The curriculum is the central way in which we seek to bring life to the school’s purpose. Our interpretation of what comprises the curriculum is broad and encompasses all learning and other experiences that we plan for our pupils and students.
The aims of the curriculum are to:
1. Offer a meaningful encounter with Jesus and the Christian faith and practice in a way that enhances the lives of pupils
2. Provide opportunities for all pupils to learn and achieve
3. Promote the moral, cultural, mental and physical development of all pupils at the school and of society
4. Prepare pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life.
The organisation, structuring and delivery of the curriculum also builds from the school’s sense of purpose, particularly its promotion of educating for academic success and wellbeing. Our curriculum deliberately brings our pupils into contact with some of the greatest thoughts of all time (knowledge), enabling them to change how they think about the world (wisdom). The curriculum is selective, we cannot teach children all that has been thought and said. We can, however, introduce them to the conversation in which they can join with others, living and dead, to decide what ‘the best’ might be. Our curriculum serves as an invitation into this conversation.
Curriculum content, its selection and sequencing, is therefore such an important choice and weighty ethical responsibility. In selecting and providing for our curriculum we are reminded that we are not atomised individuals waiting to have our innermost passions discovered; we are, instead, part of God’s kingdom on earth - an extended community of minds that stretches back into the past and will stretch beyond us into the future (‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever’ Hebrews 13:8).
At St Christopher's, the curriculum offered to pupils extends beyond the statutory National Curriculum. In Years 7, 8 & 9, pupils follow National Curriculum English, Mathematics, Science, Technology, Geography, History, French, PE/Games, ICT, Music, Art, with a common programme in Religious Education, Personal Social & Health Education and Citizenship. Those pupils in the top two general sets are taught German as a second foreign language.
In Years 10 & 11, English, Maths, Science, Personal Social, Health & Economic Education, Careers, Citizenship, Religious Education, and PE/Games, form a core for all. Additional subjects offered are French, German, History, Geography, Design Technology, Graphics, Food & Nutrition, Textiles, Art & Design, PE, Computing, iMedia, Business, Music, Child Development and Performing Arts.
Our Sixth Form courses can be found here.
Setting Procedures
From Year 7, all subjects are taught in mixed prior attainment groups. These classes are reviewed regularly and adjusted as and when appropriate. Special arrangements are made for those requiring learning support. All classes are characterised by a culture of high aspirations with the aim of ensuring that all pupils can attain well and make good rates of progress.
Homework
Our homework policy stresses the importance of homework for all pupils, and parental co-operation is requested to ensure that such work is completed and returned punctually. Parents are asked to provide reasonable time and facilities for this. All homework is set using School Synergy and we ask parents to check this each week.
The Quality of Education: Purpose
The school’s Purpose springs from Biblical roots and is evident in the manner in which it infuses and shapes the curriculum.
We aim to promote academic success and wellbeing in an effort to secure and rejoice in the fullness of life and the prosperity of all. In so doing young people will be supported in their journey to adulthood to be:
- Ambitious and capable pupils and students, ready to learn throughout their lives;
- Enterprising and creative contributors, ready to play a full part in life and work;
- Ethical and informed citizens of the local community, country and wider world;
- Healthy, confident individuals, ready to lead fulfilling lives as valued members of families and communities.
The curriculum as a whole provides a clear ‘map’ made up largely of subjects taught discretely from one another in an effort to acknowledge and preserve their academic distinctiveness. This enables pupils to understand that each subject draws on its own knowledge, made up of those concepts, facts, processes, language, narratives and conventions which have changed over time and will continue to change.
You can read more by downloading the following PDFs:
Links to Policies
- Details of the school’s compliance with the Equality Act 2010 can be found here.
- Details of the school’s compliance with the Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014 can be found here.