Message from the Head of Secondary - Curriculum Information 26 March 2020

Dear Parents

It has been a unique week, apart from the week before that! However, the resilience, application and adaptability of our amazing students has shown what can be achieved. This week Form Tutors have spoken on Zoom with their Tutees and I have had the opportunity to speak directly with Year 9 and Year 11. It is both uplifting (and a little bit sad) to see their faces and hear their voices. We miss them very much and we look forward to re-establishing some normality once the current situation passes.

The reduction of daily on-line sessions was a priority this week and feedback from students and parent is that they appreciate more space. Interactive lessons in Maths, English and Science are now established throughout the school and, despite some minor connectivity issues last Monday, have gone smoothly. We are trying to maintain routine as much as possible. To this end, we appreciate parents encouraging their children to be online by 7.40. We finish lessons at the normal time (14.00) and no 'homework' should be set over and above that. We are aware that screen time needs to be considered and that everyone should be trying to move away from the computer, do some exercise or talk - for real!

Ministry guidelines for Arabic and Islamic Studies have been communicated to students and parents by Mrs. Nehad. Although the number of lessons has not been reduced the actual structure of lessons is sensibly adapted to allow students space, whilst maintaining their momentum.

We are extremely grateful for all the support being provided by parents. We know you are there, in the background and are helping to establish routines and maintain some semblance of normality. Thank you for all your messages of support and for all your hard work at home. We are a team, we are all an extended team, using distance learning and technology to get through this period of instability.

The holiday is imminent, and it struck me that 'engagement' with students online is as high, or possibly higher, than normal due to significantly less travel being undertaken. Please try to enjoy the break, even if it is just to have less screen time. We will all reconnect in two weeks.

Yours sincerely,

Ken Haggarty

The Department of Arabic Language, Islamic Education and Qatar history began this week applying the policy and approach of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education to distance learning.

Our students have made us proud by working exceptionally hard this week, they have been disciplined and interested in their lessons on a daily basis.

I would also like to thank all the students and parents for their continual communication with us and their understanding of the changes that occurred during the implementation of the new approach received from the Ministry of Education.

We always follow the MOE&HE's directives on any matters relating to the three compulsory subjects of Arabic language, Islamic Studies and Qatar History. We will continue to implement these for the benefit of the students and to raise their efficiency and capabilities in each subject.

Year 7 will continue their research and analysis of Artwork by Elizabeth Murray by drawing shapes from her Artwork and learning how to use coloured pencils to build and blend colours,

Year 8 will have completed their Cubist Artist research and analysis. They will complete their compare and contrast exercise. If they are finished, they will begin to take selfie photographs of themselves from different angles.

Year 9 will are continuing with their drawing activities. They will also look at perspective and how they can use it.

Year 10 will continue to develop their skills in using coloured pencils to recreate elements of her work in preparation for their own Abstract Artwork.

Year 11 are working on their exam preparation and are developing ideas for their final pieces.

Year 10 – Students will continue studying Topic 3 (Finance). Students will learn all about how to calculate costs and the varying costs accompanied within a business.

Year 11 – Students will be revising Topic 4 – Marketing and practising answering 12-marker questions using past exam papers.

Year 7 – Students will learn what RLE is. They will then learn how RLE works and takes place.

Year 8 – Students will learn how to read an algorithm and be able to determine outputs from different inputs.

Year 9 – Students will learn all about arrays within programming. They will first learn about the use and how to use 1D arrays and then move onto 2D arrays.

Year 10 – Students will be continue practising their programming by completing a range of challenges. This will all be done using Python Programming.

Year 11 – Students will complete a range of challenges in programming and we will be going through different ways a program can be improved.

After the term break in Design and Technology:

Year 7 will be continuing to focus on their graphic skills, presentation and rendering (One Point and Two Point Perspective). Other classes will be – completing their work on the papers and boards project. Students will be adding their own smart technologies to make their paper more sustainable and suggesting a number of ways to make paper production more sustainable.

In Year 8 some Design and Technology classes will be gaining an understanding of different types of wood, metal and plastic. Students will be researching each material and considering how they will present the information about their properties, characteristics, advantages, disadvantages and uses. Other classes will be producing their final design of their board game, adding shading and using a range of drawing techniques to create a realistic looking board game.

In Year 9 classes will be continuing with the sustainability theme and creating an attractive building design suitable for a specific target market. They will need to focus on their graphic skills, presentation and rendering.

Year 10 students will be introduced to a mini product design project. This will give them the opportunity to develop their graphic skills, presentation and rendering. They will cover unit 1.17 which is learning how to creatively and effectively communicate their design ideas. Other Year 10 groups will be looking at different areas of research and will be able to justify their use.

Year 11 students will investigate and analyse the work of past and present professionals and companies in order to inform designs. They will be able to demonstrate their understanding that all design and technological activity takes place in contexts that influence the outcomes of design practice.

Year 7 have been working on reading comprehension with a particular focus on comprehending information leaflets based on Time and Bullying.

Year 8 are concluding their study of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The main themes of the play were discussed previously and they were looking at Tybalt’s rage and how his attitude resulted in his death plus the Friar’s role. Other varied creative tasks were dependent on your child’s set.

Year 9 are this week concluding their study of the dark, macabre world of Macbeth with the aid of the BBC’s creative revision quizzes and tasks.

Year 10 continue to revise, annotate and re- read the texts not yet covered in the English Anthology including: La Belle, Night and The Chinese Cinderella.

Meanwhile our resilient Year 11s are concluding their past paper practice of the most recent English Language IGCSE exam from January 2020 - worth 60% of the real exam.

Thank you from The English Department to all our dedicated students and determined, patient parents for their continued support during extraordinary times!

Year 7

• New topic – Introduction to Africa

Year 8

• New topic – Introduction to Russia

Year 9

• Set 1 – New topic – welcome to India
• Set2/3 – New topic- Global ecosystems

Year 10

• To Learn the formation of Salt marshes
• To learn about the threats to the salt marsh ecosystem

Year 11

• To recall, consolidate and revise.
• To recall, consolidate and revise.

Year 7

• Explore how and why the British empire began and to examine the significance of key individuals in the growth of the British empire.

Year 8

• To describe how towns changed during the Industrial Revolution.
• To prioritise information, choosing the most useful and relevant evidence from your work.
• To make connections to prior learning in order to explain why living conditions were so poor.

Year 9

• Understand why there was tension in Europe in 1905.
• Understand the reasons why the Triple Entente was formed.
• Understand how the alliance system could be seen by some as a system that kept the peace and by others as making war more likely.

Year 10

Lesson 1:

• Understand the different circumstances of the Yalta and Potsdam Conference.
• Understand the key features of the Yalta and Potsdam conferences.
• Understand the different outlooks and aims of the Big Three before, during and after the Yalta Conference.

Lesson 2:

• Understand the key features of the Potsdam Conference
• Understand the different outlooks and aims of the Big Three before, during and after the Potsdam Conference
• Understand the impact of the atomic bomb on the Potsdam Conference

Year 7 students will be studying factors and multiples

Year 8 students will be studying written and calculator methods of Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication and Division.

Year 9 students will be studying

• Writing numbers as a product of prime factors
• Finding HCF and LCM

Year 10 students will be studying

• Changing Recurring decimals to fraction
• Using a calculator for more complex problems

Year 7 - Develop vocalisation skills with a focus on performing simple melodic passages while using solfege hand signs

Year 8 - Develop vocalisation skills with a focus on recognizing minor tonality and performing more complex passages while using solfege hand signs.

Year 9 - Introduction of Personal Project - An independent musical exploration through a choice of either Performance or Composition or Musical Analysis.

Year 11 - Composition work leading toward completion of the assessment.

French:

Year 7 will be giving their opinion of their favourite sports in detail

Year 8 will be describing what you can find in their house!

Year 9 will be writing about what jobs they will do in the future

Year 10 will be practicing jhpw to use the past and the imperfect tenses

Year 11 will be using the VLE record function to create answers and self-assess their speaking work.

Spanish:

Year 7 will be describing their families and friends

Year 8 will be talking about going out with their friends

Year 9 will be talking about travelling to Spain!

Year 10 will be describing the house of their dreams!

Year 11 will be using the VLE record function to create answers and self-assess their speaking work.

Greetings from the PE Department! What a great week we have had in PE staying as active and fit as possible at home.

Year 7:

• Set 1 - Atoms and Elements, we will be looking at the structure of the atom and exploring its subatomic particles.
• Set 2 - Sound and Ecosystems : We will be covering various topics including how sound is propagated, transmitted and it is properties
• Set 3 - Atoms and Elements, we will be looking at the structure of the atom and exploring its subatomic particles.
• Set 4 - Atoms and Elements, we will be looking at the structure of the atom and exploring its subatomic particles.

Year 8 All: Unicellular organisms - we will be exploring various unicellular organisms, including the protoctists and viruses.

Year 9:

• Set 1 - Structure and Function: we will be looking at the first section of IGCSE biology, covering cells and cellular structures
• Set 2 - Structure and Function: we will be looking at the first section of IGCSE biology, covering cells and cellular structures
• Set 3 - Mass and weight: we will be looking at the differences between mass and weight

Year 10:

• Set C & E Biology - Plant transport
• Chemistry - Extraction of metals We will be looking at the reactivity of metals affect how they are found, mined and extracted in nature
• Physics Set C - Energy, power and heat transfer: We will be covering the connections between energy and power and how heat is transfer in nature.
• Physics Set E -We will be studying Density and how it is related to pressure in matter.

Year 11: We will be looking at the universe and stars, the final topic in the course.