Curriculum

Key information about our curriculum:

Our over-arching principle is that we will deliver a curriculum that is ambitious for all, adhering to our core values of AROE: aspiration, resilience, opportunity and excellence.

At Woodlands School, every pupil will have the foundations laid for a lifelong love of learning, through a fully inclusive and appropriately challenging curriculum, taught by outstanding and highly qualified teachers. Pupils will have all barriers to learning removed, ensuring a safe and stimulating learning environment where all make outstanding progress, allowing them the opportunity to be excellent.

Curriculum Intent at Woodlands School

Local Context

Basildon Council’s Local Plan Vision (2018) states that, ‘by 2034, we want to accelerate Basildon Borough’s ambition. We want a more prosperous economy providing employment for all our residents, including higher value jobs. We need more housing and a better range of housing. We want to protect and enhance our natural environment and biodiversity, including open space. The Borough will feel safe and residents will benefit from high standards of health and well-being. We want an improved cultural offer, more vibrant town centres and higher educational attainment and aspirations. We also want more resilient communities, reflecting the diversity within the Borough.’

In particular, its objectives for education are:

‘To work with our partners through South Essex 2050 to support the educational and skill improvement of local people to ensure they can benefit more inclusively from growth, whilst helping them realise their potential;
To create an education system that caters for a range of levels of education to better support those with no qualifications as well as those reaching a high level of education;
To attract qualified and motivated teachers that are flexible to meet the needs of learners;
To provide infrastructure to support learning at all levels, and in areas of the Borough that require it most;
To deliver learning that meets the needs of local businesses, to grow key sectors and increase productivity, especially through apprenticeships;
To raise the levels of educational attainment and aspiration; and
To enable people with a higher level of education to secure well paid jobs, but not forgetting vocational training for trade and public service jobs.’

Curriculum Intent

This local context, in part, informs the curriculum intent for our pupils. However our over-arching principle is that we will deliver a curriculum that is ambitious for all, adhering to our core values of AROE: aspiration, resilience, opportunity and excellence.

At Woodlands School, every pupil will have the foundations laid for a lifelong love of learning, through a fully inclusive and appropriately challenging curriculum, taught by outstanding and highly qualified teachers. Pupils will have all barriers to learning removed, ensuring a safe and stimulating learning environment where all make outstanding progress, allowing them the opportunity to be excellent.

By the end of their time with us, we have the following expectations for our pupils:

Be aspirational:

All Woodlands pupils will be well-informed and prepared to take the next steps in their education, employment or training. Pupils will be encouraged to strive towards Russell Group universities, higher apprenticeships and high-level employment, both in London and further afield. (A1)
All Woodlands pupils will gain the cultural capital to ensure they are well-rounded, well-informed individuals who have been provided with the same cultural opportunities as their peers from a wide range of educational backgrounds. (A2)
All Woodlands pupils, especially those with Special Educational Need or Disabilities, will be equipped with the vital life skills required to flourish and be excellent in adult life. (A3)

Be resilient:

All Woodlands pupils will be emotionally and physically healthy, equipped to keep themselves safe in the modern, digital world. (R1)
All Woodlands pupils will possess the depth of character and resilience to cope with set-backs and rise to challenges, whatever life throws at them. (R2)

Take opportunities:

All Woodlands pupils will be highly literate and numerate, fully confident in applying these core skills to new contexts. (O1)
All Woodlands pupils will be excellent orators, furnished with the impressive communications skills so sought after by high-level employers. (O2)
All Woodlands pupils will have taken opportunities to fully immerse themselves in the wider life of the school, engaging in a range of enriching activities that both help foster positive relationships and take pupils out of their comfort zone. (O3)

Be excellent:

All Woodlands pupils will be successful in a wide range of subjects, with a strong academic core, that supports their academic, creative, technical or vocational ambitions. (E1)
All Woodlands pupils will become experts in their subjects, and possess the metacognitive skills to continually improve their knowledge and skills. (E2)

All Woodlands pupils will have a lifelong love of learning, will read widely and appreciate the value of education. (E3)

Implementation

In order to deliver on our curriculum intent, it is vital that we carefully considered how we intend to implement our curriculum, always keeping our core values of aspiration, resilience, opportunity and excellence in mind.

Aspiration

A comprehensive careers curriculum will be provided to all pupils to ensure they are well-informed of their options for education, employment or training post-16. This will include, as a minimum, a two-week work experience programme, a business mentoring programme, a careers information evening and Connexions careers advice. (A1)
Our pupils will have their cultural horizons broadened through a range of spiritual, moral, social and cultural opportunities. A diverse programme of enrichment activities is on offer and all pupils will be encouraged to participate in at least one activity. (A2)
Pupils with SEND who require extra support will be provided with an ambitious curriculum offer, designed by our Learning Development team, which will ensure these pupils access an appropriately challenging curriculum whilst consolidating their progress in key skills, such as literacy, numeracy and other key life skills. (A3)

Resilience

Our PSHRE curriculum will ensure our pupils thrive as healthy individuals, who understand how to keep themselves safe both in the real world and online. This will be dedicated in dedicated PSHRE lessons as well as during Tutor Time sessions and weekly assemblies. (R1)
Opportunities will be provided to develop pupils’ resilience in a supportive setting: a dedicated pastoral team of Resilience Coaches, Drama and Art Therapists, In-School Counsellors and Heads of Year will provide bespoke support to pupils as and when needed. (R2)
A wide range of leadership positions are provided to all of our pupils, who are encouraged to apply for such roles as Head Boy/Girl, the Junior Leadership Team, Anti-Bullying Champions and Learning Ambassadors. (R2)

Opportunity

All schemes of learning across all faculties will provide pupils with the opportunity to develop their literacy and numeracy skills. (O1)
All schemes of learning will promote the teaching of oracy skills, and the development of oracy skills will have parity with literacy and numeracy. (O2)
A range of enrichment opportunities will be provided for all pupils, in the form of school trips, in-school events and a wide range of extra-curricular activities. (O3)

Excellence

All of our pupils will be offered a broad and balanced curriculum, which is ambitious for all. At Key Stage Four, the large majority of pupils will have the opportunity to study the EBacc, as well as a range of creative, technical and vocational qualifications. At Key Stage Three, pupils will be provided with a curriculum offer which aligns closely with the National Curriculum. (E1)
Our curriculum will build on the knowledge pupils gain at Key Stage Two and will prepare pupils appropriately for post-16 study or training. Strong links with both local primary and tertiary educational institutions will be fostered to ensure coherence between our curriculums. (E1)
Our regular learning walks will ensure the quality of teaching provided to pupils remains at an excellent standard, with a robust programme of continuous professional development for our teachers to ensure they are constantly improving their practice. (E1)
We will ensure our curriculum is appropriately planned and sequenced, allowing for pupils to transfer knowledge into their long-term memory over time by regularly returning to, but constantly building upon, their prior knowledge. (E2)
Ongoing and regular assessment, both formative and summative, will ensure teachers closely track pupils’ progress, are aware of any gaps in understanding and adapt their teaching appropriately. Our assessment and feedback policy will look to maximise pupil progress without unnecessary workload for teachers. (E2)
Our curriculum will recognise each subject as its own discipline, which teaches a set of skills that pupils will apply to their schema of knowledge. Opportunities for cross-curricular learning will be utilised to teach pupils how to apply their learning in new contexts. (E3)

A well-designed and well-sequenced curriculum will ensure that Woodlands pupils go onto future success. Some of the ways that we will measure this impact include:

External GCSE and other Level 2 qualification results.
Post-16 destinations, ensuring that no Woodlands pupil becomes NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) after Year 11.
Future careers destinations, including universities and employers.

Most of all, however, we will measure the impact of our curriculum on the quality of our pupils as they finish their time Woodlands, ensuring they have been furnished with the high-quality knowledge and skills they require to achieve their aspirations, with the strength of character and resilience required to flourish in the adult world, and the confidence to grasp the opportunities afforded to them to be excellent in their future careers.

Click here to read our curriculum model over key stages 3 and 4.