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 for the subject page.

If you would like to speak to us about any aspect of our curriculum, please get in touch.

Art

  • Hundertwasser
  • Hockney Landscape painting

Computing

Autumn term

  • Cyber crime
  • ICT In business

Spring term

  • iMedia project
  • Python

Summer term

  • Home technology
  • Emerging technologies

Dance

Autumn term

  • Rosie Kay

Spring term

  • Emancipation of expressionism

Summer term

  • Nutcracker ballet

Design and technology

Please note that that due to the different classes within a year group, students do not follow a set termly curriculum for Design and technology. Instead, all students will complete all of the below topics during different terms throughout the academic year.

Food

  • Further development of core skills
  • Planning and cooking dishes for a child

DT

  • Woodwork – Snap and grab
  • Pencil stand
  • Metals practical – Aluminium key tag

Textiles/Graphics

  • TBC

Drama

Autumn term

  • Physical theatre
  • DNA by Dennis Kelly

Spring term

  • Surrealism
  • 9/11 themed performance works

Summer term

  • Devising 9/11
  • Dragon’s Den

English language and literature

Autumn term

Orangeboy (novel)

  • Explore the function and distinct voices of characters. Narrative structure. Descriptive detail in crafting characters, settings and key events.
  • Differentiate between inference and deduction.
  • Extend knowledge of writers’ craft: plot, characterisation, descriptive detail, how to create suspense and the impact on the reader.
  • Analyse writers’ intentions
  • Foreshadowing, suspense, tension
  • Motif

Spring term

The Ostrich Boys (modern play)

  • Develop understanding of modern drama. Revisit and extend knowledge of modern drama conventions: stage directions, characterisation, different narrative voices, form, structure, language, tension, flashbacks, foreshadowing.
  • Explore the function of different characters
  • Explore the relationships between characters
  • Explore the barriers between characters
  • Explore the symbolism of props and motifs

Summer term

The Woman in Black

  • Introducing a novella.
  • Layered narrative structure
  • Gothic conventions
  • Exploring the fear of the unknown and the reliability of the narrator.
  • Exploring the function of the narrator
  • Exploring the barriers of fear and isolation
  • Exploring the function of setting
  • Motif

GCSE Poetry Anthology

  • Revision and development of poetry analysis skills
  • Introducing a poetry anthology
  • Introduction to GCSE texts and literature AOs
  • Focus on language, structure, terminology and effect on reader
  • Selecting evidence precisely to illustrate understanding of writers’ methods and intentions

Geography

Autumn term

  • Climate change
  • Ice landscapes

Spring term

  • Tourism
  • Tectonic hazards

Summer term

  • Weather hazards
  • Resources management

History

Autumn term

  • Black, British, belonging
  • USA Civil Rights

Spring term

  • Liberal warfare reforms
  • Development and status on Women

Summer term

  • The impact of the second world war
  • Elizabethan government and society

Mathematics

Foundation

Autumn term

  • Place value, rounding, estimating
  • Directed number
  • HCF/LCM
  • Algebraic manipulation
  • Angles
  • Sequences
  • Fractions

Spring term

  • Solving equations
  • 2D shape
  • Percentages
  • Index laws

Summer term

  • Ratio & proportion
  • Analysing data
  • 3d shape
  • Coordinates and linear graphs
  • Representing data
  • Probability

Higher

Autumn term

  • HCF/LCM
  • Index laws
  • Standard form
  • Congruence and similarity
  • Manipulating quadratics
  • Fractions and reciprocals
  • Solving equations and rearranging formula

Spring term

  • Analysing data
  • 2D shapes
  • Ratio and proportion
  • Angles
  • Percentages

Summer term

  • Sequences
  • Pythagoras
  • Trigonometry
  • Real life graphs
  • Representing data
  • Transformations
  • Scale drawings & bearings

Modern foreign languages

Spanish

Autumn term

  • Personal Interests
  • Jobs
  • Clothing/Fashion
  • Shopping
  • Returning Items
  • Culture: Los Reyes Magos

Spring term

  • Talking about Daily Routines
  • Family relationships
  • Exploring South American Culture

Summer term

  • Planning a trip across South America
  • Global issues
  • Cutlure: The Amazon

French

Autumn term

  • Jobs
  • Future plans
  • Talking about earning money
  • Music and concerts
  • Culture: Christmas Traditions

Spring term

  • Food
  • Eating habits
  • The natural world
  • Helping the environment
  • Holidays

Summer term

  • Francophone countries
  • Famous French people
  • Describing future plans
  • Francophone artists

Music

Autumn term

  • Music for stage and screen
  • Somewhere Over The Rainbow
  • Jingle Bells

Spring term

  • Ukelele
  • Great composers

Summer term

  • Musical variations
  • Composition
  • Brit Pop

Music Development Plan

Physical education

Autumn term

  • Rugby
  • Trampolining
  • Netball
  • Handball

Religious studies*

Autumn term

  • Buddhism
  • Science and religion

Spring term

  • Life and death

Summer term

  • Crime and punishment
  • War and peace

* Parents and carers have the right to request their child is withdrawn from all or parts of religious studies. Requests can be made by contacting the academy at office@retfordoaks-ac.org.uk

Science

Autumn term

  • Cell Biology
  • Atomic Structure and the Periodic Table
  • Atomic Structure (Physics)
  • Consolidation

Spring term

  • Infection and Response
  • Particle Theory
  • The Atmosphere
  • Electromagnetism
  • Consolidation

Summer term

  • Bioenergetics
  • Ecology Part 2
  • Sustainable Development
  • Revision for End of Year Exams