Our Curriculum

Curriculum Intent, Implementation and Impact

Intent

The Curriculum at Invested Education intends to develop:

Provide a broad and balanced education for all pupils that is coherently planned and sequenced towards cumulatively sufficient knowledge for skills and future learning and employment.

Support pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development
Support pupils’ physical development and responsibility for their own health and enable them to be active.
Promote a positive attitude towards learning.
Ensure equal access to learning for all pupils, with high expectations for every pupil and appropriate levels of challenge and support.
Have a high academic/vocational/technical ambition for all pupils.

Provide subject choices that support pupils’ learning and progression needs and enable them to work towards achieving their goals.
Provide a curriculum prioritising core academic subjects as well as BTEC vocational options
It is clear what end points the curriculum is building towards and what pupils need to know and be able to do to reach those end points.
The school’s curriculum is planned and sequenced so that new knowledge and skills build on what has been taught before and towards its clearly defined end points.
The curriculum reflects the school’s local context by addressing typical gaps in pupils’ knowledge and skills.

The curriculum remains as broad as possible for as long as possible. Pupils are able to study a range of academic core of subjects.
There is high academic/vocational/technical ambition for all pupils, and the school does not offer disadvantaged pupils or pupils with SEND a reduced curriculum.

Implementation

We do this by ensuring:

Teachers have expert knowledge of the subjects that they teach. If they do not, they are supported to address gaps in their knowledge so that pupils are not disadvantaged by ineffective teaching.
Teachers enable pupils to understand key concepts, presenting information clearly and encourage appropriate discussion.
Teachers check pupils’ understanding effectively and identify and correct misunderstandings.
Teachers ensure that pupils embed key concepts in their long-term memory and apply them fluently.
The subject curriculum is designed and delivered in a way that allows pupils to transfer key knowledge to long-term memory. It is sequenced so that new knowledge and skills build on what has been taught before and pupils can work towards clearly defined end points.

Teachers use assessment to check pupils’ understanding in order to inform teaching, and to help pupils embed and use knowledge fluently and develop their understanding, and not simply memorise disconnected facts.

Impact

This:

Equips pupils with the knowledge and cultural capital they need to succeed in life.

Develop pupils’ independent learning skills and resilience, to equip them for further/higher education and employment.

Our curriculum offer aims to promote wellbeing, self-esteem, character development and a sense of belonging, whilst increasing trust in the support offered. This is supported by the strategic vision for the school.

We help students to develop the skills and knowledge needed to succeed academically whilst also providing understanding relevant to workplace settings. Aspirational career links are woven into both key stages, complimented by regular discrete careers lessons. Invested Educations curriculum also increases employability through growing partnerships with community and business organisations.

We believe that every child should leave Invested Education prepared for life in an ever-changing modern society. Therefore, SMSC is a cornerstone for our curriculum, and we integrate British Values to develop the skills and behaviours every young person needs to succeed in all aspects of life.

At KS3 pupils will study a broad and balanced curriculum that academically challenges and engages them.

Across KS3, pupils at Invested Education will study:

English,
Mathematics
Science
Physical Education
Citizenship

PSHE.

Pupils will also study our Breaking Barriers Program which combines Humanities, Art and Design and outdoor learning to push our pupils’ understanding of topics in the real world whilst consolidating Core and Foundation subjects. The aim of the Breaking Barriers curriculum is to provide opportunities for students to develop all aspects of their character and allow them to develop into strong, knowledgeable adults with a deeper understanding of the world around them.

Literacy

Literacy and reading across the curriculum are a key focus’ at Key Stage 3, as students develop their literacy skills throughout academic subjects, Breaking Barriers, as well as by a phonics intervention called Lexonics. Reading is a structured activity every week, whether that’s in the classroom or our extensive library.

Key Stage 4

Invested Education offers a rich and diverse curriculum to pupils in years 10 and 11. Pupils have the opportunity to work towards several GCSE qualifications and other accredited courses. The qualifications offered are:

GCSE AQA English Language
GCSE AQA English Literature
GCSE Edexcel Mathematics
GCSE Edexcel Statistics
GCSE AQA Combined Science

GCSE AQA Citizenship
BTEC Level 1 Certificate in Sport and Active Leisure (QCF)
BTEC Digital Information Technology
Level 1 and 2 Functional Skills English
Level 1 and 2 Functional Skills Mathematics

Personal, Social, and Health Education (PSHE) is also an essential part of our KS4 Curriculum alongside Physical Education, both of which will help build the understanding of respect, tolerance and promote good mental health, physical health and emotional resilience.

For more information regarding our curriculum offer please visit the links to each subject area, or contact our curriculum lead Mrs Sara O’Grady.