This page introduces our curriculum, including its intent and design. Further details of the curriculum for each subject can be found on our subjects pages.
The curriculum is the single best opportunity that a school has to improve the life chances of its students. According to Rachel MacFarlane, 2019 “The curriculum is everything that happens to a learner in school”. The curriculum is a progression model and the set-out learning and knowledge that makes up the subjects, and the actual material that has been chosen to be taught in a specific sequence. This encompasses the knowledge and skills that we wish for students to demonstrate.
Curriculum intent
Our curriculum is ambitious, academic, broad, and balanced. Equality of opportunity ensures that all needs are met, providing students with the knowledge, skills, social and cultural capital required to be successful in life. Our curriculum prepares students to be successful in future employment and inspires a lifelong love for learning.
In order to enable this, we aim for our curriculum to be one that:
- Equips students with powerful knowledge
- Provides opportunities for students to develop interests and passion
- Enables students to develop cultural capital and become critical thinkers
- Empowers students to become masters of subjects they study now, and in the future
- Supports students in practising skills within subject-domains
- Challenges students with ambitious content
- Is constantly evolving
- Encourages students to make links across other subjects
- Encourages students to take their learning outside of the classroom
- Is built to allow learning to last.
Our curriculum design
Our curriculum is taught over 30 lesssons (50 minute) each week, with an additional optional hour for Music Specialist School in Key Stage 3 as the curriculum model below illustrates. We also have 30 minute Tutor Time every day dedicated to reading, developing students cultural capital and personal development and Period 7 (Enrichment) dedicated to building students passion and interests outside of the classroom and providing additional support for those who need it.
Our curriculum model (6 x 50 minute lessons)
- E = Extended
- C = Core
- F = Foundation
- Rs = Religious studies
- Sp = Spanish
- Fr = French
- Dr = Drama
- Te – Technology (graphics and food tech)
- Hi = History
- Gg = Geography
- MFL = Modern foreign language
- Mu = Music
Key stage and subject information
Details of the curriculum intent, design and delivery for each subject (including curriculum maps) can be downloaded from our subjects pages.
Curriculum enrichment and extra-curricular opportunities
Our Curriculum is supported by extensive enrichment opportunities and extra-curricular activities. Further information on these can be found on the subject pages, or on the Extra-Curricular and Enrichment page.
Curriculum policies
The policies that underpin our curriculum can be viewed on our policies page.
Further information
If you would like further information about our curriculum that is not covered on our website, please contact Mr Hamdi, Vice Principal: ohamdi@highburygrove.cola.org.uk