ENGLISH

This week KS4 classes delivered presentations which they had been preparing on a topic of personal interest. Students presented in an engaging manner and made use of various resources to further interest the class and explain their topics. Succeeding this, students were asked questions and the class discussed the strengths of their presentations. KS4 also began two new texts this week: Animal Farm and An Inspector Calls, both a part of the British literary canon. Sixth form continued with their study of their respective novels: The Handmaid’s Tale and The Kite Runner. Students are starting to develop their essay writing skills, their ability to analyse language and structure as well as look at texts in a critical and exploratory manner.

Year 7 has been continuing to develop their reading, comprehending skills, and understanding of texts through our novel study, Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life. Rafe, our main character, has set out on a mission to make school more exciting and of course, win the heart of his true love Jeanne Galletta. The students have been really enjoying the novel and are excited to join Rafe in his continuing adventures.

SCIENCE

Three hectic weeks have passed and our students have really picked up the pace. The Y12 have gone deep into the world of Mechanics and are getting their inquiry and problem-solving skills sharpened. The year 11 have just completed the section on Sound Waves while the Year 10 have almost finished with their first unit on Motion. Well done to the physics students for their effort.

The Year 7 science class is busy with research and poster designing for the section on Energy. We hope to display this next week. The Year 9 have started Reaction Rates and are starting to realize the importance of this on everyday life.

MATH

Year 9 continued to work on improving their skills in Algebra. Students learnt how to factorise algebraic expressions, in particular difference of two squares and monic quadratic expressions. It was great to see students getting really competitive in solving harder questions and making sure they’d completed all set work.

Year 11 students demonstrated a sound understanding of working out n-th term of number sequences and worked out Gauss problem:

Find the following sum: 1+2+3+4+…+97+98+99+100.

It took them less than 10 minutes to come up with the right answer!

Year 12 students learnt how to solve simultaneous equations by two different methods: elimination and substitution and acquired skills in displaying a graphical solution to two equations. They have also started new module of AS course Statistics and demonstrated a good understanding of main concepts learnt in IGCSE course.

Year 13 students have started Mechanics Unit and continued with the Core module studying exponential and logarithmic graphs and equations. They have displayed a growing confidence in solving problems involving motion in a straight line with constant acceleration and applying S-U-V-A-T formulas in various contexts.

MUSIC

Such a great week we had in music lessons.

5th grade studied the music of Ancient Greece. We talked about the Greek gods. We made up beats with their names.

Grade 6 students studied Aztec music. The Aztecs had such wonderful drums.

Grades 4 and 3 studied music in Ancient Egypt. We talked about dynamics in music. We found definitions of PIANO and FORTE in music.

Grades 1 and 2 began to learn new songs about Friendship. Music games help us hear different sounds and focus on the melody.

In high school, we talked about the soundtrack to music. How and when did early film music appear. Another part of our lessons is to learn notes and play them on the piano keyboard. The students liked it.

HUMANITIES

This week we have been delighted to introduce Mr White, our new Humanities Teacher, to students. Mr White will be teaching via Zoom until he arrives in Moscow in October. Students have been very receptive to these Zoom lessons, reading the book Warhorse, studying the Battle of Hastings in 1066, and continuing their journey into the causes of the Slave Trade. In IGCSE and A Level the students have been working with Miss Hitchcocks on the Peace Treaties after World War One, The Russian Revolution and the French Revolution. Students at A Level are learning how to conduct research for their studies independently, thus preparing them for university.