Lower secondary

Learners develop skills and understanding in four areas: reading, writing, speaking and listening. They will learn how to communicate effectively and respond to a range of information, media and texts to:

• become confident communicators, able to apply all four skills effectively in everyday situations
• see themselves as readers, engaging with a range of texts for information and for pleasure, including texts from different times and cultures
• see themselves as writers, using the written word clearly and creatively for a range of different audiences and purposes.
  

Learners develop a holistic understanding of the subject, focussing on principles, patterns, systems, functions and relationships. They will become mathematically competent and fluent in computation, which they can apply to everyday situations.

‘Thinking and working mathematically’, a unique feature of our curriculum, encourages learners to talk with others, challenge ideas and to provide evidence that validates conjectures and solutions. When learners are thinking and working mathematically, they actively seek to make sense of ideas and build connections between different facts, procedures and concepts. This supports higher order thinking that helps them to view the world in a mathematical way. Learners will develop skills in: Number, Geometry and Measure and Statistics and Probability.

Students develop thinking and practical skills alongside knowledge and understanding, all of which are vital for explaining the world around us. Awareness of science in this way helps develop their sense that ‘science is for me’ and connects each child to the subject. This approach gives them the knowledge and skills they need to excel in later stages of their education and to make informed choices around areas such as sustainability and meeting the challenges facing our environment.

The curriculum covers six main areas, or ‘strands’, that work together to develop scientific skills holistically:

• Biology – living things and how they interact.
• Chemistry – the study of matter.
• Physics – the interaction of matter and energy.
• Earth and Space – planet Earth, the wider Solar System and beyond.
• Thinking and Working Scientifically – develops understanding and skills of scientific models and representations, scientific enquiry and practical work.
• Science in Context – helps students see the relevance and application of science
  

Global Perspectives is made up of a series of Challenges. There are six Challenges a year. Each Challenge is subdivided into a range of activities, and covers a range of skills. History is incorporated into Global Perspectives to offer students the opportunity to experience interdisciplinary learning (IDL).

The skills are taught through a wide range of topics using a personal, local and global perspective. These topics are the same as the Cambridge IGCSE syllabus, allowing students to develop and embed cross-curricular skills at an earlier age. Students look at a variety of global issues or topics that give a range of contexts and link to the Green Shoots Global Citizenship programme. 

Digital literacy is an essential skill for learners of all ages, including lower secondary students. The digital world allows us to connect, collaborate, innovate and discover new information on an ever-broadening scale, and learners must be able to effectively use technology from the very beginning of their educational journey. This subject is taught both interdisciplinarily as well as in stand alone lessons focusing on Coding and Computer Science. 

Physical education is a vital part of a balanced school curriculum. Regular exercise improves physical and mental health and there is growing evidence that it improves academic performance across the curriculum. Establishing good patterns of exercise in lower secondary school provides learners with the foundation of an active and healthy lifestyle.

This subject is about learning to move and moving to learn. Learners develop skills through a wide variety of age-appropriate physical activities, including games, team sports, gymnastics and dance. 

Learning a foreign language provides an opening to other cultures. Our Key Stage 3 Foreign Language programme provides opportunities for students to communicate for practical purposes, learn new ways of thinking and read great literature in the original language. Students will:

• understand and respond to spoken and written language from a variety of authentic sources
• speak with increasing confidence, fluency and spontaneity, finding ways of communicating what they want to say, including through discussion and asking questions, and continually improving the accuracy of their pronunciation and intonation
• write at varying length, for different purposes and audiences, using the variety of grammatical structures that they have learnt 
• discover and develop an appreciation of a range of writing in the language studied.
  

Global Citizenship is a unique subject at Green Shoots which aims to develop students’ understanding of their local environment and the community they live in through a combination of theoretical, practical, and outdoor learning activities. With the Sustainability Compass as a point of reference, students explore school and local sustainability issues, and apply practical skills in order to create solutions for the community we live in. 

Art & Design gives learners a platform to express themselves, sparking imagination, creativity and developing transferable skills. Students explore and push boundaries to become reflective, critical and decisive thinkers. They learn how to articulate personal responses to their experiences. Students develop creative skills that will help with many aspects of their future learning and development.

Music fosters creativity and builds confidence. It helps learners to express themselves and shows them the importance of communication as they learn to connect with other musicians and with audiences. Learners explore music as performers, composers and informed listeners. They make, understand and appreciate music from different cultures, times and places, helping them to develop leadership and collaboration skills as well as self-confidence.

Drama enables students to participate in and gain knowledge, skills and understanding associated with the artistic practice of drama. Students will adopt, create and sustain a range of roles, responding appropriately to others in role. They will have opportunities to improvise, devise and script drama for one another and a range of audiences, as well as to rehearse, refine, share and respond thoughtfully to drama and theatre performances.

Drama enables students to participate in and gain knowledge, skills and understanding associated with the artistic practice of drama. Students will adopt, create and sustain a range of roles, responding appropriately to others in role. They will have opportunities to improvise, devise and script drama for one another and a range of audiences, as well as to rehearse, refine, share and respond thoughtfully to drama and theatre performances.