In year 8 students have 25 lessons a week.
Below is a general overview of the topics students are taught throughout the year in each subject.
For a more in depth outline of each subject please click on the link (in each drop down) to view the full subject page.
If you would like to speak to us about any aspect of our curriculum please get in touch.
Autumn term
Baseline and Hucknall
Spring term
Still life ‘generations’ and portrait
Summer term
Wider world and recycled art
Autumn term
• Computing understanding – introducing computer science
• Cyber bullying – design and develop an anti-cyber bullying video
Spring term
• Superhero website – using HTML to design a website about a superhero
• Datasheep – students must design a fit-for-purpose database
Summer term
• Multi-level game design – using Kodu Game Lab to develop a game with at least three levels
• Computing knowledge and safety – malware and other threats to online safety
Technology rotation
Product design – trinket box: students will apply basic CAD design and apply basic joints to a wooden box.
Visit our product design page for more information
Food and nutrition – health and safety along with exploration of nutrition, cutting techniques and characteristics of a broad range of food.
Visit our food and nutrition page for more information
Textiles – Dias de los Muertos: students will explore the design aspects of this festival to create a 3D textile piece looking at key stitches.
Visit our creative textiles page for more information
Photography
Visit our photography page for more information
Graphic communication – students are given a design brief to design and make a new toy box.
Autumn term
Blood Brothers scripted
Spring term
Devising/practitioners
Summer term
Craig and Bentley (historical)
Autumn term
Crime and detective fiction.
Rationale: Students dive into gripping mysteries, exploring how writers create suspense and intrigue. They sharpen analytical reading skills and develop powerful, purposeful writing – building confidence for GCSE and beyond.
Key knowledge:
Key vocabulary:
Key skills:
Spring term
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.
Rationale: Students explore character, conflict, and motivation in one of Shakespeare’s most iconic plays, developing insightful analysis for GCSE study. Their writing hones creative voice, structure, and viewpoint, bringing passion and purpose to their work.
Key knowledge:
Key vocabulary:
Key skills:
Summer term
Dystopian fiction: The Hunger Games
Rationale: Students step into a world of power, control, and rebellion as they explore how writers create tension and meaning. Inspired by the novel, they design and describe their own arenas, using imaginative and powerful writing to bring their ideas to life.
Key knowledge:
Key vocabulary:
Key skills:
Autumn term
Thematic contexts: Lifestyle and wellbeing
Spring term
Thematic contexts: Media and technology, my neighbourhood
Summer term
Thematic contexts: Travel and tourism
Year 8 topic order:
Autumn term
The Tudors
• Who was Martin Luther?
• What was the Reformation?
• Why did Henry VIII break from Rome?
• Was Mary Tudor ‘Bloody Mary’?
• Why did Elizabeth defeat the Spanish Armada?
• Lives of Black Tudors including John Blanke, Mary Fillis and Diego
The Stuarts
• Was the Gunpowder Plot a conspiracy?
• Why was there a civil war?
• Why was Charles I executed?
• How was England governed without a monarch?
• Why were so many people accused of witch craft?
• Why did so many people die of plague?
Spring term
Empire
• European exploration of the New World
• What was the British Empire?
• How should the British Empire be remembered?
• British rule in America
• The impact of the empire on India
• The scramble for Africa
• The legacy of the British Empire
Slavery
• The transatlantic slave trade
• Life on the Middle Passage
• Life on the plantations
• Slave resistance
• Who benefitted from slavery?
• Nottinghamshire and slavery
• The abolition of slavery
• Modern slavery
• Modern racial attitudes
Summer term
Industrial Revolution
Democracy and society
Autumn term
Fractions, conversions and statistics
Spring term
Algebra, area and 3D shapes
Summer term
Ratio, proportions and angles
Autumn term
Find your voice 3
Keyboard skills
Spring term
Samba
Keyboard skills 4
Summer term
The Blues
Rap music
Autumn term
Hinduism – me myself and I – healthy choices
Spring term
Inspirational people/Islam (see RE curriculum), sex and relationships
Summer term
Civil rights rules and laws – local government careers
Students study the same activities in years 7 to 9 as this gives them the opportunity to show a greater level of progression in their tactical awareness, knowledge of the rules and skill level in each of the activities.
| Girls | Boys |
| Trampolining | Football |
| Table tennis | Rugby |
| Dance | Handball |
| Handball | Boxercise |
| Boxercise | Trampolining |
| Netball | Table tennis |
| Rounders | Rounders |
| Athletics | Athletics |
| Fitness | Fitness |
| Football | Cricket |
| Tag rugby | Softball |
| Frisbee |
Islam
Beliefs, Practices, Festivals
Inspirational people
Malala, Martin Luther King, Oscar Romero
Ethics
Natural Law, Utilitarianism, Kantian Ethics
Image of God
Islamophobia, importance of humans, justice and equality.
Autumn term
Spring term
Summer term
