Reviewed: October 2015
Review Date: October 2017
CURRICULUM POLICY
Introduction:
The Curriculum is the structure through which the school fulfills its aim of encouraging and enabling students to
learn. This policy refers to the events which take place within the confines of the school timetable. However,
those extra-curricular and informal learning experiences that enhance student learning are recognised as playing
a crucial role in what the school provides for its students and are highly valued.
1. Curriculum principles:
De Aston is an inclusive, comprehensive school. We pride ourselves on providing equality of opportunity for
young people of all kinds. It is the nature of a comprehensive school, and particularly one in the geographical
location in which De Aston finds itself, catering as it does for all students in a wide, rural catchment area, that it
should provide diversity under one roof. We aim to provide excellence in all fields of learning which are within our
resources to support.
As a school with a non-denominational religious character, we are committed to identifying, encouraging and
enhancing within the curriculum, opportunities for spirituality and the development of values, principles and
beliefs.
The Curriculum and its related systems, therefore, aim:
 To be accessible to all.
 To be sensitive to the different needs of students and allow personalization of learning programmes.
 To be broad and balanced.
 To be stimulating, challenging and stretching for all of our students, at all levels of ability and stages of
maturity.
 To provide opportunities across all subjects for the development of moral, spiritual, social and cultural
awareness in students:
o To encourage students to see beyond the present and to imagine other possibilities.
o To offer opportunities for students to explore beliefs, both their own and others.
o To encourage students to challenge all that would constrain the human spirit.
o To actively seek out opportunities that encourages students to develop a sense of awe, wonder
and mystery.
o To ensure an environment that promotes reflective learning.
 To promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual
respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.
 To be responsive to new and changing fields of knowledge.
 To be relevant to the needs of individuals and society by providing students with the skills, knowledge and
understanding:
o to allow them to lead healthy lifestyles.
o to understand others, to promote common values and awareness of human rights and the
responsibility to uphold them, to value diversity and to develop the skills of participation and
responsible action.
 To provide guidance and support to ensure that students follow a curriculum pathway designed to allow
them to achieve their maximum potential.
 To motivate students to learn.
 To enable, encourage, foster and celebrate achievements of all kinds.
 To develop skills of independent learning and to offer personalised learning opportunities.
 To meet national and statutory priorities and targets.
2. Curriculum Structure
i) The curriculum is delivered through a forty period teaching week. This comprises of thirty nine, forty minute
lessons and a tutorial period, also of forty minutes. A number of lessons are combined into double periods of
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eighty minutes and in some cases triple lessons of two hours. It is expressed through subjects and reflects areas
of experience: aesthetic and creative; human and social; linguistic and literacy; mathematical; moral; physical;
scientific; technological. These do not equate with subjects on the timetable, but, in curriculum planning,
represent the range of areas of learning which we believe are the entitlement of all students until they are 13
years old. We do not give equal weight or importance to each of these areas of experience, but endeavor to
ensure that each is represented. As students mature, their own interests may lead them to focus on particular
areas. This choice is expressed through the subject options within 2 pathways or ‘specialisms’ available in Year
10 and 11 and through the variety of courses available in the Sixth Form Curriculum, available in 3 pathways.
ii) All subjects are interrelated in many ways and do not exist in isolation: aesthetic and creative development
may take place through art, music and drama, but also in English, PE – through Dance – and in less obvious
subjects such as Maths, Science and Technology. Teachers (and students) should be aware of these links and
need therefore to be aware of what departments, other than their own, contribute to the curriculum. In particular,
Heads of Department are expected to plan schemes of work with regard to related subject areas and with especial
regard to functional skills in literacy, numeracy and computing, in order to utilize all cross-curricular opportunities
to reinforce ideas and to avoid unnecessary duplication.
iii) In Years 7 to 11 the curriculum meets the requirements of the revised National Curriculum whilst using
flexibility within the structure to provide other important experiences.
iv) Heads of Department of National Curriculum Core and Foundation subjects are responsible for ensuring that
all statutory requirements for programmes of study, assessment, recording and reporting are met, as far as
possible within the constraints of time and resources available to them.
v) In addition to core and foundation subjects, there are other important aspects of the curriculum. These include
careers, citizenship, enterprise and work related learning, health, sex and relationships and environmental
education, together with cross-curricular themes of literacy and numeracy. Our strategy for the delivery of these
aspects of the curriculum includes the use of Tutor sessions, whole day sessions, citizenship lessons, ethics
lessons combined with reinforcement and development in appropriate subject lessons.
vi) RE is taught in accordance with the Lincolnshire Agreed Syllabus in dedicated curriculum time.
vii) In Languages students study French in Year 7. In Years 8 and 9 students will continue to study French and
the most able linguists will begin to study a second language (German).
viii) Computing is taught as a discrete subject throughout the school, although skills and content are likely to be
reinforced through the application of computing skills in other curricular areas.
ix) Literacy and Numeracy skills are developed in many subject areas and Heads of Department are expected to
plan the development of these skills in schemes of work. In Years 7 to 9 students in most need of extra support in
these areas, have dedicated curriculum time in them. All staff are expected to follow the school marking for
literacy policy.
x) There are other cross-curricular skills and personal qualities that the curriculum aims to promote. The
provision of a tutorial programme which incorporates study skills post -16 reflect the importance that we place on
developing the study skills and work habits required for lifelong learning. Organisational ability, punctuality,
problem solving, team working as well as communication skills, numeracy and computing capability are elements
which all aspects of the curriculum can help to develop.
3. Teaching and Learning
We accept that students learn in a variety of ways and that there are a variety of ways to deliver the curriculum.
Just as individual students prefer certain subjects to others, so they will prefer different learning styles. To ensure
that all students enjoy opportunities to succeed, it is necessary to take preferences into account and to deploy a
range of teaching strategies. Appropriate strategies will differ from subject to subject and topic to topic. We
therefore encourage flexible teaching and flexible learning, with the acid test for any methodology being its fitness
for purpose. Teachers should reflect critically on classroom practice and are encouraged to be reflective
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practitioners. We encourage active and participative approaches, because they help to foster core skills as well
as engagement and motivation in the subject. Indeed, an awareness of preferred learning styles by students is
one of the factors taken into account when assigning Specialisms in Years 10 and 11.
Assessment for and of learning strategies can be very helpful in developing effective teaching and learning. The
Teaching and Learning Policy provides a structure for lessons including the use of shared objectives; starter
activities; three or four part lessons; and plenary sessions. The Assessment Policy provides guidance and
templates for providing feedback to students.
We encourage links with the community and workplaces, because such links can help to demonstrate to students
the relevance of learning to the world outside school. We encourage visits to sites and events, because they can
have a memorable impact with which the most vivid classroom experience can rarely compete. We also value
time spent listening attentively to a teacher explaining a difficult concept or on independent research, as these
lead to understanding.
4. Differentiation
i) Just as no one teaching strategy is likely to be effective in all cases, neither is one arrangement of student
groupings likely to be most productive. The timetable seeks to create as much flexibility as possible to enable
departments to work within conductive structures and to enable students to work at an appropriate and supportive
level.
In practice, this means:
 In Year 7 students are mostly taught in setted groups with one group aimed at the Gifted and Talented and
a Transition group aimed at those students who require a greater focus on the acquisition of literacy and
numeracy skills in order to access the curriculum beyond Year 7.
 In Years 8 and 9 students are taught in subject related bands for most subjects. The number and
composition of bands may vary according to departmental preference. Within blocks departments may
adopt a strict hierarchical setting of students according to ability (e.g. Maths) or a more loosely overlapping
arrangement of ability groups (e.g. English) or mixed ability classes (e.g. Drama, Computing, Citizenship,
Music) according to the wishes of the departments concerned. The number of classes in each band may
vary from year to year and block to block according to the distribution of student ability.
 The curriculum for each band is the same.
ii) The banding policy supports differentiation within the curriculum by allowing work to be geared to the broad
ability of the students in each band. Groups in band 3 tend to be smaller to support more individual attention
where it is needed. Group composition and sizes are a matter for the Heads of Year in consultation with the Head
of Departments in the blocks concerned.
iii) At Key Stage 4 students follow a curriculum consisting of a core – which is compulsory for all – English,
Mathematics, PE, Science, Computing/IT and Ethics (This is a RE/Citizenship course which includes political,
enterprise and careers education). In Years 10 and 11 the remainder of the curriculum consists of two separate
Specialisms- ‘Languages’ and ‘Humanities’. During Year 9 students are allocated to the most appropriate
Pathway or Specialism based on a variety of sources of evidence:
 Key Stage 2 results
 CATs scores from Year 7
 Chances graph
 Transition matrices
 Learning styles
 Current attainment as shown in Progress updates
 Teacher recommendation
The primary aim of the Specialism system is to ensure that each student has the best possible programme to
maximize attainment at Level 2. Within each Specialism there is a choice of subjects for students to take which
allow access to all the mandatory areas of experience in the National Curriculum. In the core subjects of English,
Mathematics and Science groups are setted according to ability. From 2014 the Language Specialism has
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been devised to ensure that students are allowed access to the English Baccalaureate qualifications
whilst not sacrificing their breadth of choice.
During Years 10 and 11 there is rigorous tracking of student progress. If, as a result of this tracking, it would
appear that a student is in danger of underachievement at the end of Year 11, the individual student curriculum
may be revised in order to maximize achievement. This would only be done following discussion with Heads of
Department, subject teachers, tutors, Heads of Year, Deputy Head – Student Achievement, Assistant Head
(Curriculum), student and parents.
iv) In the Sixth Form students may choose from a diverse range of subjects, including discrete courses or
mixtures of: A2’s, AS levels, GCSE courses and BTEC Level 2 Diplomas and BTEC Level 3 Certificates,
Subsidiary Diplomas and Diplomas in a range of subjects. The Pathway structure of KS4 has now progressed
into the Sixth Form with revised admission criteria:
o General Pathway – a programme of AS courses lasting 1 year, usually leading to A2 courses in
the second year.
o Level 3 Courses – a programme of L3 BTEC/OCR qualifications that can be studied as either a
single option for 2 years, or a double option for 1 year.
o Level 2 Courses – a programme of L2 qualifications, including GCSE English and Maths, lasting
one year but with a clear progression to L3 courses in the second year.
o The Sixth form curriculum also includes Enrichment lessons and Physical and Recreational
activities. Students are guided towards their individual programme of study as part of the Sixth
form induction programme.
v) Students with Special Educational Needs follow the mainstream curriculum as far as is possible. Assistance is
provided by in-class support and, when necessary, by limited withdrawal. Within the constraints of available
resources the school seeks to implement the DCSF Code of Practice for Children with Special Educational Needs.
Heads of Department should ensure that policies are in place to support students with special educational needs,
particularly those registered at School Action in their subject.
5. Curriculum management
i) Overall responsibility for curriculum provision lies with the Assistant Head (Curriculum), in consultation with the
Headteacher. The responsibility for subject delivery is delegated to Heads of Department, but any Head of
Department considering curriculum change (e.g. a change of course or examination syllabus) should refer to the
Assistant Head in the first instance.
ii) The school budget is curriculum driven. The curriculum is set and the staffing level required to deliver it
determines the staffing budget, which is the single biggest item within the budget as a whole. The Headteacher is
responsible to the School Governors for the staffing budget.
iii) The day-to-day management of the curriculum is the responsibility of a substantial team, which includes:
Assistant Head
(Curriculum)
Timetable & Curriculum Planning
Assistant Head
(Staffing)
Staff Teaching, Quality Assurance Cover and Appointments
Deputy Head
(Academic Standards)
Overview of monitoring and reporting
Student progress
Gifted and Talented provision
School Leadership Team
Line Management Responsibilities,
Quality Assurance and School Self- Review
Heads of Year Student
Curriculum and Timetables,
Monitoring Student Progress,
Pastoral and Disciplinary support
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Heads of Department & Subject
Leading the Delivery of Subject Specialists,
Drawing up Schemes of Work,
Leading departmental self-review,
Head of Inclusion Organisation of SEN support;
Implementation of the SEN code of Practice,
Administrative Organisation of Examinations,
Assessment procedures and Options choices,
Drawing up Schemes of Work,
Head of Additional Needs
Organisation of SEND support;
Implementation of the SEND code of Practice
Administrative
Organisation of Examinations,
Assessment procedures and Options choices
iv) Curriculum policy is set by the Senior Leadership Team after consultation which may include: Heads of
Department and/or Heads of Year.
The Academic Standards and QA Sub-Committee of the Governing Body takes responsibility for handling matters
related to the curriculum which may be referred to it. The Assistant Head (Curriculum) acts as an adviser to the
Sub-Committee on issues relating to the curriculum and provides an annual analysis of examination and test
outcomes each year summarising departmental evaluation.
v) There are regular scheduled meetings after school for all main teaching departments as part of the school
calendar. The content and organisation of these meetings is the responsibility of the relevant Head of
Department.
6. Curriculum Evaluation and Review
i) It is important to review and evaluate the curriculum regularly to measure its effectiveness. The review and
evaluation is a continuous process take place both formally and informally throughout the year. It ranges from
teacher conversations in the staff room – their judgement about how successful a particular lesson has been – to
formal deliberations with the Governing Body. This policy refers to the more formal sources of information for
evaluation and review, whilst recognising the value that informal evaluation can play.
ii) At departmental level review takes place through the schedule for whole school evaluation, which requires
departments to conduct detailed self-review. This links to the Departmental Development Planning process,
through which departments set and plan future developments. Heads of Department are responsible for the
organisation of these processes. Line managers provide objective scrutiny of these methods of review and
evaluation and work closely with the appropriate Head of Department.
iii) Information for evaluative purposes may be drawn from the following sources:
a) Providing factual and statistical evidence:
Examination analysis – ALIS, FFT and In House analysis
National and regional comparative information
External Evidence – RAISE Online, FFT data, Level 3 Value Added and the Sixth Form PANDA
Head’s meetings with Heads of Department
Leadership Team line management meetings with Heads of Department
Departmental self-review documentation
Whole School Self review documentation – SEF
All policy and consultation group meetings
Annual departmental planning meetings and planning documents
Ofsted Inspections
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b) Providing impressionistic evidence:
The results of formal consultation with parents and students, e.g. questionnaires, school council activities, the
PTA
Involvement of other educational professionals who have contact with the school, i.e. CfBT, SSAT
Identified professional development priorities and performance management targets
Informal or irregular responses of parents, students and members of the community to school events and
activities
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