Curriculum Overview

Curriculum Vision for Excellence

Providing a World Class curriculum for students educated within Twynham Learning is fundamental to the educational vision of our trust. In doing so our curriculum vision is based on the core purpose of each of our two secondary schools:

A curriculum that exists to serve its community allowing students to be successful, inspiring excellence in all that they do.

All subsequent curriculum decisions regarding Twynham School and TGS, whether they are made at Trust, whole school or subject level will be based on the vision and guiding principles set out below.

Vision

The Twynham TGS curriculum exists within the community it serves and as such aims to meet the needs of that community. Where appropriate the curriculum will make use of local contexts and resources to frame learning and serve the needs of both the children and other stakeholders within our community.

Twynham TGS curriculum exists to serve:

Our students as ‘scholars’ – giving them the breadth of education to understand and shape the world in which they live. Giving them knowledge and understanding of the very best that has been thought and said.

Our students as ‘young people’ – allowing students to experience opportunities that would not otherwise exist, in opportunities of sports, creative arts and music, trips abroad or closer to home, contact with visiting speakers and organisations.

Our disadvantaged students – offering a highly challenging curriculum to all of our students, despite background and status. This will enable our students to break the barriers of disadvantage and allow all students access to the very best opportunities beyond school.

Our students as part of their community – students can study subjects that benefit the local economy such as health and social care, travel and tourism and engineering. Our curriculum provides students with progression into further education or high quality training within the workplace.

Our students within our society – by ensuring that our students are taught the importance of kindness, determination, responsibility, respect, aspiration, and pride allowing them to be life-long learners and play a positive and influential role in the community.

Principles

The Twynham TGS curriculum will ensure students can be the best versions of themselves as a result of the following principles which underpin decision-making:

• Central tenets for all students will be English, Maths and Science
• Curriculum decisions will be made solely on the basis of the best interests of the student and not to serve external accountability measures (whilst recognising that improved outcomes lead to improved life chances)
• All subjects will have a responsibility for developing students’ abilities in reading, writing, numeracy, oracy and cultural capital
• Students have a right to a broad and balanced curriculum; enabling students to study a wide range of subjects for as long as possible, ensuring that students are fully immersed in knowledge, vocabulary and experiences relevant to the world in which they live.
• The schools will work to a 3 year Key Stage 3 model
• Wherever possible the curriculum will be personalised to meet the needs of individual students (recognising that we are the experts and will often know what is best for students)
• Value is placed on the study of the Arts recognising that these have many additional benefits for the wellbeing of young people and contribute to a “broad and balanced” education
• The large majority of students will study a MFL throughout their 5 years of education

Founding Pillars

The Twynham TGS curriculum is distinguished by its focus on children’s conceptual understanding within each of the subject disciplines. There is an emphasis on teaching for meaning that goes beyond simple rote learning or teaching to a test.

The curriculum recognises the importance of embedding substantive and disciplinary knowledge within subject areas and is designed to challenge all students.

The curriculum is facilitated by a shared approach to pedagogy that requires teachers to focus on what students should know, understand and be able to do.

The curriculum is also designed to support the development of exceptional skills in numeracy, reading and oracy that will enable students to flourish in all manner of arenas.

Expert curriculum design is crucial. A high quality curriculum sets out:

• The big ideas of each subject
• The rationale behind the sequencing of curricula topics, units and programmes of study
• Explicit design principles to ensure meaningful understanding is embedded in long-term memory
• How assessment, both formative and summative, is used effectively to support learning

Everything that is taught at Twynham TGS can be considered as part of the ‘curriculum’. This includes extra-curricular activities, supra-curricular opportunities, and aspects of the “hidden curriculum”.

For further information regarding the curriculum please email amanda.britton@twynhamschool.com

Key Stage 4

Sixth Form