fluent with more experience as ‘advanced/ proficient’ students. Advanced/proficient students will be working from a variety of materials ranging from websites to Dutch newspapers. The aim of the course to make students aware of the Dutch culture around them and to give them the confidence that they require to function in everyday situations in the language. By the end of the course, intermediate students should be able to use the present and the past tenses with a reasonable amount of accuracy. They should also be coming to terms with the word order rules. The advanced/proficient students should be able to use these concepts with a greater degree of accuracy and feel at ease with the written language. Advanced and proficient speaker students are expected to sit the CNaVT A2 exam at the end of Y9. The mock exam in January will show whether it is beneficial for them to sit the CNaVT A2 exam in May of Year 9. Details of the mock exams will be passed on to you through Compass.
Students work with the course book ‘plein 16’ and the website nieuwsbegrip.nl. Additional resourses which are used are ‘eenvoudige basisgrammatica NT2’, ‘geregeld spreken’ and ‘kidzweek’, jufmelis. nl, cambiumned.nl, beterspellen.nl.
The topics covered in ‘Plein 16’ are ‘getting acquainted’, ‘family-apperance-to live’, ‘friendship’, ‘food-drinks’, ‘body-health’, ‘shopping-clothes-money-work’, ‘weather-nature’, ‘travel – traffic’, ‘art-culture’.
Students are assessed in the four skills throughout the course and staff will also set homework tasks requiring students to practise and learn core vocabulary and structures. These assessments will then contribute to the attainment grade on grade cards, which are issued throughout the year. There will be formal tests assessing knowledge and understanding of the subject matter covered in the course.
Students eligible to sit the CNaVT A2 exam in Dutch in Year 9 will also be tested through the Year 11 MOCK exams to confirm their entry for the CNaVT A2 exams.
English lessons aim to develop students’ reading, writing, speaking and listening skills, whilst promoting a love for the subject. Students will study a range of non-fiction and fiction texts from different cultures, genres and periods of time.
Lessons will encourage students to become critical readers and encourage them to consider how a writer uses a variety of methods to engage and influence a reader. They will learn how to use quotations from a text to support their interpretations. Furthermore, students will be given the opportunity to express their ideas and imagination through writing, learning how to adapt their style to suit the purpose, audience and form. They will produce a range of different writing pieces: descriptive, transactional, poetry and personal writing.
l Poetry: A range of pre- and post-1900 poems exploring the theme of conflict.
l Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet.
l Pre-1900: A range of extracts from the 19th century exploring conflict and choices.
l Post-1900: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas.
l Non-fiction: A range of pre- and post-1900 texts.
An assessment of student achievement and progress will be made from a combination of formative and summative assessments.
Formative assessments take place during the lessons and through classwork and homework tasks.
Summative assessments will occur once per term:
l Autumn term: Reading assessment analysing an extract/poem.
l Spring term: Transactional writing assessment.
l Summer term: Reading and writing assessment exploring theme/character.
Useful Websites and Reading Suggestions
l Shakespeare: Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Anthony and Cleopatra, King Lear, Richard III.
l Pre-1900: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Dracula by Bram Stoker, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Stevenson, Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë.
l Post-1900: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman, Dark Matter by Blake Crouch, Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi.
This is an exciting and creative course focusing on food and nutrition. Through the course, students will develop a thorough understanding of nutrition, food preparation and the working characteristics of ingredients.
The main aims of the Year 9 Food Preparation and Nutrition course are:
l To further the development of the students’ practical skills.
l To help students to understand the scientific properties of ingredients when making bread.
l To encourage students to work creatively with food to produce quality dishes.
l To apply students’ nutritional knowledge to the study of important nutritional issues.
The five core topics at Key Stage 3 are:
l Food, nutrition and health
l Food science
l Food safety
l Food choice
l Food provenance including the environmental issues associated with sustainable sources of food.
The Year 9 course is organised into two units of work. The course focuses on a range of studentcentred activities based on the theme of breadmaking and the study of current nutritional issues. Students also complete practical cooking assignments and experimental work as part of the course.
Students will complete a written and practical examination at the end of the third term. Homework and classwork will be assessed throughout the year. Students will be encouraged to evaluate both their written and practical work, throughout their lessons.
Useful websites
l www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes
l www.nutrition.org.uk
l www.foodafactoflife.org.uk
The aim of the course is to further promote the enjoyment of learning and using French, developing skills gained in Year 8 to a higher level and consolidating the students’ understanding of the language in order to equip them with the tools needed to use French in everyday situations. Their grammatical knowledge will be extended to include a wider range of tenses and structures. Students who arrive in Year 9 with no previous experience of French will be given special help so that as a beginner they can catch up with the work missed in Years 7 and 8.
Students will work with the digital course book Dynamo 3 and an accompanying “Cahier d’Exercices” with consolidation and extension exercises. This follows directly from the course studied in Year 8 and consolidates structures and vocabulary encountered in their first two years of French. Students will cover various topics including My World, Jobs and Future Plans, Music and Changes in Myself and the World, Healthy Eating, The Natural World and the Environment, The French-speaking World and will focus on learning to consolidate the three tenses - past, present and near future and acquiring the imperfect, simple future and conditional tenses. Homework will be set once a fortnight. Students will continue with French as one of the two languages that they study in addition to Dutch.
Students are assessed in the four skills throughout the course and staff will also set homework tasks requiring students to practise and learn core vocabulary and structures. These assessments will then contribute to the attainment grade on grade cards, which are issued throughout the year. There will be a formal exam at the end of Year 9 assessing knowledge and understanding of the subject matter covered in the course.
Students who have followed the Year 7 Personal Language Programme at the BSN or who are tested when they arrive in Year 8 or Year 9 and have been discovered to have an advanced level of language, either by virtue of their nationality or lengthy residence in a French-speaking country will be offered an alternative after school Personal Language Programme which aims to maintain the level of their French and promote their knowledge of their home culture and history.
In Year 9 Geography, we will build on Year 7 and Year 8 studies. Students will be prepared to begin a GCSE course in year 10, should they choose Geography as an option subject.
In Year 9, students will develop and extend their understanding of:
l Locations, places, peoples, environments, processes and the interactions between these, from local to global.
l How the Earth’s features at different scales are shaped, interconnected and changed over time.
l A range of sources of geographical information, including maps, fieldwork and research, Geographical Information Systems (GIS).
l Applying geographical knowledge, understanding, and skills (including numerical and statistical skills) to real world contexts, and to contemporary situations.
Over the course of Year 9, we will study the following topics:
l From Rock to Soil
l Russia
l Living off Earth’s Resources
l International Development
l Our Restless Planet
We use the printed textbook geog.3 in class. Students have access to an online version (which can be accessed from home on any device). The link to access the online textbook is: www.kerboodle.com.
There will be a unit assessment at the end of each taught unit. These assessments will be a mixture of tests in school and extended assignments. Judgments about student achievement and progress will be made not just on these assessments but also on classwork and homework through the year.
Reading list and activities
l Prisoners of Geography: Our World Explained in 12 simple Maps by Tim Marshall.
l Factfulness by Hans Rosling.
l Geographical magazine.
l National Geographic.
The aim of the course is to further promote the enjoyment of learning and using German, developing skills gained in Year 8 to a higher level and consolidating the students’ understanding of the language in order to equip them with the tools needed to use German in everyday situations. Their grammatical knowledge will be extended to include a wider range of tenses and structures. Students who arrive in Year 9 with no previous experience of German will be given special help so that as a beginner they can catch up with the work missed in Years 7 and 8.
Students will work with the digital course book Stimmt! 3 Rot and an accompanying Übungsheft with consolidation and extension exercises. This follows directly from the course studied in Year 8 and consolidates structures and vocabulary encountered in their first two years of German. Students will cover various topics including Role Models, Music, Jobs and Future Plans, Childhood and School and My Rights and Responsibilities in Society and will focus on learning to consolidate the three tenses - past, present and future and acquiring the imperfect, word order and varying sentence structures. Homework will be set once a fortnight. Students will continue with German as one of the two languages that they study in addition to Dutch.
Students are assessed in the four skills throughout the course and staff will also set homework tasks requiring students to practise and learn core vocabulary and structures. These assessments will then contribute to the attainment grade on grade cards, which are issued throughout the year.
Students who have followed the Year 7 Personal Language Programme at the BSN or who are tested when they arrive in Year 8 or Year 9 and have been discovered to have an advanced level of language, either by virtue of their nationality or lengthy residence in a German-speaking country will be offered an alternative after school Personal Language Programme which aims to maintain the level of their German and promote their knowledge of their home culture and history.
History lessons aim to develop the historical knowledge and skills of all students, especially focusing on critical thinking and analytical skills. Lessons will also develop students’ understanding of historical concepts such as cause and consequence, change and continuity, and the significance of events. History lessons will encourage students to consider the impact of historical events on the present day.
In Tear 9, History lessons will focus on challenges for Britain, Europe and the Wider World during the Modern Period (1900 – present day) and the key themes of international conflict and cooperation; the development of Independent States from Empires; societal changes in the 20th century.
Key topics will include:
l Causes, key events and consequences of the First World War.
l The rise of Communism and Fascism in Europe.
l Causes, key events and consequences of the Second World War.
l The Holocaust.
l The world after the Second World War, for example:
• Independence from Imperialism
• Equality movements
• International conflicts
• Growth of international organisations
An assessment of student achievement and progress will be made from a combination of formal assessments in class, homework and class work.
Formal assessments in class will occur approximately once per term and will include: extended writing focused on knowledge and causation; shorter answer questions focused on source analysis; extended writing focused on interpretations.
Useful websites/ local activities
l www.britannica.com
l https://spartacus-educational.com
l www.history.com/topics
l Suggested activities:
• Read relevant horrible histories books or biographies.
• Visit: Nationaal Monument Oranjehotel, den Haag; Anne Frank House, Amsterdam; Joods Historisch Museum, Amsterdam; Verzetsmuseum, Amsterdam; Corrie ten Boom Museum, Haarlem; Herinneringscentrum Kamp Westerbork, Hooghalen; Nationaal Monument Kamp Vucht; Airbornemuseum Hartenstein, Oosterbeek; Bevrijdingsmuseum Zeeland; Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam; Wereldmuseum, Rotterdam; Vredespaleis, den Haag; ICC, den Haag.
l Success for all - developing resilience and confidence.
l Problem solving - identifying, applying and connecting ideas.
l Mathematical communication - explaining and reasoning using words, symbols, diagrams and technology.
l Deeper understanding - depth rather than speed.
l Mathematical thinking - reflecting on learning, evaluating understanding.
l Multiple representations - moving from concrete apparatus, to pictorial representation, to abstract concepts.
In Year 9, students are taught in ability groups. All groups cover the same curriculum content, but the pace of the lessons, the level of abstract reasoning expected and the complexity of problems will be appropriate to the students’ mathematical understanding to enable every student to make progress.
Indices, factors, percentage change, estimating and approximation.
Expanding and factorising expressions, introducing quadratic expressions, linear equations, simultaneous equations, changing the subject of an equation, direct and indirect proportion, graphs of linear functions.
Similar and congruent triangles, trigonometry, enlargement of 2D shapes, volume and surface area of 3D shapes, transformations including enlargements, compound measures.
Measures of centrality and measures of spread, comparisons between data sets, probability and sets.
Formative assessment takes place during lessons and through homework tasks. Summative assessment is through a written assessment task, towards the end of each half term, based on the topics covered during that half term. At the end of Year 9, there will be an assessment test covering all the topics and a decision will be made about GCSE courses for Year 10.
l Dr Frost Maths is used for homework, independent practice and revision: www.drfrostmaths.com
l Nrich website is useful for problem solving and extension ideas: https://nrich.maths.org/
l Maths Genie is a great website for revision, sorted by topic and level: www.mathsgenie.co.uk/gcse.html
During Year 9 students further develop their musical skills and understanding, while being exposed to a broad range of musical styles and genres, from throughout history. All learning takes place utilising a balanced mix of performing, composing and listening in preparation for Key Stage 4.
l Protest Songs
It aims to provide Year 9 with a creative outlet to to explore and engage with social issues through music, cultivating their understanding of how Music has been used over the last few centuries as a catalyst for change. They will get the opportunity to perform Protest songs, research famous examples and write their own Protest Song based around a social issue of their own choice.
l Samba
This unit introduces the polyrhythmic style of Latin-American Samba and identifies its roots in African and Spanish/Portuguese music. Through performing Samba, students will learn the sounds and understand the roles of each instrument used in Samba, learn about rhythmic loops, polyrhythms, call and response and improvisation in Samba and experience the exhilaration and physical impact of percussion ensemble music.
l Reggae
This unit begins by exploring the origins of Reggae music from Ska and Rock Steady and looks at the famous Reggae musician, Bob Marley, and his influence on a worldwide audience. The unit uses two Reggae songs as case studies to explore the musical features of the genre: “Three Little Birds” and “Jamming”. Year 9 will learn about the different textural elements that make up a Reggae song: bass line riffs, melodic hooks, offbeat chords, syncopated rhythms and the vocal melody line. They will get the opportunity to create a Dub Remix of Jamming on the iMacs, using the original studio tracks and learning how to use software and studio effects to create their own arrangement. The unit ends with Year 9 composing their own Reggae song, using the skills developed in this
unit as well as previous units, such as Protest Song.
Students will explore the genre of popular song, learning how different artists and groups have created different musical arrangements of the same song. Students learn about different musical devices used in popular songs including how the different structural elements are sequenced horizontally to produce the classic form of a popular song, as well as how different textural layers combine vertically showing awareness of the different parts used in a popular song. Students revisit hooks and riffs and learn about their function within popular songs.
Students will arrange, rehearse and put on their own private concert. During the lessons they will research and select material, write programme notes and prepare group and solo performances. Pieces will be recorded under the same conditions as GCSE coursework recordings. This unit will culminate in a class concert during the last weeks of school.
Just as in year 7 and 8, each lesson has opportunities for all students to perform the pieces they have learned, or practised, during the lesson. This will sometimes be a short snippet giving an example of new learning or could be a composition, and sometimes there may be a whole class performance. Each of these performances is peer assessed, verbal or written. During year 9, students are expected to evaluate performances using increasingly coherent musical language, giving reasons for their comments and showing practical examples where appropriate.
In addition to this, continuous verbal feedback is given throughout practical tasks. Final versions of projects are marked using scaled down GCSE criteria.
In Year 9, students continue to develop their physical, cognitive and social skills though Physical Education. Whilst engaging in a range of activities, students have the opportunity to refine and extend their skills in a breadth of sports, activities and exercise. This builds confidence and develops the skills listed below in our programme aims.
SSL Physical Education aims to:
l Instil a love for physical activity and sports, fostering a lifelong commitment to maintaining an active lifestyle.
l Promote health and positive lifestyles through physical activity. To enhance students’ overall physical and mental well-being by improving fitness levels, developing healthy habits, self-expression, and self-confidence.
l Promote social interaction, teamwork, and cooperation among students. We aim to foster a sense of fair play, respect for others, and good sportsmanship amongst our students, whilst provide opportunities for personal growth, self-discipline, resilience, and perseverance.
l Improve fundamental movement skills and sport-specific techniques by refining movement patterns and enhancing coordination, balance, and timing to execute movements effectively in a variety of sports and activities.
l Develop tactical understanding and game sense; developing the ability to make good decisions during gameplay, recognising opportunities, and making quick judgments to respond appropriately.
The areas of sport/activity that are covered in Key Stage 3 are:
l Invasion games: basketball, football, handball, netball, touch rugby, hockey, ultimate frisbee, lacrosse, tchoukball, korfball, tagging games.
l Net games: volleyball, badminton, short tennis.
l Athletic and fitness activities.
l Striking and fielding games.
l Gymnastic, dance and movement activities.
How will the course be assessed?
To support our course aims, teachers use the BSN PE marking criteria to assess students’ development in three areas; cognitive skills, physical skills and social interaction.
l Physical skills in Physical Education refer to the abilities and competencies related to movement and physical performance. Students are assessed on the various fundamental movement patterns and techniques that have been covered in the sport or activity.
l Cognitive skills refer to the mental abilities and processes involved in understanding, analysing, and making decisions related to physical activities and sports. Students are assessed on their understanding and their ability to apply feedback that they are given to improve.
l Social interaction refers to interpersonal exchanges, collaboration, and communication that take place among students during physical activities and sports. Students are assessed on their sportsmanship, teamwork, cooperation and the development of social skills in a sporting context.
A grade is recorded after each unit and used as a basis for discussions with students about their progress.
Several important topics are considered through both informative and discussion based lessons, making use of worksheets, news articles, role play, games, debate and student presentations. The underlying aims of the course are to encourage students to:
l Develop a basic knowledge and understanding of the spiritual, moral, cultural, economic, physical and mental development of themselves and others.
l Become self-confident and happy young people.
l Develop a healthy and safe lifestyle.
l Explore and understand the feelings, attitudes and values of themselves and others.
l Develop and practise skills of enquiry and communication.
l Become more responsible for their own learning and behaviour.
l Develop the skills necessary to become informed and responsible citizens.
The following themes form the framework of Year 9 PSHE and Citizenship course, which is delivered via two 50 minute lesson per fortnight.
l My future – Career and educational considerations leading into the GCSE options process; employability and presence.
l Respectful relationships – Families and parenting, healthy relationships, conflict resolution and relationship changes.
l Drugs and alcohol – Alcohol and drug misuse and pressures relating to drug use; substance misuse and gang exploitation.
l Intimate relationships – Relationships and sex education including consent, contraception, the risks of STIs and attitudes to pornography.
The Year 9 Science course has been designed so that it is in line with the English National Curriculum for Science while staying up-to-date and internationally relevant for our students. Biology, Chemistry and Physics will be taught by specialist teachers that covers new content for 3 periods per fortnight of each Science.
The year is split into three blocks of study, each containing a Biology, Chemistry and Physics topic. The topics covered as part of each Science will be:
l Biology – Scientific skills, Plant Biology, Genetics and Inheritance, Ecosystems
l Chemistry – Making materials, Reactivity, atoms elements and compounds
l Physics – Forces and motion, force fields and electromagnets, space.
Students will therefore refine skills around critical evaluation of text and numerical values, data processing and the need to provide a different approach to each scientific discipline..
l Exploring Science textbook.
l BBC Bitesize online Science resources (Key Stage 3 is the correct level but GCSE or Key stage 4 will be appropriate in some cases).
l The Time and Space of Uncle Albert is a book written to explain relativity to young people and deals with quite high level ideas in an original way.
l NEMO Science museum (Rotterdam and Amsterdam).
The aim of the course is to further promote the enjoyment of learning and using Spanish, developing skills gained in Year 8 to a higher level and consolidating the students’ understanding of the language in order to equip them with the tools needed to use Spanish in everyday situations. Their grammatical knowledge will be extended to include a wider range of tenses and structures. Students who arrive in Year 9 with no previous experience of Spanish will be given special help so that as a beginner they can catch up with the work missed in Years 7 and 8.
Students will work with the digital course book Viva 3 Rojo. This follows directly from the course studied in Year 8 and consolidates structures and vocabulary encountered in their first two years of Spanish. Students will cover various topics including The Social Life of Young People, Health and Welfare, Jobs and Future Plans, Holidays and Travel, My role as a Young person in Society and will focus on learning to consolidate the three tenses - past, present and near future and acquiring the imperfect, simple future and conditional tenses. Homework will be set once a fortnight. Students will continue with Spanish as one of the two languages that they study in addition to Dutch.
Students are assessed in the four skills throughout the course and staff will also set homework tasks requiring students to practise and learn core vocabulary and structures. These assessments will then contribute to the attainment grade on grade cards, which are issued throughout the year.
Those students who followed the Year 7 Personal Language Programme at the BSN or who were tested when they arrived in Year 8 or when they arrive in Year 9 and been discovered to have an advanced level of language, either by virtue of their nationality or lengthy residence in a Spanish-speaking country, will continue to be offered an alternative after school Personal Language Programme (or should continue to study with the Spanish Embassy) which aims to maintain the level of their Spanish and promote their knowledge of their home culture and history, in the hope that they will then choose to continue with an Enrichment Programme in Years 10 and 11, preparing them for their GCSE as an extra language at the end of Year 11.
Some students have additional educational needs and have difficulty (temporary or longer term) accessing the curriculum, which requires additional educational provision to be made for them. The aim of the AEN department is to ensure students who have Additional Educational Needs are enabled to make the best possible progress at the BSN and to become independent, confident and successful learners. Students who require additional support in school usually have difficulties in one or more of the following areas:
l Make little or no progress despite the use of targeted teaching approaches and a differentiated curriculum.
l Work at levels significantly below age expectations, particularly in Literacy or Numeracy.
l Present with persistent emotional and/or behavioural difficulties, which have not been managed by appropriate strategies usually employed.
l Have sensory or physical impairments that result in little progress despite the provision of appropriate aids or equipment.
l Have medical needs, which require additional interventions or adaptations to the curriculum in order ensure progress is being made.
l Have poor communication or interaction skills, requiring specific interactions and adaptations to access learning.
The AEN department offers a wide variety of additional interventions, such as:
l Appropriate curriculum teaching groups or setting.
l Assessment by the AEN department – this may be triggered when a student fails to achieve adequate progress, despite having had access to a differentiated programme.
l A student passport, outlining a student’s learning needs, how these are presenting in class and what support is needed in curriculum lessons to ensure good progress.
l Small group support focussing on curriculum support.
l Targeted small group or 1-1 support, in order to improve or manage a student’s specific learning need(s).
l Assessment and/or intervention from specialist agencies when required (this comes at an additional cost to parents).
l In class and 1-1 directed study support from a Learning Support Assistant (this comes at an additional cost to parents).
Parents, students and staff will be informed should a student be identified with additional educational needs. Additional support in the school will always be discussed with the student, parents and teachers to ensure appropriate interventions are in place to meet the student’s individual needs. Interventions and their impact are regularly reviewed with everyone involved and are adjusted when required.
English as an Additional Language (EAL) is available for those students whose personal language is not English. The EAL department supports the mainstream subjects with an integrated programme of listening, speaking, reading and writing.
The backgrounds of the students vary greatly and we like to build on the richness of this cultural diversity. The aim of the teaching is to provide the students with a sufficient level of English to enable them, in due course, to undertake the full academic programme. This means that much of the work is based upon individual needs. Our teaching necessarily focuses on small groups and individuals.
A wide range of audio-visual and paper-based materials is used to facilitate language learning in meaningful and realistic contexts for the age of the students and in close collaboration with subject teachers. In addition to this withdrawal work, we provide support in subject classes to small groups and individuals who are having particular difficulty accessing the curriculum.
The English system is divided into key stages. The section covering Years 7-9 is called Key Stage 3. Key Stage 4 covers Years 10 and 11.
For further details please see; www.gov.uk/national-curriculum
Key Stage 4 covers Years 10 and 11 and is when students study towards GCSE qualifications.
General Certificate of Secondary Education. Examinations are taken at 16 years of age usually in nine, or ten subjects. Grades range from 9 to 1. Higher grades from 9 to 5 are generally accepted as qualifications to begin a course in Year 12. The minimum requirement to enter the Sixth Form at the BSN is five passes at 5, or better. In order to start a particular A Level or IB course subject, most subjects require at least a pass at 6 on a higher paper in that subject or in a related area.
The last two years of formal school education leading to examinations at the end of Year 13 that are used for entry to universities around the world. Students at the BSN study either IBDP, IBCP, A levels and/or BTEC qualifications.
The school is an IB World School and we offer the full IB Diploma alongside A level. Like A level, the IB Diploma is internationally-recognised as a university entrance qualification. Students study six subjects – three at higher and three at standard level – over two years along with a central core which must be passed to gain the final diploma.
The IBCP is an internationally recognised university entrance qualification that has a specific vocational focus. All students will study a core BTEC programme, which has the broad equivalence of 2 ‘A’ levels, combined with two standard level Diploma subjects, chosen from a limited range. Students are also required to follow a “core programme” that includes community service, approaches to learning and an extended reflective project.
Advanced Level. These are examinations which are internationally-recognised as university entrance qualifications. Students usually take these examinations at the age of 18 in Year 13, in three or four subjects.
A vocational qualification that is focused on the world of work. The course is mainly coursework based with no formal examinations at the end of the course.
Here are some website addresses which you might find useful
The National Curriculum online: www.gov.uk/government/collections/nationalcurriculum
Examination Boards:
Pearson - www.aqa.org.uk/
AQA - www.eduqas.co.uk/
International Baccalaureate: www.ibo.org
UCAS: Universities and Colleges Admissions Service www.ucas.co.uk
EUNiCAS: European university Central Application Support Service http://www.eunicas.co.uk
The Department for Education (UK government) www.education.gov.uk
The UK Department for Education www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ department-for-education
The British Council guide for overseas students wishing to study in the UK: https://study-uk.britishcouncil.org
