Curriculum Intent
The curriculum enables children to have self agency, now and in adulthood, because of a developed sense of self and an awareness of their place in the world.
This is the result of children seeking meaning and making connections as they build understanding from a foundation of knowledge and skills.
Key Stage Three
- The curriculum studied by students in Key Stage 3 provides carefully curated concepts chosen by subject experts across the Trust to be the Golden Ticket – the enablement of future success. It takes as its starting point, the concept of age-related expectations for a KS3 subject specialist – “What should a Year 8 Scientist/Artist/Geographer know, understand, and be able to do?”
- “Cognitive psychology has shown that the mind best understands facts when they are woven into a conceptual fabric, such as a narrative, mental map, or intuitive theory.” (Stephen Pinker) The Key Stage 3 curriculum is this fabric, tapestry and Velcro. It bursts not with arbitrary knowledge, but with carefully woven themes and concepts that provide the scaffold around which students build their understanding.
- It enables agency, self-efficacy, and a sense of place in the world.
- It is sequenced carefully in a way that enables students to understand their own learning journey. “Where have I been, where am I now, and where am I going?” This sequencing is the short-term success and the long-term progression that enables students to succeed in KS3 and prepare for KS4.
- Our curriculum is the key lever to close the disadvantage gap
Key Stage Five
- Our Key Stage 5 curriculum is designed to facilitate pathways of progression, whether to university, work, apprenticeships, or other further study. It provides a plethora of choices and mechanism of self-improvement. Learners can specialisein traditional subjects, vocational study, state-of-the-art courses, or any combination of the above.
- The curriculum outside of the main programmeof study are still centrally responsible for self-development, self-agency, and a sense of place in the world. The learning undertaken in tutor time, academic tutorials, and Wider Learning provide the context for learners to explore their understanding and place in the world around them. They have the chance to contribute to the experience of others in and out of the school.
- Our curriculum rewards resilience, independence, diligence and determination. We teach the skills necessary for success not just in Sixth Form, but in all further study.
- Our curriculum does not emphasize specification over subject. The acquisition of knowledge is a necessary but not sufficient process to cement self-development, learning, and genuine progression.
- We invest deeply in discussion, debate and oracy in all subjects. We recognisethat emotional involvement in the learning experience is directly related to how well we later can recall the knowledge.
- Above all, we give our students the experiences that will help them fall in love with our subjects in the way that we did.
