Overview

Our curriculum is delivered through a 30-period weekly cycle, split into five days of six lessons. Lessons are delivered in both singles and doubles, which gives pupils a spread of lessons throughout the week, and allows teachers of practical subjects to plan and deliver meaningful activities. 

Key Stage 3 

In key stage three, pupils are taught in a variety of class combinations, so they can benefit from interactions with a wide group of their peers. We set classes in Maths and Science due to the way that pupils’ make progress over time in these subjects. In other subject areas, pupils are taught in carefully constructed mixed ability classes. This ensures all pupils are exposed to positive peer role models with regard to literacy and oracy. 

Our key stage three curriculum begins with pupils’ core English, Maths and Science provision, but also includes significant time in History, Geography and French. These subjects form the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) and, in the long term, this paves the way for every pupil to secure the full suite of EBacc qualifications, should they choose to do so. The final elements are a complementary range of foundation subjects, including those that allow pupils to express themselves in creative and practical ways. 

In key stage three, our 30 periods are divided into the following subject allocations: 

The 14 lessons across English, Geography, History, Religious Education, French and PSHE share a focus on communication, developing self-expression and independent thought, as well as reading and writing extended texts with fluency. These subjects enrich the pupils with contextual knowledge, and help them to generate opinions on moral issues whilst considering opinions and ideas from many different perspectives. 

The 11 lessons across Maths, Science, Computer Science/ICT, Design and Food Technology offer opportunities for pupils to develop their problem-solving and reasoning skills. Pupils are encouraged to investigate, analyse and follow threads of logical thinking to deepen their understanding of the world around them and beyond. Pupils develop the fluency of their skills, such as mathematical operations, and are then given opportunities to apply those skills in a wide range of contexts. 

The 5 lessons in Art, Performing Arts, Music, Food and Design Technology and Physical education open up a whole range of exciting practical learning experiences to our pupils. Pupils explore and develop their creativity, dexterity and visual, aural and spatial skills, as well as building resilience. These subjects also present unique opportunities for pupils to develop their capacity for collaborative working, whether it be in a team sport or sharing a work-space in a food technology classroom. Teachers carefully select content that enriches pupils’ cultural capital, for both lessons and extra-curricular activities. 

All of these subjects are complimented by our RPSHE curriculum, which is taught as a stand-alone subject through key stages 3 and 4. This designated curriculum time is supplemented by tutor time, activities like assemblies, and by teachers taking advantage of opportunities to make and explore appropriate connections between key themes and their subject curriculum. Pupils explore a range of religious and humanist ideas, enabling them to expand and develop their understanding and opinions of important topics and issues within a safe environment. They develop their understanding of how sensitive issues can be explored through respectful debate, and their ability to keep themselves safe and well. This blended provision is designed to help our pupils grow up into well-rounded, hard-working, kind and respectful young people. 

Key Stage 4 

In key stage four, curriculum planning for the majority of pupils’ learning is based upon relevant, ambitious examination specifications. However, teachers continue to carefully select and include additional learning in support of our school vision to provide a holistic and transformational curriculum. Whether it be exploring inspirational figures from the past or present, making links to our local history or context, or taking time to consider the questions that remain unanswered, teachers relish their responsibilities as the champions for their subject within our school community. 

In key stage four, pupils are taught in are put into classes for English, Maths and Science based on ability which in turn allows us to provide tailored teaching to meet the needs of different groups of students within our school. This broadens and supports pupils’ opportunities to follow the most appropriate pathway in Maths (Higher or Foundation) and Science (Triple, Combined Higher or Combined Foundation). 

Pupils then select four options from the rest of our curriculum offer, with at least one coming from the EBacc suite of qualifications. Pupils and their parents / carers are led through a comprehensive and personalised programme of impartial support and guidance, in order to ensure pupils are positioned to make informed decisions regarding their option subjects. Pupils are taught their option subjects in mixed ability classes. 

Our curriculum is beginning to lead our pupils to a wider range of destinations at the end of key stage four. An increasing proportion of our pupils are securing achievement that allows them to access A-Level (level three) pathways at local sixth forms. Heath Lane pupils are encouraged to formulate ambitious goals, and to recognise their achievements in all forms. At Heath Lane we promote the virtues of a positive journey to a meaningful destination, and we emphasise that a grade 3 for one pupil can be just as significant an achievement as a grade 8 for another pupil. Ultimately, it is about the choices and chances open to pupils at the end of their journey with us. 

One of the key tenets of our school is that we are duty-bound to offer the highest possible quality of education and opportunity to all of our pupils, regardless of any potential barriers that they may face. It is our belief that in order to meet this challenge, we must actively nurture a sense of ‘belonging’ for every pupil in our school community. At its core, this means offering a curriculum that not only has the power to transform pupils’ life choices and chances, but also allows pupils to connect with the stories and narratives that run through and across lessons. It is our curriculum, combined with staff that role model our core values every day, in every lesson, that is helping an increasing proportion of our disadvantaged pupils overcome their barriers to achievement. 

Here at Heath Lane, we are developing a model of teaching and learning that focuses on exposing our pupils to the powerful knowledge within our curriculum in such a way as to maximise its impact upon them. We have developed our ‘Teaching and Learning Playbook’ to help teachers take our intended curriculum (schemes of learning, lesson plans and resources) and turn them into our enacted curriculum ‘in the classroom’. 

The playbook has four distinct elements which teachers plan either within a single lesson, or across a series of lessons, depending on the scope and complexity of the topic of study: 

1. Retrieval – Recapping is a natural part of the learning process, which strengthens pupils’ schemas, and is required to hook new learning onto. We refer to Sean Harford’s (former Ofsted national director of education) remark about knowledge being sticky: “the more you know, the more you learn”. 
2. Setting the Scene – The teacher explicitly explains what knowledge will be learned via a big question that positions the new learning within the pupils’ wider framework of understanding, as advocated by Counsel and Fordham. It is also an opportunity for the teacher to ask diagnostic questions in order to check that prerequisite knowledge has been retained. 
3. Comprehension and Modelling – New learning is broken down, presented and modelled in small steps, using concrete examples, as set out in Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction. Modelling gradually builds in complexity and challenge via the “I do – We do – You do” system. This allows teachers to check for understanding, and address whole class and individual misconceptions. 
4. Application – The final element is the application of new knowledge via an analysis or evaluative task. Application tasks can look quite different across the curriculum, but all should offer pupils the opportunity to stretch beyond their intellectual ‘comfort zone’. Teachers provide feedback via whole class feedback or a WAGOLL (what a good one looks like) model. 

The HLA Teaching and Learning Playbook is underpinned by Mark Esner’s Teach Like Nobody’s Watching, Doug Lemov’s Teach Like a Champion techniques, and Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction. The Teaching and Learning Playbook is not designed to straight-jacket teaching but rather to provide a meaningful framework for teachers to work within, as we believe structure is liberating. 

United Learning Support – Teachers at HLA are now benefitting from further subject specialist professional development, provided by United Learning’s subject advisers. These advisers are highly skilled subject experts who help our teachers make the most of our curriculum resources. Subject advisers coordinate training and development across United Learning, giving our teachers the opportunity to work with and learn from teachers across the country. 

Teachers at Heath Lane use formative assessment in every phase of the playbook, in order to respond effectively to the needs of their pupils. As a school, we also engage with the United Learning model of summative assessment. 

With thousands of pupils across United Learning schools following the same curriculum, we have been able to access common assessments in most subjects. These are summative assessments which allow pupils to demonstrate their growing understanding of each subject, and enable teachers to assess the impact of their teaching. These summative assessments typically take place twice a year, in the form of a mid-year and an end of year assessment. 

The culmination of our curriculum is that pupils leave our school as well-rounded, knowledgeable young people, determined make the most of themselves, and to bring out the best in others. We pride ourselves on how well we grow to know each of our pupils as individuals. This enables us to provide curriculum support and guidance, and careers information, advice and guidance throughout pupils’ time with us. We expect all pupils to leave our school with the grades required to progress to their desired destination, and the depth of character required to flourish once they get there. By teaching our curriculum well, we bring out the best in everyone and we hope to create beacons of aspiration so that our community can thrive and flourish in the long term.