Curriculum overview

We are one school which means the curriculum at both campuses is the same.

Key Stage 3 (years 7 to 9)
The key stage 3 curriculum is designed to build on the excellent work of our feeder primary schools. It aims to:

• provide an academically rigorous experience, building mastery in English, mathematics, and science
• create articulate, aspirational, and confident students through a strong literacy and oracy programme, enriched by exposure to a range of cultural experiences
• embed excellent rituals, routines, and disciplined study habits
• inspire students to have ambitious goals and develop the courage and resilience to achieve them

Key Stage 4 (years 10 and 11)

The key stage 4 curriculum expands upon the experiences from key stage3.  It aims to:

• continue to build mastery in English, mathematics, and science, whilst securing strong progress and attainment in chosen specialisms
• be relentless in building knowledge, skills and cultural awareness through excellent teaching and wider experiences
• instil communication skills so that students can present confidently in any situation and write at length with stamina for a variety of different purposes and audiences
• develop emotional intelligence that will enable our students to modify their behaviour according to the context; develop strong interpersonal skills; listen and understand another person’s point of view; positively challenge and debate that view confidently and knowledgeably
• prepare our students to be positive contributors to their communities
• provide an excellent, hands-on careers programme tailored to each individual
• show what success looks like and how to be resilient and patient when faced with challenges

Subject experts and school leaders carefully plan curriculum maps backwards from year 13 or year 11, so that every teacher has a clear understanding the importance of each unit, and where it ultimately leads. Our schemes of learning always consider the demands of A level and GCSE study, and aim to prepare students for this.

Our schemes of learning:

• identify the essential concepts and knowledge that the students must learn and apply
• demonstrate where the essential knowledge will be re-taught and re-learnt
• allocate time to re-teaching and re-testing so that we are sure students have retained the knowledge
• maximise opportunities for literacy and oracy
• incorporate homework as integral part of each student's learning

Every teacher must:

• have the ‘big picture’ of the 5/7-year curriculum so they can share this with students and help them understand the relevance and importance of the learning in any one lesson
• know exactly what the students must learn at each stage, and develop high quality lessons where students can successfully acquire and apply the knowledge they need to
• write models of excellence and use them with students to define what excellence “looks like”

We provide specialist support to students who are high achievers. Alongside the work that is integral to our teaching and provision, we have a strong partnership with Villiers Park who deliver a programme of mentoring, coaching and preparation for students aspiring to the best universities. We have been exceptionally successful supporting students to study at Oxford, Cambridge and other excellent universities.

We measure the success of our curriculum through:

• Student engagement and enjoyment – We use student feedback to measure how much students are enjoying their learning and how much progress they feel they are making in each subject.
• Subject progress and attainment – We have calendared summative assessment points where we analyse students' assessment results to gauge overall progress and attainment. There are also ongoing assessments throughout the year where we can check student progress and put plans in place to close any gaps. Student workbooks also provide a crucial indication of each student's progress.
• Student destinations and continuation in education, training or employment – Post 16 and 18 destination data gives critical insight into the success of our curriculum. We expect all students to attend further education, university or higher-level training, such as apprenticeships or a career of their choice.
• Students' behaviour, actions and interactions – Whilst it is not always a quantitative measure, we are always looking at how our students demonstrate our values: Faith in their God and themselves, motivation to strive for Excellence, and Kindness to others and to themselves.
• Rewards, repair and consequences data – Rewards data tells us how well our students have learnt and adopted our values. Repair and consequences data is a measure of where we need to improve our curriculum to better support particular groups and individuals.
• Attendance – Good attendance shows students are happy and find school fulfilling.

Collectively, these data points guide our ongoing curriculum refinement, and ensure we always keep our Hasting students at the centre of what we do.