INTENT

Our intention is to ensure students make outstanding progress and that the curriculum removes any potential barriers to learning.  We want students to be able to follow their own interests and use their talents to the full and have designed a curriculum to enable this to happen.  We are ambitious for our students and ensure they have the knowledge and skills that will make them successful, not only in school, but in life.  To this end, in addition to the wide range of academic subjects, students across the school take part in a parallel curriculum called TA Character.  This is a scheme that looks to develop the character education of our students with particular focus on our 5 main virtues of Pride, Resilience, Creativity, Ambition and Respect.  We recently gained the Kite Mark from the Association of Character Education for our work in this area.

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It is our intention to ensure students have secure foundations for progression into Higher and Further education and Apprenticeships. From Year 7, students receive careers information with a clear focus on the Gatsby benchmarks.

 

IMPLEMENTATION

Students at The Thomas Aveling School follow a very broad and balanced curriculum.  The Arts, Sport and Personal Development are valued highly.

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Development of language and building knowledge are integral to curriculum planning. Subject Leaders, who are experts in their subjects, carefully construct a curriculum that promotes a deep understanding of a wide range of topics. Teachers plan learning that allows students to embed and recall knowledge through techniques such as interleaving of topics and spaced practice. This builds firm foundations for progression to the next level and exam success.

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The TA10 is a charter that guides teachers on what great teaching and learning looks like and students will be exposed to elements of this throughout their lessons.

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Extensive and appropriate support and challenge are embedded into our provision, ensuring at Key Stage 3 that students are emotionally ready to make excellent progress through our Horizons programme, and at Key Stage 4 that students are prepared for life after school through our alternative curriculum for selected students.

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KS3

At Key Stage 3 (KS3), the curriculum is broad, and students learn essential knowledge to ensure they have a deep understanding across a range of subjects. There are many opportunities built into lessons to secure the need to recall and retrieve previous learning, so that knowledge is fully embedded. Many students have a clear idea of subjects they like the most and those they like the least by the end of Year 8 and offering some choice at this stage engages students as partners in their learning and leads to improved outcomes. We therefore ask students to spend more time on 4 chosen areas of interest in Year 9. These courses aim to develop a mastery of the skills required to complete a subject in Key Stage 4 (KS4).

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The curriculum delivered in each subject is reviewed annually by Subject Leaders to ensure the sequence of delivery allows students to build on their knowledge, and that students are sufficiently stretched and challenged.

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KS4

At Key Stage 4 (KS4), the courses are carefully planned to ensure that content is thoroughly revisited, and this undoubtedly prepares students for success in external examinations at the end of the course.  In almost all subjects, students make more than expected progress from their Key Stage 2 starting points (Progress 8).

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We have an extended Key Stage 4 to allow students to choose subjects they have a greater interest in, but by our restriction of “allowed combinations” students will usually study at least 1 EBACC option, a creative subject, and a practical subject in our wide option offer.   Each year, approximately half of the year study Geography, a similar proportion will study History and a smaller, but still significant, group will study one of the 3 languages we offer with excellent results.  The proportion taking the full suite of EBACC subjects has steadily increased.  We also offer an alternative curriculum that meets the needs of those children who need a little extra support in their studies, while still allowing them to follow a curriculum offering that has high aspirations of them.  All students can choose from the full array of academic and vocational subjects.

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The Key Stage 4 curriculum has a variety of academic and vocational qualifications for students to choose from, to allow them to develop a wide range of skills necessary to be successful in a rapidly changing world.  Students can swap their subjects at the start of Year 9 within each option block to ensure they are happy to complete the examined courses in Year 10 and Year 11.  Many students combine one vocational subject with their academic choices.  Students will usually complete their compulsory education by gaining 9 qualifications (GCSEs and Vocational).

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Over the course of 5 years, students receive a rigorous and bespoke aspirations programme that exposes them to a huge range of voices and experiences.

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KS5

We are very pleased with our wide offer of vocational and academic qualifications in the Sixth Form – all at Level 3.  Over half of each cohort of Year 11s stay with us to complete further study before applying for university or higher-level apprenticeships and professions.  Those unable to stay with us, or who already know the career they want, are supported in their applications to local colleges and apprenticeships.

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In addition to carefully constructed and challenging curricula plans, students also gain much needed assessment practice in dedicated “assessment lessons” for each subject, which are in addition to the taught lessons.  PSHE lessons continue with a focus on next steps and being able to be a contributing member of society.

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We have recently introduced the EPQ to further enhance our offer and add extra challenge for our most able students.

 

IMPACT

Our students are ambitious and aspirational and ready to take their next steps.  Nearly all students (over 98%) complete Key Stage 4 and engage in further education (usually staying in our Sixth Form), apprenticeships, or training, very few are Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) at the point of leaving us.  Over 70% of Sixth Form students go on to competitive universities, and nearly all others gain high quality jobs or apprenticeships.

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Progress (as measured by Progress 8) is positive for the cohort as a whole and above national figures for ALL groups at Key Stage 4.

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In addition, we also see the impact of the wider curriculum by the number of opportunities offered and taken up by students.  These include Bronze, Silver and (first time in 2019) Gold, Duke of Edinburgh Awards, sports teams, arts clubs, various musical opportunities, coding clubs and various trips far and near to generate an understanding of their position in the world and a further enjoyment of learning.