Year 10 Overview

Compulsory Subjects

ENGLISH

Year 10 English focuses on appreciating and creating language in a wide variety of forms. Through reading, viewing and listening, you will encounter and respond to a range of interesting texts, including films, novels, poetry and plays. You will also be encouraged and extended in your own creative use of written, visual and oral language. As well as the literature you will study in class, Year 10 English also places a strong emphasis on personal reading as an important way of increasing your skills and confidence in English, as well as in your other subjects.

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION

In Year 10, Health and Physical Education further develops fundamental movement skills. Increased development of leadership, interpersonal skills and the school values. In Health, students focus on issues related to personal growth and development, looking at strategies for enhancing well-being, how to stay safe, and decision-making.  

MATHEMATICS

The Year 10 Mathematics programme builds on work that is done in Year 9 to solidify students’ numeracy understanding, allowing them to attempt the Numeracy Achievement Standard.  The course prepares students to find success in NCEA Level 1 and higher as they work through a wide range of topics including Number, Patterns and Relationships, Statistics, Geometry, Trigonometry, Algebra and Probability.  Interested students are encouraged to enter the many Maths Competitions offered, to challenge themselves further. There is flexibility within the Year 10 programme for all students to extend themselves, find success and to develop good problem solving skills.

SCIENCE

In Year 10 Science, we continue and build on what was learnt in Year 9. You will have the opportunity to investigate the world around you and understand how all things are interconnected. You will do experiments and research ideas. In Science, we try to uncover the truth of the universe, we study the very big (galaxies and stars) and the very small (atoms and their electrons). We also look at the big issues, such as Climate Change and the Environment, as well as the ethical issues like genetic engineering and xenotransplantation. Science isn’t just about finding the answers; it’s also about asking the right questions.

SOCIAL STUDIES

Our Year 10 programme is based around the theme of “Searching for a Fairer World”. This theme allows studies that draw on topics, events and ideas with global, national, local and personal contexts, and explore and question past, current and future values and priorities. We do four common studies across all classes. These examine issues, events and ideas that have a New Zealand focus but require comparisons and explorations in different places at different times.

Options (choose three)

ART

The Year 10 Art programme is set up to prepare students for the Level One NCEA course. Units of work focus on fundamental art-making skills with drawing strategies, painting techniques, and photographic processes central to the course. Students research and plan work in their visual diaries using artist models to guide the development of ideas.  

DANCE

Year 10 Dance builds on what was learnt in Year 9. Students will be exposed to new genres of Dance, as well as developing further understanding of key concepts and ideas around Dance Performance and Choreography. They will be provided with more opportunities to choreograph their own dances and further chances to perform in front of audiences.  

DRAMA

The Year 10 Drama programme is designed to develop the skills that students were introduced to in Year 9. The focus is on developing great performance skills. There are four main areas that are covered during the year. These include: Process Drama, Shakespeare, Site-specific theatre, and finally the Junior Christmas Show. In the Process drama section, students explore social issues around primary and secondary source material, using Devising techniques. The Shakespeare section is where students get to perform sections of the Bard’s plays to their whanau in our Junior Shakespeare competition evening. In the Site-specific theatre section, students visit Toitu and choose an exhibit/site to inspire their own piece of theatre. They then perform this to their whanau at the museum. The final section is our famous Junior Christmas show, where students perform one of our original pantomimes in front of invited Primary schools. A great high energy end to their school year!

MUSIC

Year 10 Music is designed to enable students to sample a wide range of musical skills, styles and activities which will become the foundation for more in-depth study at Year 11 and beyond. Throughout the course, you will focus on performance, composition, aural and listening skills, and music theory. Alongside this, you will study how musical styles have developed through exploration of jazz and blues, popular music of the 1960’s, and western art (classical) music. Students at this level are expected to have at least a basic level of ability on an instrument, and will be encouraged to continue instrumental tuition. Extension activities in all areas of the curriculum will be provided for students who have significant prior learning in music. 

DESIGN AND VISUAL COMMUNICATION

In Year 10, students expand on their ability to develop and clearly communicate their ideas through sketching, multi-view drawing and model making. They will be working through the design process applying design language, researching existing solutions, and analysing and evaluating their ideas as they develop a final outcome. Students will explore the realm of architecture and product design in more depth. Their design thinking will be stimulated by using sketching and quick model making to generate ideas. Problem solving through computer modeling will be a vital part of the course as well. In order to visually present their final outcome a mix of digital and analogue media will be used. DVC leads to a wide variety of careers such as architecture, product design, advertising and media design. The student’s strengths and interests will determine where the journey could lead: either into a more creative field or a more problem solving and engineering area. Both aspects are fostered in this course. The course will develop the entry level requirements for NCEA Level 1.

DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

Digital Technology offers a variety of skills for students that are relevant to the design, media, and computer science learning areas. Students will begin the year by researching and developing a website on the past, present, and future of the digital ecosystem, from the invention of the first transistors to the future of AI. We will then move on to developing a magazine and learning about the 17 design principles and how we can apply them. This magazine will be aimed at teenagers by allowing complete freedom regarding the topic. In Term 3 our focus will be on Photoshop and image manipulation. There will be a range of deliverables such as a themed poster series on climate change. Finally, in Term 4, students will begin to learn how to program in a written language like Python. Students will cover the basics such as variables, loops, and conditions, all leading up to a final project of building a simple quiz.

FABRIC TECHNOLOGY

Fabric Technology provides an opportunity to work through a design process and to use informed planning to guide students through the technological process. This includes design and problem solving, research, functional modelling, pattern-making, outcome development and evaluation. In Year 10 Fabric Technology, students have the opportunity to develop up to four different outcomes, however, only two are used for assessment purposes. This allows students to develop an individualised learning plan. Garment construction is included in the course and extension opportunities are always encouraged. The course will develop the entry level requirements for NCEA level 1.

FOOD TECHNOLOGY

In Year 10, students will develop an understanding of the technology process through the development and creation of food products. They will learn about food hygiene and safety when preparing food. Topics covered this year include food safety, investigating different cultural foods, and creating original desserts. The focus is on making safe, healthy food and developing practical cookery skills using the design process. Food Technology also enhances students’ literacy skills through research, idea development, problem-solving, and project management. It provides a solid introduction for those interested in learning how to cook or pursuing a career within the food industry.

HARD MATERIALS TECHNOLOGY 

At Year 10, students will learn to plan and problem solve within authentic design situations. They will continue to expand on their development of knowledge and skills in the use of a range of tools, equipment and materials which are most appropriate to their individualised and unique solutions. Students will be introduced to the design process as they develop a brief, research and develop ideas and manage their time and resources to develop solutions to real world problems. Hard Materials Technology may lead to many career opportunities and higher education in fields such as building and construction, engineering and product design.

PRODUCT DESIGN TECHNOLOGY  

Over the course of the year, students will complete multiple open-ended projects that offer them plenty of freedom. They will continue to develop their skills within the area of technology, using agile methodology to develop their products and solve problems they come across. It is also important for students to understand that in Product Design building something that doesn’t work isn’t a failure, but is an experience that we can learn from. We focus on developing and building existing skills from Year 9 by continuing to develop skills using CAD and vector drawings, working with a range of new materials, introducing sustainable design thinking and a further focus on the end user experience. Studying Product Design can lead to careers and/or further study in design, marketing, electronics, robotics, engineering, and many more.

FRENCH

At Year 10, students continue to develop understanding and use of familiar expressions and everyday vocabulary, as well as understanding and constructing simple texts using their knowledge of French. They continue to develop the ability to describe aspects of their own background and immediate environment while also learning about using past and future tenses. Exploring French culture through virtual exchanges and writing emails with their penpals complements their language learning journey.

GERMAN

At Year 10, students continue to develop understanding and use of familiar expressions and everyday vocabulary, as well as understanding and constructing simple texts using their knowledge of German. They continue to develop the ability to describe aspects of their own background and immediate environment while extending their knowledge and use of past and future tense in German. Exploring German culture complements their language learning journey and they also take part in virtual exchanges with schools in German-speaking countries.

JAPANESE

At this level students continue to build fluency in Hiragana and Katakana scripts, and begin integrating some of the Kanji required in Level 1. They develop understanding and use of familiar expressions and everyday vocabulary, and understanding and constructing simple texts using their knowledge of Japanese.  They continue to develop the ability to describe aspects of their own background and immediate environment.  They communicate beyond the immediate context e.g. past and future which links to the LPHS foci of “Past” and “Future”.

KOREAN

In Year 10, we will be speaking in Korean as much as possible, using gestures to help us. This course will introduce students to the Korean language and culture, building on the base you developed in the Year 9 Korean Course. You will continue to study the grammatical structures and vocabulary from the New Zealand Curriculum.  This is leading you towards NCEA Level 1 Korean in Year 11.

MĀORI

At Year 10, students are further developing their understanding and use of familiar expressions and everyday vocabulary. They can use familiar language with some flexibility and pick up some new language from its context. They can read and write a variety of simple text types using their knowledge of Te reo Māori. They continue to develop the ability to describe aspects of their own background and immediate environment. By the end of this year they can cope with a variety of routine situations when talking to speakers of Te reo Māori. They develop further awareness and understanding of typical cultural conventions/ tikanga that operate in interpersonal communication. They can use and respond to language, including directions and requests, that is likely to occur in familiar Māori. They are becoming more confident in using a range of language learning strategies.