BBS Curriculum Intent and Rationale 2021


Curriculum Intent

Our whole school curriculum intent is: 

“Be The Difference - to create physically, mentally and socially healthy, ethical global leaders, who are respectful, responsible and active citizens”.

Individual departments have their own intent statements which dovetail with the BBS Curriculum Intent and can be found under particular subject areas in the curriculum section of the website. 
 


Curriculum Management

Key Stage

Subjects

Hours/fortnight

3

All students study the following:

Art

Computing

Design and Technology

Drama

English

Geography and History (students decide which to take for GCSE in Year 9)

French or Spanish

Maths

Music

Physical Education

Philosophy

PSHE

Religious Education

Science

 

2

2

4

2

8

4 or 4

 

4

8

2

4

1

1

2

6

4

All students take the following core subjects:

English Language and Literature

Mathematics

Science (2)

Religious Education

Physical Education (non-examined)

PSHE (non-examined) during CLL

 

Students take one of the following extended core subjects continued from Year 9: Geography or History.

 

Students choose 2 options from the Open Option Subjects:

BTEC Technical Award in Enterprise

GCSE Art & Design                                                                                                    

Cambridge Nationals: Child Development L2

GCSE Computer Science  

GCSE Food, Nutrition and Preparation

GCSE Drama

GCSE French

GCSE Music

GCSE PE

GCSE Photography

GCSE Design and Technology

GCSE Psychology

GCSE Sociology

GCSE Spanish

BTEC First Certificate in Sport

GCSE Triple Science (GCSE Physics, GCSE Biology and GCSE Chemistry)

 

 

9

9

10

2

4

1

 

6

 

 

 

5 + 5

 

 

 

 

BBS Curriculum Rationale

We aim to provide a broad, balanced and ambitious education for all our students to enable them to develop the knowledge, understanding, skills and cultural capital that they require to succeed in life. The school’s curriculum intent and implementation are applied across the school. Leaders and teachers have a firm and shared understanding of the school’s intent and across all departments series of lessons contribute well to delivering this. They have planned and sequenced the school’s curriculum coherently to develop long-term memory, understanding and to apply their knowledge as skills for future learning and employment. This is regularly adapted and developed to be ambitious and to meet the needs of all pupils. The curriculum engenders in students a sense of enjoyment and fascination in learning about themselves, others and the world around them. Pupils study the full curriculum and it is not narrowed unnecessarily: a broad range of subjects (exemplified by the national curriculum) are studied throughout Years 7 to 9. Good progress has been made towards growing the number of students following the EBacc ambition. 
As a result of our curriculum offer and its implementation our students consistently hold highly positive attitudes and demonstrate commitment to their education. They are highly motivated and resilient in the face of challenges. They make a highly positive and significant contribution to the life of the school and wider community, and actively support the well-being of their fellow students. The curriculum makes a significant contribution to the personal development of the students by providing them with access to a wide range of curricular and extra-curricular experiences that enable them to become confident, responsible, resilient, respectful and active citizens who have a deep understanding of fundamental British values and are developing the qualities that they need to flourish in society. The curriculum extends beyond the academic to enhance students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. They are able to recognise risks to their well-being and able to stay physically and mentally healthy. 


Accordingly, we have made the following decisions with regards to the design of our curriculum: 
•    At Key Stage 3 we are committed to a three year programme for all subjects except History and Geography (please see below) to ensure that the students’ experiences of the arts, design and technology and RS are not curtailed prematurely.
•    RE – students study this subject from years 7 to 11 as we believe it is incredibly important in the 21st century to develop an understanding of diversity, other cultures and British values in a globalised environment.  
•    Philosophy – students study this subject from years 7 to 9 as it is essential for exploring notions of creativity, thinking, collaboration, diverse opinions and topics that are not covered by the National Curriculum. 
•    From year 9 students study a choice of Geography or History GCSE. Four hours per fortnight are allocated to these subjects in Years 7 and 8 so that the National Curriculum content is covered in full. Studying the GCSE across three years allows for broader development through deeper study of key topics and cross-curricular links: in Geography this allows for students to engage in field work thus creating greater cultural capital; in History it allows for greater breadth and depth and the development of highly transferable skills such as evaluation of information, the analysis of interpretation and engagement with academic texts. Together this allows for greater realisation of the EBACC ambition. 
•    We provide all students with a language at KS3 with the option to continue this at GCSE. 
•    At KS4 are options blocks are not predetermined, allowing greater student choice. Thus, the timetable is adapted yearly to meet the needs of the cohort. 
•    We follow a two year Key Stage 4 to reflect the design of GCSE qualifications that provides a broad balance of subjects: academic, vocational, arts, languages and humanities with the majority studying EBACC subjects. This will provide solid foundations for all future educational and work based pathways. 
•    All students complete up to 9 GCSEs, following a common EBACC core of subjects and qualifications that will include: GCSE English Language and GCSE English Literature (9 hours per fortnight in total), GCSE Mathematics (9 hours per fortnight), GCSE Double Science (10 hours per fortnight), Religious Studies (2 hours per fortnight) and Physical Education (though this is not an examined course). 
•    Students continue with their extended core choice of either GCSE History or Geography and make a selection of a further two options from a choice of 17 to retain breadth and depth of study. 
•    Lessons are one hour long with some double lessons at GCSE to allow sufficient time to develop knowledge, understanding and skills.  
•    We provide a strong PSHE programme through CLL and EEL days that incorporates spiritual, moral, social and cultural education, including fundamental British values, Relationships and Sex Education and healthy living. 
•    Alternative pathways are delivered by Engage and reviewed to meet the needs of individual SEND students. 
•    We pride ourselves on our small school system and extra-curricular offer. 
Below are our curriculum overviews for each year group. The colours represent particular subjects (see the left-hand column) and show cross-curricular links. 
 

 

Below are our curriculum overviews for each year group. The colours represent particular subjects (see the left-hand column) and show cross-curricular links. 

Curriculum Overview