Key Stage 3

Our Key Stage 3 curriculum is built upon a foundation of core knowledge and skills, providing our students with deep learning opportunities through a broad and balanced programme.

We believe it is crucial that our students grow up to be independent learners and so encourage them to explore their thinking, and understand how they learn, within a curriculum which is relevant, engaging, creative and academically challenging.

Students follow an accelerated national curriculum until the end of Year 8, allowing us to introduce more personalised opportunities from Year 9 onwards. We will publish curriculum guides for each subject at the beginning of the academic year.

Setting by ability

Year 7 students are initially taught in mixed ability groups for all subjects, while they settle into their new school. They complete baseline assessments in September and again in October, after which they are set into ability groups for English, Mathematics, Science, Humanities and PE, with setting for Foreign Languages taking place later in the year. Other subjects continue to be taught in mixed-ability groups.

The setting process is reinforced by a programme of target setting, monitoring and analysis through our individual learning plans, ensuring that students make sustained and confident progress. Sets are reviewed each term to ensure that each student is in the right set for them.

Our subject specialisms

We specialise in English and Mathematics, as the core skills of literacy and numeracy underpin a student’s achievement across the curriculum. Over 25% of the timetable in Year 7 and Year 8 is therefore devoted to the teaching of these two subjects, and the corresponding skills are reinforced through Thematic Learning and built into all areas of the curriculum.