KS3 and KS4 Curriculum Statement

Curriculum Intent

All staff at Up Holland High School are dedicated to delivering an inclusive, high quality curriculum which enhances the life of every student and inspires them to achieve excellence. Our curriculum is designed to develop the personal attributes needed to be safe, happy, and considerate of others. We raise aspirations and tackle the challenges of social mobility by providing all our students with the skills, knowledge and qualifications needed to be prosperous members of society who make a positive contribution to those around them.

Up Holland High School is committed to:

  • providing the core skills, knowledge and understanding that are required for the 21st century.
  • developing a sense of social and moral responsibility; encouraging students to be respectful of others, mindful of their role in their community, in society at large and in the global environment.
  • providing subject choices that support students’ learning and progression, ensuring that our vision, mission and values are realised, thus enabling students to have the cultural capital they need to succeed in life.
  • providing every child, regardless of social background, with the opportunity to succeed. developing students’ independent learning skills and resilience, with coherently planned and sequenced curricula, enabling the development of knowledge and skills for further/higher education, training and employment.
  • embedding fundamental British values and social, moral, spiritual and cultural purpose.


Our Curriculum is underpinned by our core values:

Up Holland High School Core Values

 

Implementation

Our teachers have jointly planned a 5 year curriculum (Learning Journey) ensuring it is logically sequenced to inspire a thirst for knowledge, to build on students’ prior learning and to develop deep knowledge. Our Curriculum focuses on developing expertise over time and embedding a core knowledge that will maximise cognitive development and long-term memory. Children learn from repeated activities which help knowledge to become long term memories. This requires repeated visits to concepts and vocabulary through reading that not only supports greater comprehension, but also increases word mastery. This development of metacognitive skills can act as a foundation for future academic success.


Our Y7-9 (KS3) curriculum is designed to offer students broad and balanced opportunity to experience a wide range of subjects. All students will study the following subjects during their first three years at Up Holland: Art, Design, Technology, English, Geography, History, Computing, Mathematics, Music, Religious Studies, Performing Arts, Physical Education, Science, Spanish


Our Y10-11 (KS4) curriculum offers a breadth of subjects open to all students. Students are advised which subjects best suit their skills and ambitions through the pathways we offer during the options process. We aim to provide a curriculum that allows students to meet academic thresholds that are highly regarded by employers, universities and the government. Therefore, we strongly advise students with high academic attainment to study a humanities subject and language. Other pathways include college courses and specialised provision. In addition, our Special Needs Department will also provide personalised programmes of study support and alternative courses for students who are not able to access a full programme of GCSE courses.
 

Our Y10-11 Core Curriculum consists of English, Maths, Science, PE and Religious Studies. In addition to option subjects consisting of: Computer Science, Creative iMedia, Fine Art, Geography, History, Hospitality and Catering, Music, Performing Arts, Photography, Psychology, Religious Studies , Spanish, Sports Studies, Statistics.

The development of our students as young people; raising their awareness of the society in which they live and their roles within it; and preparing them for life after school are of fundamental importance to us, and are key drivers in our PSHE, CEIAG & Character provision. This provision is delivered during Character and Culture days, during our Personal Development curriculum and across the curriculum.

 

Our Personal Development curriculum consists of bespoke lessons of:

  • ERIC – (Everyone Reads In Class)
  • Communication – addressing the vocabulary gap
  • Numeracy – fun sessions to embed fundamentals of numeracy life skills
  • CEIAG (Careers Education, Information, Advice & Guidance)
  • PSHE (Personal, Social, Health & Economics)
  • Character – LORIC skills, debating skills, acceptance and tolerance of self & others, inter-personal relationships


Offering our students learning experiences beyond the classroom is a key part of our curriculum and our enrichment programme is firmly embedded within every day school life. We have a strong tradition of providing outdoor education opportunities, leadership opportunities, after school activities and educational visits. We track the attendance of our students at these experiences and endeavour to ensure that all students take part in enrichment during their time at Up Holland.
 

Examples of our wider curriculum offer include:

  • Music celebration – Festival of light
  • Musical tuition, clubs and workshops
  • Outdoor education trip
  • Public Debating Clubs and competitions
  • Residential trips
  • School productions
  • Sports teams and fixtures
  • STEM activities and events
  • Subject specific clubs e.g. Art
  • Student Council
  • Student Leadership Opportunities
  • The Duke of Edinburgh Award
  • Theatre visits and workshops
  • Visits to Universities

Impact

Students at Up Holland High School will have aspirations and know that by achieving excellent outcomes, they will have a choice of destinations. Our students will feel engaged in learning and will take responsibility for their learning within a culture of success. We are confident that our curriculum will produce life-long learners with the skills and attributes of our core values: leadership, organisation, resilience, initiative and communication. Student voice data will indicate that students feel included in curriculum planning and that the curriculum is tailored to meet the needs of all students. Progress for all students will be evidenced by excellent outcomes and destination measures.