• English 10^th

Although grammar is still taught at the beginning of the school year to reinforce ninth grade skills and is never fully abandoned, the priority of this course is the perfecting of both reading and writing skills. There is also a more in depth study of writing and literary genres, and students are introduced to some of the basic notions of literary analysis in the context of Close Reading. By the end of the school year, students are expected to read sophisticated selections from authors such as Shakespeare, Woolf, Solzhenitsyn, Chekhov or Maupassant and comment on both content and form.

• Latin 10^th

The topics taught in this course are about all tenses and moods of the passive voice; the future imperative; the subjunctive and the use of its tenses; the consecutio temporum; the indirect speech; deponent and semi deponent verbs; the ablative absolute; the past perfect and the future participles; the indirect questions; deepening in the Latin stressing of words; the subordinate clauses: substantive (ut, ne, ut ne, quin, with fearing verbs, result), infinitive, temporal, concessive, causal, clauses of purpose, and conditional, and the uses of ut, dum, and cum. Further uses of the cases and the demonstrative adjective-pronouns are explained. The textbook begins to put the student in direct contact with Latin classic authors by translating texts prepared for intermediate level Latin students as well as some original poems of Horace.

• Spanish Language 10^th

This course centers on the fundamental elements of good oral and written communication. Emphasis is given to the study of all the rules of the Spanish language, as well as the recognition of the different elements of language and their combinations.

• Mathematics 10^th

Students study mathematics in a progressive, incremental manner. This approach recognises that for most students understanding mathematical concepts comes gradually over a period of time. Students study from the textbook “Advanced Mathematics” which is part of the series of mathematical publications produced by Saxon Publishers Inc. This series of publications has an excellent, modern and well-respected “incremental” approach to the study of mathematics that is particularly suitable for students at SLS.

The teaching method used for each class involves (i) a student doing some pre-reading in preparation for the class, (ii) a teacher presentation of the topic being studied, (iii) a student receiving 1-1 tuition for topics they find difficult, (iv) a student working through a Problem Set of questions. Students are required to complete the Problem Set questions, as homework, before the next class. Students can also study on-line remedial tutorials for consolidation and revision purposes. An approved Graphing Calculator is useful for this course.

Students’ academic performance is assessed internally using teacher-generated “class tests” and externally using the “SAT Mathematics Examination – Level 1” (Exceptional students may be entered for the more demanding Level 2 examination). Throughout this course, students produce answers to a structured set of SAT– type questions in preparation for this examination.

Topics include:

Algebra, geometry, trigonometry, logarithms and mathematical analysis. Word problems are developed throughout the Problem Sets to enable students to answer complex rate problems and problems involving abstract quantities. “Concept Review” problems in each Problem Set help students prepare for the SAT examination.

• AP Biology 10^th

Studies in this course follow the Advanced Placement (AP) Course Description in Biology published by The College Board, it includes topics such as molecules and cells (chemistry of life, prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells), heredity, molecular genetics, diversity of organisms, and structure and functions of plants and animals.

• Computer Science 10^th

Students continue to develop their skills in Microsoft Visual Basic®. By the end of the course the student should be able to isolate, identify, and correct logic, compile, and run-time errors in a Visual Basic application; examine and discuss Sub and Function procedures, and pass arguments by value and by reference; build common and pop-up menus into an application; work with APIs; connect to a data source and retrieve data; display retrieved data on screen and in reports; and handle Visual Basic projects.