OUR CURRICULUM

Curriculum Vision and Intent

“We believe in providing a broad educational experience and a balanced curriculum. Particular attention is given to those subjects that are proven to aid future success, often the traditional academic disciplines, but the experience of our pupils will embrace technical subjects, arts, languages, health, sport and humanities in line with our aim of producing rounded individuals”.

Our Academy curriculum vision is to “provide EVERY student the opportunity to acquire academic excellence and those skills, qualities and experiences that develop well-rounded, successful and happy members of modern society”.

Subject Plans

Overarching Principles

We deliver an ambitious and rich curriculum for EVERY student.
A 5 Year curriculum design approach for most subjects providing a logically sequenced educational journey.
We follow the full National Curriculum at Key Stage 3 (KS3) to give our students the broadest and best start to their secondary education.
Drama, Dance, Food, DT and Music are taught weekly as distinct subjects at KS3.
All students are taught two languages (Spanish and French) weekly as distinct subjects at KS3.
We believe in personalisation and choice, so we offer one of the broadest ranges of KS4 GCSE option subjects in the Borough.
Students are encouraged, but not forced to take EBacc subjects, resulting in significantly more students choosing these subjects, compared to National average
All students acquire academic, subject specific vocabulary. They can talk confidently, accurately and publicly about what they have learnt.
The ‘Academy Literacy Strategy’ ensures that this is a core strand running through the curriculum
All students, at every stage, acquire and retain the knowledge they need to succeed and to move forward to the next stage including progression to higher education.
We have a ‘Teach to the Top’ mantra, where challenge is always present and differentiation ensures all students have the scaffolding and support to ‘Access the Top’
EVERY student has access to the full ambitious curriculum. We do not reduce, narrow or restrict the curriculum for any learners.
We pride ourselves on an extremely rich ‘wider curriculum’ including extracurricular; electives; trips and visits; values; oracy to increase our students’ ‘Cultural Capital’ to ensure all students are equipped with the knowledge, skills and experiences to become good citizens and lifelong learners.
We base our curriculum design and implementation on proven educational research methods.

Implementing our Principles

Each subject develops a long-term plan that explicitly lays out the knowledge and skills students are expected to acquire in order to achieve excellence. This content builds cumulatively in terms of its breadth and depth.
Each subject clearly identifies the ‘end points’ that are necessary to become excellent in this subject and enable students to progress to the next steps and higher education.
A range of formative and summative assessment strategies are used to ‘test’ these end points.
Regular retrieval practice, interleaving and low stakes testing is built into the curriculum to help students form durable long-term memories.
CPD maintains an unrelenting focus on improving and evolving the curriculum, and ensures that all teachers are developing their subject pedagogical knowledge.
Students are explicitly taught strategies for knowledge acquisition (memorisation, revision, self-testing etc.) to support students in self-regulating their own learning of the core knowledge.
Homework is planned into the curriculum across all subjects. It provides students with the opportunity to practise, memorise, retrieve, extend upon or apply the knowledge that they have been taught in lessons, or provides the opportunity to act on feedback to improve a piece of work.

Our Wider Curriculum

PREP is a compulsory ‘Independent Study’ sessions which runs for all students on Tuesdays and Thursdays until 4pm. Students gain an additional hour per week. Tutors support students with homework, reading, revision and research and students may utilise their Trust laptops at these times.
Student Laptops BCAT provides every learner with a new, powerful laptop when they join the Academy. This is used at home and at school (at directed times). It is also used during PREP (see above)
Enrichment Electives Students in Years 9 and 10 choose a taught elective for 1 hour per week. Options include Duke of Edinburgh, Home Language GCSE, Sports Leaders, Harpur Trust Art Competition, MIndfulness
Official Voice 21 partner school for Oracy Students are trained how to discuss and articulate effectively through our ‘Oracy Programme’ delivered by Ms Turney and the English Department. Students are given opportunities in public speaking as part of this initiative
Inspirational Trips and Experiences We believe that learning should be inspirational both inside and outside the classroom. This is why we plan an extra ‘trip or experience’ per subject per year for each student. These include trips to Kew Gardens; Shakespeare’s home; Video Conferences; visiting orchestras and much more!
Extracurricular Programme Our extensive club timetable boasts 50 different clubs this year and the list is growing all the time. Clubs are at lunchtime and after school and are all free and voluntary. Students can extend their Maths skills; play sports for fun or competitively; enhance their chess master skills; audition for the next Academy play or fly rockets! The range of clubs is awesome!
Values and Character Education Students are taught explicitly about our 6 core values of Honesty, Compassion, Respect, Community, Determination and Responsibility. In addition students have numerous opportunities to develop their character for example as Anne Frank or Knife Crime Ambassadors or perhaps as members of the student formed ‘Humankind Group’ which strives for equality for all.
Duke of Edinburgh Award We became an official DofE school during COVID lockdown in 2020 and have gone from strength to strength. Starting with 40 students who have just completed their Bronze Expedition against every adversity, we now have 150 more students pursuing their Bronze award and we will be offering Silver Award in Year 10 and Silver and Gold in the Sixth Form.

View our Subject Plans

Learning

High expectations and the best teaching ensure that our students develop into inquisitive and active learners. Our culture of high aspiration for all creates an exceptional learning environment in which all students thrive.

Our lessons are engaging, active and take full advantage of the state-of-the-art facilities that our building affords which includes specialist science laboratories, a music room and recording studio, high-tech computing labs, performing arts studio and a multi-use games area.

Many resources are available during lessons, including interactive whiteboards, computers with a full range of up to date software. In addition, offsite trips to places of historical, scientific and technological interest are a key part of the curriculum for all students.

Overviews of schemes of study at KS3 and 4 are available on our website (under the Learning tab). Our broad and balanced curriculum at KS4 is highly academic but also has flexibility that allows us to personalise the curriculum for each student, and is designed to prepare students for higher education and careers in growing industries.

Learning Support Team and SENDCo

We are committed to ensuring that every child achieves extraordinary things. We carefully monitor the progress of all students, providing extra support to those who need it. Our highly experienced SENDCo and team work closely with families to ensure all specific needs are met in the best possible way.

Our aim is to ensure the provision of opportunities to boost the attainment, motivation and self-confidence of all students.

Most Able students

Students who show a high level of flair and aptitude in their work at Wixams Academy are identified as Most Able. They are encouraged to extend and develop their abilities to enable them to achieve their full potential. These learners are identified on an annual basis by subject teachers and/or on a permanent basis by Year 7 Cognitive Ability Test (CAT) scores and/or Key Stage 2 results.

Summary KS3 Curriculum in Years 7 & 8

Summary KS4 Curriculum in Years 9-11

BRITISH VALUES

British values are promoted in much of what we do, during school assemblies, Religious Education, and Personal, Social Health and Citizenship Education (PSHCE) sessions. The values are also integral to our vision and values.

As well as actively promoting British values, the opposite also applies: we would actively challenge pupils, staff or parents expressing opinions contrary to fundamental British values, including ‘extremist’ views.

The British values we embrace are not unique to Britain. We acknowledge that they differ in no way from values of the many countries and the cultural backgrounds represented by families.

Below are just a few examples of how we promote British values. The first section is a general overview; the others are specific expectations set out by Ofsted.

Being part of Britain

As an Academy, we value and celebrate the diverse heritages of everybody at Wixams. Alongside this, we value and celebrate being part of Britain. In general terms, this means that we celebrate traditions and customs in the course of the year; for example, Easter, Bonfire Night, and trips to the pantomime at Christmas. We also value and remember national events such as Remembrance Day.

Students learn about being part of Britain from different perspectives:

Geography: our rivers, coasts and seaside holiday topics ensure that children have a better understanding of what Britain is, learning more about:

its coasts, rivers and mountains
where Britain is in relation to the rest of Europe and other countries in the world.

History: key moments in British history are studied in the topics such as ‘London’s burning’ and significant historical figures. The actual topic depends on the interests of the children (and teacher), but might include inventions and discoveries, or medicine.

Democracy

Children, parents and staff have many opportunities for their voices to be heard at the Academy. Democracy is central to how we operate.

Our Academy Council: the election of the Academy Council members reflects our British electoral system and demonstrates democracy in action: candidates make speeches, pupils consider characteristics important for an elected representative, pupils vote in secret using ballot boxes etc. Made up of two representatives from each class, the Academy Council meets regularly to discuss issues raised by the different classes. The Council are actively involved in staff recruitment and in providing teachers with feedback.

Pupils are always listened to by adults and are taught to listen carefully and with concern to each other, respecting the right of every individual to have their opinions and voices heard. We encourage pupils to take ownership of not only their Academy but also of their own learning and progress. This encourages a heightened sense of both personal and social responsibility and is demonstrated on a daily basis by our pupils.

Parents’ opinions are welcomed at the Academy through methods such as questionnaires, surveys at parents’ evenings, and opportunities to comment on newsletters.

Rules and Laws

The importance of rules and laws, whether they be those that govern our Academy or our country, are referred to and often reinforced, such as in assemblies and when reflecting on behaviour choices. At the start of the school year, each class discusses the school rules and class routines; principles that are clearly understood by all, and seen to be necessary to ensure that every class member is able to learn in a safe and ordered environment.

Pupils are taught the value and reasons behind laws; that they govern and protect us, the responsibilities that this involves, and the consequences when laws are broken.

These values can be reinforced in different ways:

visits from authorities such as the police and fire service
during Religious Education, when rules for particular faiths are thought about
during other school subjects, where there is respect and appreciation for different rules.

Individual Liberty

Alongside rules and laws, we promote freedom of choice and the right to respectfully express views and beliefs.

Through the provision of a safe, supportive environment, we provide boundaries for our pupils to make choices safely; for example:

choices about what learning or activity they follow
choices about how they record their learning
choices around the participation in extra-curricular activities

Our pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and are taught how to exercise these safely, such as in our PSHCE lessons.

Mutual respect and tolerance

Wixams Academy serves an area which is culturally diverse and we are proud to promote and celebrate our different backgrounds and beliefs. Tolerance, politeness and mutual respect are at the heart of our aims and ethos.

Our central aim for our ‘…pupils by the time they leave us, to be fully qualified, motivated and personally equipped to succeed in life and contribute to a rapidly changing world’ drives us towards ensuring that our pupils are able to live and work alongside people from all backgrounds and cultures. This will be particularly necessary in a future where due to technological advances will make the ‘world a smaller place.’

Our pupils know and understand that respect is shown to everyone and to everything, whatever differences we may have. Children learn that their behaviour choices have an effect on their own rights and those of others. All members of the Academy community are encouraged to treat each other with respect.

Specific examples of how we at Wixams Academy enhance pupils’ understanding and respect for different faiths and beliefs are:

through Religious Education, PSHCE and other lessons where we develop awareness and appreciation of other cultures – in English through fiction and in art and music by considering cultures from other parts of the world.
celebrating cultural differences through assemblies, themed weeks, noticeboards and displays.

Whilst instances contrary to our values are relatively rare, no school or academy can guarantee that there will never be instances which are contrary to our values. Each is treated seriously in line with our policies and expectations.

Wixams Academy

The Knowledge Schools Trust