Curriculum

Huntcliffs Curriculum Intent:

We follow the national curriculum in KS3. We want to give students a broad base over the 3 years they study so they can learn about a range of subjects and skills. Each subject breaks topic down, with an assessment point at the end of every unit. Assessment grades and attitude to learning grades are collected at 3 points in the year. This information is evidenced by the assessments done in class, and will inform the planning of future topics. At the start of new topics, threshold assessments are completed to see if there is sufficient knowledge retained from previous learning to be successful in the new learning, if this isn’t the case, the MTP’s are reviewed and amended to allow learning to be revisited. Proficiency in reading is a priority to the school, and there are interventions for students below chronological age to support them.  Exploiting opportunities for reading across the curriculum is something we want to focus on more.

Respect and Attitude ‘How is this helping me understand the world around me and respect other Cultures?’	We run form times, assemblies, Life and through general theme weeks around the school we promote tolerance and understanding of other cultures and backgrounds.   As a school serving a mono ethnic, agricultural area, it is important to us that students get a wide range of experiences that they may not have had with being part of the school community. Trips and visits, experience’s within school are an important part of school life and staff make an effort to allow these experiences to be embedded in the curriculum
Mindset and Perseverance ‘How is this helping me understand my emotions, my body and my emotions?’	RSE is delivered by an external company who provide bespoke training where necessary that is up to date and age/ ability appropriate. We have a clear and simple behaviour policy where staff are asked to explain why sanctions have been given and give opportunity for pupils to correct that behaviour. We believe in a fresh start for pupils after a sanction has been put in place. Where poor language is used, we use discussion with staff to explain why this is no ok, further support from TFTF, councillors, PSO’s and art therapy is given if needed to help support the whole child development
Ambition and Readiness ‘How is this preparing me for the next stage in my life?’	Careers education is part of the school. We offer students the opportunity to visit and be visited by post 16 colleges and places for further education.   We offer a curriculum with a variety of vocational and GCSE subjects so all pupils have a pathway that allows them to move on to the next stage in their career.

Implementation

A spiral curriculum allows content to be revisited and understanding assessed before new content added. This allows immediate interventions to take place throughout the students learning, so gaps in knowledge are minimised.

Social skills of students are supported by teaching in a variety of ways including groups discussions, class talk and teamwork. Teachers know the importance of students having a broad and sophisticated vocabulary and recognise it is a way to promote success regardless of starting point, so the explicit teaching of vocabulary is evident in all curriculum areas.

Lesson format is designed to be consistent but not constraining, so teachers can deliver content in a way they find appropriate for their groups. We introduce what we are learning today and share outcomes, there is an achieve outcome we expect all students to get and an aspire outcome designed to challenge the more able. Within every lesson there is an opportunity to demonstrate understanding. This will be assessed by the teacher and tasks to intervene and improve given in the connect task at the start of the next lesson. This regular assessment allows teaching to be adapted swiftly and with impact where necessary

Exam material and opportunities to practice exam skills are planned into lesson time and throughout the academic year so students are as confident and comfortable with the external assessments as they can be. Within subjects, opportunities for discussing possible careers are exploited and a range of skills such as analysis, evaluation and discussion developed to further support success post 16. A love of reading is promoted through a variety of ways, for example timetabled library lessons and planned for Drop Everything and Read session.

The Gateway provision allows students who are not secondary ready additional time to improve their literacy and numeracy skills as well as support to access all the other subjects so they can succeed at KS4.

Impact

The aim of the curriculum is to allow students to feel successful in a variety of subjects and ultimately to succeed in achieving their FFT20 target in all the subjects they take as a minimum.

With the interventions planned for taking place within every lesson following the assessment of demonstrate and through the small group interventions in English and Maths to close gaps, we hope 100% of student gains a minimum of 8 qualifications.

Through the use of regular assessment and revisits, we aim to build resilient learners who know that to be their best they will need to review and redo work, and that this is not a failure.

We want to create a love of learning and allow students to find their talent through giving a range of experience and lesson content. We will provide personalised support for students who require it with wellbeing classes and the Gateway provision and reward excellence and hard work so students leave us with strong character so throughout their lives have a positive and impact on society

If you wish to find out more about the curriculum we are following, please contact the school on 01652 648 276