Awareness

Commitment

Vision

The EHS KS3 Curriculum

The KS3 Curriculum is designed to improve the way 11 – 14 year olds learn. It is specifically designed around the needs of the developing adolescent brain providing challenging, engaging, connected learning that young students find relevant and inspiring.

A learning process specifically designed for the 11-14 brain

The unique learning process which is based on research principles, connects subject learning in a way that is suited specifically to the 11 – 14 year old brain. It also creates opportunities for teachers to collaborate and communicate across different subject areas.

This creates a learning environment that helps students to become confident, independent learners, providing the necessary academic rigour to prepare them well for qualifications such as the GCSEs, the Arts Award and AQA Awards.

This academic year we have worked on Communication, Business and Crime. We have brought in outside speakers, visited relevant venues and enjoyed a themed day at the end of every term. This is where we collapse the timetable and engage the theme at a more practical level, working and collaborating across year groups.

Teamwork

Adversity

Success

Positivity

Resilience

Responsibility

Reasons for using a themed base curriculum

The traditional curriculum approach hasn’t worked in the past for our students so it is imperative we adopt a curriculum to meet their current needs.

1. Filling gaps in students learning without patronizing them. Mobility rates are really high amongst most students meaning severe gaps in their learning. The themed approach ensures multiple learning across the curriculum will help reduce gaps more rapidly focusing on a specific topic but being taught in different ways in all subjects. Gaps in learning need time to be addressed..

2. Themes/topics are current and relevant to what is going on in the real world. Students can relate to these themes which stimulates learning and improves engagement in lessons.

3. Themed curriculum supports normal national curriculum guidelines and further enhances the breadth of knowledge students gain. Opportunity to develop a deeper base knowledge.

4. Provides greater flexibility for teachers to plan engaging lessons. Helps provides stimulus of students and prevents boredom. We offer regular academic trips across different subjects as opposed to just one lesson to support what is being taught. We also hold themed days on a termly basis to further enhance the learning of specific themes.

5. Provides a focus on improving students social skills as well as academic skills too especially topics including love and relationships, communication and what it is like to be human. Traditionally, students would only have PSD lessons to focus on interpersonal skills. However, this is targeted across the curriculum.

6. Boost to literacy using the vocab word grids and weekly curriculum assemblies. Students are tested on relevant words for the different topics we cover and are expected to use these words in their academic learning across the curriculum.

7. Outside speakers which are linked in with different themes attend school and further support our curriculum using real life examples.

8. Equality and diversity are reflected upon all subject leads. The themes are deliberately selected to encourage forward thinking attitudes in our diverse society.

Examples of how the themed base curriculum has impacted positively on learning:

· Improved attendance
· Fewer lesson walk outs – many visitors feedback on the school feeling like a mainstream environment.
· Curriculum themed days occur termly which offer students an alternative way to learning rather than the traditional classroom-based teaching and learning.
· Students delight in trips out
· Academic progress is significant as work produced by students informs pedagogy making lesson planning more relatable