Every child is special and capable of extraordinary things. Their limitless potential flourishes in a culture of hard work and kindness. We challenge them to do what they think they can’t, to persist, to work hard and to be at their best. (ULW)
From September 2023 we have adopted the United Learning curriculum. Our curriculum is ambitious and designed to give all learners, particularly the most disadvantaged, and those with SEND the knowledge and cultural capital they need to succeed in life. It follows the National Curriculum, and is coherently planned and sequenced. Our pupils study a full range of subjects for as long as possible, ‘specialising’ only at the start of Year 10.
Our curriculum is designed to provide children with the core knowledge they need for success in education and later life, to maximise their cognitive development, to develop the whole person and the talents of the individual and to allow all children to become active and economically self-sufficient citizens.
Our curriculum is based on these key principles:
Entitlement: All pupils have the right to learn what is in the curriculum
Coherence: Taking the national curriculum as our starting point, the curriculum is sequenced so that powerful knowledge builds term by term and year by year. Connections are made with and between subjects.
Mastery: We ensure that foundation knowledge, skills and concepts are secure before moving on. Pupils regularly revisit prior learning and apply their understanding in new contexts.
Adaptability: The core content- the ‘what’-of the curriculum is stable, and teachers will adapt lessons – the ‘how’- to meet the needs of their own classes.
Representation: All pupils see themselves in the curriculum.
Education with character: Our curriculum is wider than the taught academic subjects. We support pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and our co-curricular provision and department focus on building cultural capital sees pupils accessing more experiences outside of the classroom.