Telephone 01728 860213
E-Mail office@debenhamhigh.co.uk
Postcode IP14 6BL

Debenham High School

Debenham High School

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Curriculum Vision

 PDF icon  Student Development (including PSHE) - Five Year Programme

 

  

                                                                Intent                                                                

The Debenham High School curriculum aims to enable our students to become:

  • Successful and curious learners
  • Confident and resilient individuals
  • Responsible and healthy citizens
  • Our school aims, values and ethos state that we wish:
  • To provide a happy and caring environment in which to learn and work where each member of the school community is personally valued and where pupils are able to develop self-respect and self-control.
  • To challenge all pupils to the full realisation of their talents/potential.
  • To enable pupils, through a demanding, broad and balanced curriculum, to achieve as high a level of success as possible in public examinations.
  • To help pupils acquire attitudes and skills relevant to their adult and working life especially those related to independent thinking, and be able to adapt confidently to a changing society.
  • To develop physical and social skills, an aesthetic appreciation and an understanding of health, hygiene and environmental issues. 
  • To encourage moral and Christian values consistent with a Church of England School. 
  • To engender respect for and tolerance of others - regardless of differences of race, disability, sexuality, gender, culture or religion.
  • To encourage pupils to work together and participate fully in the life of the school and the wider community. 
  • To help develop an understanding of the world in which we live, the interdependence of individuals, groups and nations and an appreciation of human achievement and aspirations.

                                                               Content                                                             

Since September 2015 students there have been significant changes to Key Stage 4 external assessment in the form of new linear GCSEs which have brought greater challenge and in many subjects more depth of knowledge. Subjects have taken time to prepare students thoroughly for these new examinations and now, in the light of the first outcomes for many subjects (August 2018) Debenham High School has created a clear and detailed 5 Year Programme of Study for each subject. Training time has been given to ensure that all staff are engaged in the development and review of these. The programmes will take into account recent changes to:

  • Content and rigour of the new GCSEs
  • Demands of English and Mathematics in the Primary Phase
  • Life after levels changes to assessment (Learning Ladders implemented at Debenham High School in September 2016)

 Each Departmental 5 year programme of study should:

  • Provide a clear and coherent learning journey
  • Foster subject-based understanding of new knowledge, concepts and methods
  • Ensure students acquire knowledge and give opportunities for recall and application of this knowledge so that fluency is developed
  • Require students to think and reason for themselves
  • Explanations and resources should enable students to engage with and master the learning
  • Learning should develop a depth of understanding that brings richness to the subject but also a breadth of understanding that enriches wider life and learning
  • Develop a readiness for the next stage: be this the next lesson, the next unit of work, the next year or key stage; it prepares students for both academic, A Level, and future degree study, or vocational learning
  • Contain appropriate, regular and robust assessment methods for measuring student progress and to allow intervention where progress is not as expected.

 

Each Departmental 5 Year Programme of Study should ensure that there is an equality of provision and that all teachers:

  • Have the subject knowledge required to deliver the curriculum
  • Work collaboratively to share experience, expertise and resources
  • Have a shared understanding of the type of learning that will support students’ development
  • Engage in professional development that supports the successful delivery of the curriculum
  • Can identify ongoing professional development needs
  • Are supported by a programme of study that reduces teacher workload, through resourced schemes of work with high quality resources (not lesson plans)

Extra-curricular engagement is expected by all students at Debenham High School. This is closely monitored in Year 7 and 8 to ensure that students participate fully in the wider life of the school. These extra-curricular opportunities allow students to extend their knowledge and understanding and to improve their skills in range of artisitic, creative and sporting challenges. These experiences support students’ development socially and emotionally.

Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and, within this, the promotion of fundamental British values, are at the heart of the school’s work. The development of these skills is captured in our audit, which encompasses curriculum, tutor and whole school activities.

 

                                                             Delivery                                                              

  • Students in Year 7, 8 and 9 take a full range of subjects, predominantly in mixed ability groups. Students are placed in ability sets for English and Mathematics from October half-term in Year 7. These remain flexible to respond to the pace of student progression until the end of Year 10.
  • Students select their options within Year 9, starting their GCSE programme of study at the start of Year 10. Core subjects of English, Mathematics and Science start the GCSE programme at an appropriate point of readiness within Year 9.
  • The school operates a 6, 50 minute, period day and a weekly timetable.
  • In September 2017 the school implemented the first of a three-year change to the allocation of time within the curriculum. This was agreed after extensive consultation and discussion. The changes made were agreed in order to:
  • secure more time for the core subjects of English and Mathematics in Year 10 and 11
  • allow for a more coherent delivery of GCSE Science
  • introduce a concrete opportunity for learning a second language in Year 7-9 for the most able students, hence working towards a more sustained broader two-language offer at GCSE
  • introduce focused literacy-based vocabulary work for some students in Year 7-9, following research and as part of a long-term strategy to improve outcomes for those from less vocabulary rich backgrounds and those with lower prior attainment
  • root PSHE teaching within the tutor team and in doing so ensure that themes of learning in this core subject are coherently developed and reviewed as students grow
  • secure a full GCSE RE course for all students.

The allocation of time in September 2018-19 is as follows:

Year 7

Subject

Lesson Allocation (30 period week)

English

4 lessons plus 1 lesson of literacy (40% of cohort, lower prior attainment)

Mathematics

4 lessons

Science

3 lessons

PSHE

Rotating - 1 lesson per week – 30 week programme

Geography

2 lessons

History

2 lessons

RE

1 lesson

French

3 lessons

Spanish

1 lesson (60% of cohort, higher prior attainment)

Design and Technology

4 lessons per week as part of a 6 module rotation, of which DT delivers 4 modules

Art

4 lessons per week as part of a 6 module rotation, of which Art delivers 2 modules

Computing

1 lesson

PE

3 lessons

Music

1 lesson

Drama

1 lesson

 

Year 8

Subject

Lesson Allocation (30 period week)

English

4 lessons plus 1 lesson of literacy (40% of cohort, lower prior attainment)

Mathematics

5 lessons

Science

3 lessons

PSHE

Rotating - 1 lesson per week – 30 week programme

Geography

2 lessons

History

2 lessons

RE

1 lesson

French

3 lessons

Spanish

1 lesson (60% of cohort, higher prior attainment)

Design and Technology

4 lessons per week as part of a 6 module rotation, of which DT delivers 4 modules

Art

4 lessons per week as part of a 6 module rotation, of which Art delivers 2 modules

Computing

1 lesson

PE

2 lessons

Music

1 lesson

Drama

1 lesson

 

Year 9

Subject

Lesson Allocation (30 period week)

English

4 lessons plus 1 lesson of literacy (40% of cohort, lower prior attainment)

Mathematics

4 lessons

Science

4 lessons

PSHE

Rotating - 1 lesson per week – 30 week programme

Geography

2 lessons

History

2 lessons

RE

1 lesson

French

3 lessons

Spanish

1 lesson (60% of cohort, higher prior attainment)

Design and Technology

4 lessons per week as part of a 6 module rotation, of which DT delivers 4 modules

Art

4 lessons per week as part of a 6 module rotation, of which Art delivers 2 modules

Computing

1 lesson

PE

2 lessons

Music

1 lesson

Drama

1 lesson

 

Year 10 (September 2019)

Subject

Lesson Allocation (30 period week)

English

6 lessons

Mathematics

4 lessons

Science

6 lessons

PSHE

Rotating - 1 lesson per week – 30 week programme

RE

3 lessons

PE

2 lessons

Option 1

3 lessons

Option 2

3 lessons

Option 3

3 lessons

 

Year 11 (September 2019)

Subject

Lesson Allocation (30 period week)

English

5 lessons

Mathematics

5 lessons

Science

6 lessons

PSHE

Drop-down am or pm delivery at key points in the year

RE

3 lessons

PE

2 lessons

Option 1

3 lessons

Option 2

3 lessons

Option 3

3 lessons

 

                                                          Experience                                                            

  • The curriculum offer is constantly reviewed and changes made to suit the needs of varying cohorts and for individual student need.
  • Reviews are undertaken by the leadership team, with middle leaders and governors.
  • Student experience is reviewed through regular monitoring of behaviour and attendance, reviews of attainment outcomes and progress (both external and internal data), departmental reviews (which include lesson observations, student perception interviews, review of assessment and work scrutiny).
  • Termly interim reporting of attainment and behaviour for learning is analysed to review student engagement and if needed, intervene to support this.
  • Student achievements are recognised within a commendation system in Year 7, 8 and 9 and through The Debenham Award in Year 10 and 11. Achievement assemblies recognise acheivements which are academic and achievements beyond lessons.
  • Case studies for the most vulnerable review the impact of learning and wider strategies to ensure their engagement and progress. Attendance, behaviour for learning and engagement all considered valuable measures.