Welcome to Year 9
Year 9 marks a critical stage in our student’s educational journey, as they have their say in their chosen curriculum. Our Year 9 team will be there to guide and advise you and your family through this process to make sure your child is choosing subjects in line with their interests and future goals. As older students in school, we expect our Year 9 students to demonstrate remarkable behaviour, and to show commitment to our learning habits.
Options
Options are a critical stage in students educational journey, and the first time students have a say in their chosen curriculum.
We advise students to pick subjects that interest them, reflect who they are, and support their ambitions. We encourage students not to rush the decision, to talk to family and friends at home to make sure they are truly making the right choice for them.
The Options Process
- Read the options booklet carefully and more than once
- Attend options evening and talk to staff and family/friends about courses
- Prepare and attend your leadership interview and take on-board the advice
- Complete the options form
Your Team
Our team will be here to support Year 7 students through their transition to secondary school and their first year at Beckfoot.
- Mrs M Godula – Head of Year 9
- Mr B K Dey – Headteacher
- Mrs A Hussain – Assistant Headteacher and Designated Safeguarding Lead
- Mrs L Newcombe – SENDCO
- Mrs E Blyth – Deputy SEND Coordinator
Should you ever have concerns or queries, please contact the school on 01274 493533.
Wider Opportunities
Extracurricular clubs – We are committed to providing as many enrichment activities as possible for our students.
Trips and enrichment experiences run throughout the year and can range from residential trips, subject-specific trips and reward trips.
Enrichment week is the final week of school before Summer, where students will have the opportunity to take part in an activity of their choice.
Year 9
| Subject | Cycle 1 | Cycle 2 | Cycle 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art | Still life Students learn about the formal elements – colour theory and water blending Artistic response to Joel Penkman’s work in different mediums | Continuation of still life Students explore other artists who create artwork inspired by food 3D sculptors using clay/paper mache | Introduction to the history of graffiti Exploring Banksy Creating an artists research page in the the style of Banksy |
| Design Technology | DT Students will carry out their own research of a topic and create an inspiration board to create their own final product. They will then evaluate their product. Project: Students will make a mood light | Food Students will review the Eat Well Guide and break down the importance of each section. Students will understand the importance of nutrients and how to include them in their diet. Students will refine their skills with more complex dishes, understanding health and safety elements of cooking meat and producing meals for dietary requirements. Recipes: Rice salad, swiss roll, chicken fajitas, beef burgers, pasta arrabbiata, and spinach, potato and chickpea curry | Textiles Students will be given a brief and will conduct research around their chosen designs. They will be introduced to screen printing before learning how to create a drawstring channel, seams and adding eyelets Project: Students will make a slogan drawstring bag |
| Geography | How does the physical geography of the Middle East create opportunities and challenges? Students will focus on the landscape of the Middle East, looking at how the geography creates challenges like water scarcity, but also opportunities in the oil industry. Why is economic development within the Middle East uneven? Students will understand the complex nature of contrasting levels of development and the global interest in the region. | What makes Africa a diverse and evolving continent? Students will address and challenge misconceptions about the continent and explore its diversity and links with the wider world. How have physical features affected life in Russia? Students will explore how the physical landscape makes life challenging for the people of Russia but has also provided opportunities. | UK Physical Landscapes How to coastal processes shape the land? How can we protect our coasts? Students will focus on marine and sub-aerial processes between land and sea. They will consider how coastal areas are used by people and explore management strategies. |
| History | The Ottoman Empire – How did a nomadic tribe become the strongest power in the Middle East? World War 2 and the Holocaust
| The fall of the British Empire – How and why did the British Empire decline after WW2? How did immigration from the empire shape modern Britain? The Cold War – What is a cold war? How close did the world come to nuclear war? | 1920s America What were the impacts of the economic boom in the 1920s? Who prospered due to the economic boom and who faced inequalities in society? |
| Computing | Know the types of hardware for making a network Understand how networks are important in the digital age Identify three network topologies Explain the hardware needed to set up LANs and WANs Explain what a client server model is | Web development software – Serif Web Plus Creation of navigation bars Add content to webpages Evaluate theirs and their peers websites | Iteration Store data and update values in lists Understand what a procedure is Sequencing and selection Recall data types and comparison operators Binary, denary and hexadecimal number systems |
| Maths | Fractions and Percentages: Simplifying fractions, working with fractions, fractions and decimals. understanding percentages, percentages of amounts Graphs: Coordinates, linear graphs, real-life graphs, gradient of a line, equation of a line, distance-time graphs Probability: Language of probability, calculating probability, experimental probability, expected outcomes Transformations: Translations, reflection, rotations, enlargements, describing enlargements, combining transformations | Ratio and proportion: Direct proportion, writing ratios, using ratios, ratio proportion and fractions, proportion and percentages, proportion and graphs Line and angles: Measuring and drawing angles, lines, angles and triangles, drawing triangles accurately, calculating angles, angles in triangles, quadrilaterals Right angled triangles: Pythagoras’ theorem, trigonometry – sine ratio, cosine ratio, tangent ratio, finding lengths and angles using trigonometry | Sequences and graphs: Pattern sequences, coordinates and midpoints, extending sequences, straight line graphs, position to term rules Probability: Calculating probabilities, two event probabilities, experimental probabilities, venn diagrams, tree diagrams Transformation: Congruency and enlargements, symmetry, reflection, rotation, translations Multiplicative reasoning: Growth and decay, compound measures, distance, speed and time, direct and indirect proportion |
| Music | Ground bass variations: Pupils continue to develop their understanding of musical forms and structures through a solo and ensemble performance of Time Lapse by the film composer Nyman. | Film music: Pupils continue to develop their compositional skills through the composition of a Leitmotif for a chosen character from a film. Pupils create s storyboard and compose an appropriate underscore for the scene. | Music production: Pupils begin to develop a basic understanding of music production techniques using sequencing software to create a basic music track composition. |
| pshce | PSHCE at BUH: students will be introduced to the key PSHCE topics that will form the basis of PSHCE at BUH, based on school priorities. Healthy lifestyle: Students will explore how to live a healthy lifestyle focusing on diet, exercise, lifestyle balance and healthy choices. | Options and employability skills: Students will explore their employability skills and link them to career opportunities available to them, they will also prepare for GCSE choices as they explore the requirements for different roles Under the influence: Students will explore peer influence and the effect of substance abuse and gangs. They will explore healthy and unhealthy friendships, assertiveness, substance abuse and gang exploitation. | Life in modern Britain: Students will explore what it means to be British and how migration and multiculturalism has influenced Britain today, and also the influence of the media. Ur choice: This will explore healthy and respectful relationships with family and parents. They will explore the fundamentals of intimate relationships including the concepts of love and commitment, and teenage relationship abuse and contraception. |
| Science | B1: Cell biology CI: Atomic structure and the periodic table | P1: Energy | B2: Organisation C2: Bonding and the properties of matter |
| English | ‘The Gothic’: Students will study ‘the Gothic’ through a range of texts centred around this concept. Students will encounter language and contexts from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Students will also study identity poetry through a range of 20th and 21st century texts. | Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Students will explore the modern context of Nigeria as a way into the text before analysing important themes and techniques used to structure a 20th century novel. | An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley: Students will study a challenging text linked to the idea of ‘society and inequality’. They will learn to appreciate how writers’ construct play to convey a political message and link context including socialist and capitalist ideology and gender inequality. |
| French | Identity and culture – AQA Module 1: Revising family members, revising places in town, revising activities and time, describing people’s personality, describing people’s appearance, talking about relationship, what makes a good friend, making arrangements to go out, describing a day our with friends and role models | Identity and culture – AQA Module 2: Revising leisure activities, revising films and going to the cinema, talking about sports, using the internet, talking about reading, talking about hobbies, talking about TV programmes, describing a night out | Identity and culture – AQA Module 3: Talking about food and meals, discussing clothes and what to wear, talking about daily routine, shopping for clothes, shopping for food, describe festivals and traditions, talking about food at home vs special occasions and congratulation |
| PE | Table tennis, netball, basketball. hockey, badminton, dance, football, handball | Fitness, badminton, football, basketball | Hockey, fitness, badminton, OAA, athletics, cricket, rounders |
| Urdu | Identity and culture: Revising family members, describing people, places in town, activities and times, talking about friends, talking about relationship, making arrangement to go out, describing night out with friends, talking about role model, when I was younger | Identity and culture: Leisure activities, films and going to the cinema, sports, using the internet, hobbies, TV programmes, describing a night out | Identity and culture: Talking about food and meals, discussing clothes and what to wear, daily routine, shopping for clothes, shopping for food, festivals and traditions, food at home vs special occasions, congratulations |