Earth

Raf's group: This term, Earth students completed an in-depth study of Warsaw as part of their ASDAN qualification. They researched the city’s history and culture before creating informative displays, combining academic learning with valuable cultural enrichment.

      

Zoe's group: This year has been an incredibly rewarding one for the Earth Class. Throughout the year, students have worked hard towards their ASDAN qualification, successfully completing 28 units across a wide range of practical and life skills.

The qualification has included activities such as cooking, sport, accessing the community, and developing confidence in using public transport. These experiences have provided valuable opportunities for students to build their independence, teamwork, and everyday living skills.

Students have also enjoyed a variety of community-based trips, including swimming, golf, and shopping visits. These outings allowed them to apply the skills they have been learning in real-life situations while building confidence and enjoying new experiences.  

English

This half term, Year 9 have completed The Hunger Games and begun studying An Inspector Calls, exploring themes of responsibility and social inequality. Year 8 have been studying Shakespeare's The Tempest, while Year 7 have continued their Harry Potter unit, culminating in a fantastic visit to the Warner Bros. Studio Tour, where they saw the sets, props and costumes that brought the story to life.

Maths

One part of Maths is Data Handling, and the Year 8 group, Mercury, worked with the partridge chicks to track their growth over time. The chicks didn’t hatch until Wednesday 17th June, and were then picked up on Thursday 25th June. Astonishingly, 19 chicks hatched!  They are now at a local wildlife centre growing up and living happily.

We were able to collect their weights over two days by measuring them on a scale and then using data and charts to make a conclusion about the chicks’ growth and health.

    

Science

This term, students have enjoyed Science Club. More recently, they have investigated the sugar content in different fizzy drinks. They have also enjoyed making slime, bath bombs, soap and making a circuit with a potato as a battery, where the students enjoyed investigating whether a boiled potato was more efficient than a potato that hadn't been cooked.

Computer Science

This term, students took part in a coding workshop where they learnt about the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). They explored how the telescope uses pointing input vectors to maintain the correct orientation, ensuring its heat shield remains facing the Sun to protect its sensitive scientific instruments. Students then applied this understanding by writing code based on these real-world principles. This provided an excellent example of STEAM in action, demonstrating how Computing plays a vital role in solving real scientific and engineering challenges.  

History

Year 10 History students have continued to make excellent progress this term as they prepare for the next stage of their GCSE course. They have developed their historical knowledge through the study of key events and individuals while strengthening their source analysis and extended writing skills. It has been encouraging to see their growing confidence in using evidence to support well-reasoned judgements. We look forward to seeing them build on this strong foundation as they move into Year 11.

Geography

Year 8 students have successfully completed their topic on Nigeria, where they explored the country's physical and human geography, its opportunities and challenges, and its role as one of Africa's largest economies. They have demonstrated excellent engagement and developed a deeper understanding of how geography influences people's lives.

Next term, students will begin their new topic on Population, investigating global population distribution, population change, migration, and the opportunities and challenges created by growing and ageing populations around the world. We look forward to seeing them continue to develop their geographical knowledge and enquiry skills.

Drama

Earth have been staging a mini production of Charlie & The Chocolate Factory this term, each taking on an iconic character and bringing it to life through key gestures and explicit tones of voice. They have learnt how to annotate a script and are currently learning their lines!

Mars have pulled out the big guns at the end of Year 7 and have been studying Shakespeare and Commedia D’el Arte. They really got to grips with Iambic pentameter and even tackled some of A Winter Tale. Last week they had a go at making their very own Commedia masks and explored slapstick physical comedy.

Mercury have tackled Theatre Design this term becoming Lighting Designers, Foley Artist and designing mood boards and model box theatre. They each chose a specialist area of design this week, along with a location and pitched an idea to the class as to what they would do.

Saturn and Neptune have utilised drama this term to approach real world issues and had a go at doing theatre for social change, maturely studying topics such as homophobia, racism and world poverty. They have learnt new theatre conventions, such as split stage, thought-tracking and cross-cutting.

Drama Block 3 have written a verbatim piece this term about Mental Health as well as taking part in an acting workshop and backstage tour at South Hill Park. They are now half way through their course and doing extremely well.

  

Music

Lucas was entered into an ISA composer competition with an original song that he had composed. He composed a pop song called Out Past The Wires, using an online studio called Bandlab and came second in the competition.

The judge's commented: Great harmony in the chorus — so good to hear that. Really good key change in the middle eight. And such a good last section. You know the opening? The bass line follows the same rhythms and melodic direction as the piano chords (and the drums). Tweak the bass line so it goes in its own direction and has its own character, then the whole thing will pop. Congratulations: very memorable.

Art 

Our Key Stage 3 classes have been working on a variety of exciting projects. Mars have designed and are sewing their own Ugly Dolls, Mercury are creating large feathered wings using hand-decorated paper feathers and Saturn and Neptune have completed a self-portrait project inspired by Picasso, Matisse and Lichtenstein, exploring how events in each artist's life influenced their work.

 

Our NCFE Art students have been developing ideas for their final pieces in the Cake Project. As they reach the end of Year 10, it has been wonderful to see each student develop their own creative style and artistic confidence.

See Instagram @heathermount_art for more regular updates from art.

PE

This term, our Secondary students have been developing their athletics skills in preparation for Sports Day. During PE lessons, they worked hard to improve their performance across a range of track and field events, including javelin, shot put, hurdles, and sprinting.

It was fantastic to see the progress made by all students throughout the term. Their commitment to training resulted in significant improvements in both their performances and personal scores, with excellent levels of engagement and determination shown in every lesson.

Sports Day was a brilliant event, with every student playing a vital role in supporting their team. The atmosphere throughout the day was outstanding, with exceptional sportsmanship, encouragement, and teamwork on display from everyone involved.

A special mention goes to Brody A, who demonstrated exemplary sportsmanship by shaking hands with his competitors before every event and relentlessly encouraging his teammates throughout the day. His positive attitude and respect for others truly embodied the values of the event.

Congratulations to the Red Team, who were crowned this year's Sports Day champions! 

PSHE

This term we held our 3rd annual project day which was a sustainability project.  All the secondary students and Beech class (Year 6) had to work in mixed-aged group teams to build a sustainable Heathermount School.  The day was a great success with students showing off their creativity skills, building amazing models.  They presented their designs to 10 employers (from Neso and Boehringer-Ingelheim) as well as all the staff and students, amazing us with their skills.  Prizes were awarded to the winning team and the runners-up. 

  

See our PSHE news article to read about what each class has been learning in PSHE during class.

Business Admin

Students successfully completed unit 221 this term, which focusses on using office equipment safely and effectively.  See our Business and Administration news article for more information.

Catering

Saturn class enjoyed making cookies - a nice sweet treat at half the price of the supermarkets. They creamed their butter and sugars, then added sieved flour and chocolate chips. They then moulded the mixture and added it to baking trays before cooking for 10 minutes. Afterwards, they cleared and cleaned their areas, making sure everything was washed up, dried and put away. 

Construction

Construction students have started their General Maintenance unit by building a stud wall. Over the coming weeks, they will learn plasterboarding, fitting skirting boards, painting, tiling, repairing wall damage, and assembling flat-pack furniture.

  

These practical skills will help students become more confident with everyday DIY and maintenance tasks at home.

What a fantastic year it has been in Construction! Students have built coffee tables, completed a range of mini projects, and are now finishing the year by constructing a domestic plasterboard wall with a skirting board. Some have even started creating "damage" to their walls, ready for next year's maintenance unit, where they'll learn the skills needed to repair them.

Childcare

Read our childcare at Heathermount news article for lots of information on childcare at Heathermount.

Horticulture & Forest School

This term in Horticulture and Forest school, students have been watching their vegetables grow and have been busy watering, weeding and harvesting them.