Humanities & Languages

What are our Junior School students learning about in Humanities this week whilst on Remote Learning?

All of our Junior School students are currently focusing on History for the term and all with a very different focus but all still so relevant to the present.

Year 7 – Our students have begun their studies on Ancient Greece with a particular focus on the rise of city-states, namely Athens and Sparta. No doubt there will some ‘healthy’ debate amongst students as to their preferred city-states by the end of their comparison of what each city-state had to offer.

Year 8 – Have begun their studies on Medieval Europe with an introduction into the structure of Feudalism and its hierarchy. They will also explore the roles, responsibilities and privileges of each class to better understand the strengths and the weaknesses of the feudal system.

We shall see whether or not students question if this system is somewhat still in place and whether or not they identity a class system in the present. Perhaps a discussion parents can also have at home.

Year 9 – Students are currently exploring the problems caused by the Industrial Revolution as a mass exodus of people from rural Britain makes its way into the cities in search for work in factories. What does this mean for the country/ the world, the structure of towns/ cities, the rise in children working and for the changes in working conditions to come as reforms are made to protect individuals?

Ms Su-Nhi Kim

Humanities & Language Co-ordinator

What are our Junior School students focusing on in Chinese at the current time?

This term during remote learning, students have been working on a mix of Chinese cultural and language units. The aim of these have been to build up students’ familiarity with reading and writing, while also expanding on the rich history and culture of China.

The Year 7 students have undertaken a lesson on Beijing Opera, where they have looked at its origins, as well as the symbolism behind the different masks and colours. For the language units, the Year 7 students have built upon the skills used in the ‘Mayo Game’ to ask questions in Chinese about general stationary items.

Developing on the Province Posters from last term, the Year 8 students have been learning about cuisine in the North-east of China. This has helped to build a picture that not all Chinese food is the same, and that different areas have their own unique flavours and styles. For the language units, the Year 8 have been refining their reading skills using their 150-character wordlist.

I have been very happy with the initiative and enthusiasm the Year 7 and 8 students have shown throughout Chinese remote learning.

Scoresby Secondary students have shown once again that lockdown cannot shut-down the school spirit!

Mr Patrick Dempsey

Chinese