Curriculum Overview

OVERVIEW OF THE CURRICULUM INCLUDING CURRICULUM INTENT

At Kenilworth School our curriculum meets the needs of all of our students and ensures that everyone has access to diverse experiences in school and outside to enable social equality and mobility, regardless of their starting points. Our curriculum is ambitious, inspiring everyone to excellence.

Curriculum sequences centre around our definition of learning as a change in long term memory and describe how core knowledge is acquired and built on from one year to the next, and how that knowledge is revisited and retained for the long term. To achieve this, curriculum sequences utilise the benefits of retrieval practice; interleaving content; and synoptic assessments to ensure that prior material is secure and knowledge retained. Alongside this, the curriculum promotes metacognitive strategies to develop students as increasingly self-regulated learners.

We promote the importance of reading to widen vocabulary and increase comprehension to enable students to fulfil their potential. We also encourage reading for pleasure both within and outside of lessons. Our reading strategy can be found on the school website.

We prepare our young people to compete for employment opportunities and develop a range of skills that are beyond the framework of GCSEs and A levels or national curriculum. We develop the cultural capital of our students to enable them to understand the heritage of this country, whether it be in literature, history, law or politics or any other area and understand the external influences that have made our country and people the diverse community that we are. Students have opportunities to experience the world around them to develop respect for others and embrace diversity in all its forms. We prepare our young people to have a strong moral compass and to be confident in their views through listening to and communicating with others. This includes opportunities beyond the school day to collaborate with others in school and in the community to develop a healthy and balanced lifestyle.

The 5Rs are integral to our curriculum intent and opportunities to develop these 5Rs should help students to be successful in later life. The 5Rs are embedded in the curriculum schemes of work and when teachers plan for appropriate sequencing of lessons, they take account of the way in which these 5Rs are developed and lead to greater student independence. Students are rewarded explicitly for the 5Rs both in lessons and enrichment to support their personal development.

The curriculum at Kenilworth School should take account of the following principles and ensure that these are embedded within planning:

Understanding of long term memory and retrieval practice to help with knowledge retention;

Ensuring that opportunities for interleaving are taken wherever possible in delivery of subject material;

Regular opportunities for timely, specific and actionable feedback to move learning forwards are built into sequences;

Students are activated as instructional resources for one another through peer interaction (including peer - assessment), and as owners of their own learning;

The benefits of metacognitive strategies in the classroom are capitalised upon to help develop self-regulated learners (in particular the ‘plan - monitor - evaluate’ approach). October 2021

UNDERLYING PRINCIPLES OF OUR QUALITY OF EDUCATION

A CURRICULUM THAT PROVIDES A BLEND OF TRADITION AND INNOVATION

Our teachers work closely together across departments also, and regularly put on cross-curricular days to deliver not only subject content knowledge but also to develop a variety of personal and learning skills. This means our students appreciate the fact that these skills and attributes are transferable across different subjects they are studying now, and across a variety of tasks they may be undertaking in their future working lives.

Whilst we are always reflective about our teaching and regularly review the curriculum we deliver, through our surveys our students tell us that they enjoy their lessons and that they are making good progress.

PERSONALISATION

We get to know our children well, their strengths, their areas for development and their potential, and this allows us to fine tune and personalise their curriculum as they progress through the school and start key stage 4. Following a carefully constructed programme of information, advice and guidance for them and their parents, students choose from a variety of academic and vocational courses which complement their core Ebac subjects of Maths, English, Science, a humanities course and a language course.

A STRONG COMMUNITY OF INDIVIDUALS

Because each of our students is an individual with different needs, we are careful to challenge, where appropriate, through a programme of enhanced curriculum opportunities which extend our most able students. We are also able to help the learning of our students through tailored support programmes from our well-resourced and highly skilled Special Educational Needs department. In short, we leave no stone unturned in our aim to find the best individualised curriculum for each young person.

THE BEST INFORMATION, ADVICE AND GUIDANCE

We know our students will go on to become successful individuals in their chosen field and so we are always keen to provide the very best in work related learning and careers guidance through a dynamic combination of our own Careers Advisor and our business associates who come into school regularly to engage with and inspire our students. To adhere to the Baker Clause, we invite colleges and training providers to speak to our students from Years 8-13 annually in careers fairs and assemblies about non-academic routes that are available to them beyond Kenilworth School.