Curriculum Overview

he curriculum offered at Teign encompasses all the activities that the school organises, both inside and outside the classroom. We seek to ensure that individual strengths can be nurtured and at the same time we strive to provide a broad and balanced curriculum that allows students to discover new talents. In doing so, this also promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of our students. Underpinning the curriculum are the school’s aims which centre on preparation for adult life in a changing world.

Timetable

The timetabled component of the curriculum comprises a 25-hour a week, with students taught in five one hour lessons each day. The timing of the school day is biased toward the morning, with four periods up until lunchtime.

The day begins with a 20 minute period of tutor time that is designed to allow students to be prepared for the working day. Once a week, the students will have an assembly, either with their year group.

On one day during the school year, the timetable is collapsed to enable a wider range of activities to take place. These include careers education and various aspects of PHSE.

We largely follow the National Curriculum orders at KS3 and KS4.

Teign School Curriculum Statement

This statement sits within and alongside the ESW curriculum policy

Curriculum Intent

1. We recognise that the curriculum offered at Teign encompasses all the activities that take place. Students learn through the range of experiences we provide. We seek to ensure that individual strengths can be nurtured and at the same time we strive to provide a broad and balanced curriculum. We promote the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of our students. Underpinning the curriculum are the school’s aims which centre on preparation for adult life in a changing world, seeking to promote independent and life-long learning skills and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) with a particular focus on:

• Article 28 (right to education) Every child has the right to an education.
• Article 29 (goals of education) Education must develop every child’s personality, talents and abilities to the full. It must encourage the child’s respect for human rights, as well as respect for their parents, their own and other cultures, and the environment.
• Article 3 (best interests of the child) The best interests of the child must be a top priority in all decisions and actions that affect children

2. The activities which comprise Teign School’s curriculum are available to all. They are relevant to all and are aimed at adding value to an individual’s achievements. The curriculum:

• is based on proactive thinking,
• considers the sequence of content and provides the knowledge needed for subsequent learning/transferable knowledge
• builds for a deeper understanding and the capacity for skills performance.

At Teign we follow the principles of a “coherent curriculum programme” (CCP) which:

• is rooted in the knowledge and discipline of the relevant academic subjects, where explicit reference is made to the research evidence in these areas;
• provides the knowledge and skills children need to access a decent education, both academic and technical;
• is defined clearly through rigorous schemes of work, lesson plans, textbooks and lesson resources such as worksheets;
• includes assessment of both relevant prior learning and learning achieved by studying the curriculum;
• provides training, both in the substantive subject knowledge taught by the curriculum, and also in the effective use of the resources provided.

(taken from Policy exchange, Completing the Revolution, John Blake, March 2018)

3. What is progress?
Learning is defined as: ‘an alteration in the long-term memory’ If nothing has altered in the long-term memory then nothing has changed. Progress means knowing more and remembering more.

4. Implementation

• Curriculum time

We broadly follow the national curriculum at Key Stage 3 and 4 with a timetable comprising 25 hours a week of taught time.

• Key Stage 3

The lessons taught are English, Maths, Science, Technology, History, Geography, ICT, Modern Languages, Beliefs Values and Citizenship, PE, Music, Drama, Art.
Through enrichment activities, tutorial sessions and BVC (Beliefs, Values and Citizenship) lessons we provide careers education, work-related learning, sex education, RE, Citizenship and PSHE.

• Key Stage 4

Students study the core subjects English, Maths, Science and BVC in which they will all aim to achieve exam qualifications. Alongside this, students follow statutory PE lessons. The range of GCSE subjects offered is broad so students have to make choices. The option subjects offered are GCSEs in Food and Nutrition, Technology, PE, Computer Science, Art, Photography, Drama, Music, History, Geography, Business, French and Spanish. There are Cambridge National qualifications available in ICT and PE. We offer a City and Guilds in Land Based Science. Option choices change annually and full details can be obtained from the Deputy Headteacher.

• Post 16

The school offers over 25 Advanced Level courses and vocational courses together with our Sixth Form partnership with Coombeshead Academy. The students also participate in a wide range of enrichment activities.
 

5. Impact
Impact of our curriculum is measured through:

• how our students can talk about their learning
• the outcomes they achieve
• the destinations and pathways they pursue
• rigorous assessment.

6. Curriculum Complaints
The school is committed to working alongside parents in the education of their children. Where concerns arise we seek to resolve them as quickly and efficiently as possible. Parents may wish to contact the school informally to discuss their concerns. We have designed a procedure should parents wish to make a formal complaint about the curriculum. A copy of this can be obtained from the School Office.

Curriculum Documents