GEOGRAPHY
Our second week of online learning is drawing to an end and I want to congratulate my students once again on their commitment and efforts. Their maturity in dealing with e-learning has made my job as their teacher a little easier. The Year 7 students continued with their topic Rivers focusing on the importance of rivers and how they are used today. The Year 8 students are busy with the topic Coasts looking at how our coastline must be protected and limiting erosion. The Year 9 students continued with the topic Russia concentrating on biomes and the different climatic regions within Russia. We have had conference calls with every lesson and the majority of students have been in attendance.
MATH
I am excited for the work the students have done and they are doing very well. The year 7 Are calculating angles in triangles and quadrilaterals whereas the Year 8’s is solving algebraic expressions this week. Year 9 is solving equations graphically where they draw graphs and then solve problems using this graph. Year 11 is revising Percentage change and taxation. Doing Maths on the internet is challenging but if you are enthusiastic, hardworking and prepared you will always enjoy it.
MUSIC
Year 7 is going through the Variations form in music and this week they went very deep to the Ground Bass. Year 8 is working on Riffs and Hooks in popular music and this week they learnt riff and the melody of We Will Rock You by Queen. Year 9 is investigating jazz and blues. They recorded at home their C-Jam blues melodies, bass lines and improvisations. They are ready to jam! Also, Year 9 is working on Senorita song arrangement.
HISTORY
History has been busy for years 7 and 8 this week. Students in Year 7 has been studying the different jobs that people had in a medieval castle and producing structured written answers arguing which person’s job they thought the most important. In Year 8, students are continuing to study the French Revolution and this week have been learning about the character of Louis XVI and how Louis’s personal flaws contributed to the revolution. Both classes attended online conferences with the teacher to answer questions about the topics they are studying.
ENGLISH
In English we have continued furthering the pupils’ learning and understanding in our virtual classrooms.
In Year 7 we have delved further into the mysterious character from Transylvania. Why does he want to move to London? Why is he alluring? Who is the strange crazy old man warning people? The class have enjoyed reading about the 19th Century’s most fearsome character and learning about Gothic literature and how connects with modern life, literature, film and fashion.
The Year 8s have continued the descent into chaos and violence in Lord of the Flies. The Chapter Painted Faces and Long Hair is the point in the story when the group of stranded boys have changed from being respectable, orderly and well-mannered English school boys into wild beings with basic animal instincts. It is very interesting as the teacher to observe the class’ reactions and opinions to the text as they realise that without order (including parents, teachers and others in authority) comfortable life can quickly deteriorate and bullies can take over. Will the group survive? Will they be rescued? The class is eagerly reading through the chapters.
The Year 9 class have also been studying Gothic literature in Charles Dickens’ The Signal-Man – a ghost story about a haunted man who is responsible for maintaining safety on a railway line. Based on an actual deadly train crash Dickens himself was involved in, we have looked at the different aspects of Gothic literature which help create a dark and mysterious atmosphere. Just who is the narrator? Is he a trustworthy confidant? Or is he a harbinger of doom brining death to a man who wasted great opportunities as a youth and refused to recover? The ending and final scene create a lot of debate and theory. Is it just literature, or a true reflection of life?
The Year 11 class has been less fortunate in their studies, with no dark or secretive characters to analyse, but to carry on with their exam studies. Regardless of the current situation, preparation for the final examinations continues
RUSSIAN
We are studying Russian according to the planning. Many thanks to the Y1 parents for their effort and help. Y8 and Y9 are working actively in Secondary. All the students are trying to do their best.
FRENCH
During our second week of online learning children have got very engaged in French lessons. Primary and secondary pupils participate actively both in conference calls and in assignments. This week pupils studied various topics as health and well-being questions, superstitions in different countries, rules, going shopping, places in the city, clothes of different counties, etc. Online learning keeps them very interested in doing interactive tasks and increased their interest in learning French.
