Curriculum

Bingley Grammar School Curriculum Statement:

“High-quality education is built around the connectedness of curriculum, teaching, assessment and standards within the ‘quality of education’ judgement.” (OFSTED EIF,2021).”

At Bingley Grammar School our curriculum sits at the centre of everything we offer as a school and all of our decisions are built around what we believe is best for each individual student. We believe our Curriculum will have a positive impact on students’ learning and progress and support them on their journey into further education or employment. In designing our curriculum, we take into account:

• The requirements of Universities and Further Education providers
• The requirements of apprenticeships
• The job market in West Yorkshire and beyond
• Student safety, welfare and PSHCE including an adaptive/reflective curriculum as a result of school and contextual concerns.
• British Values and Equality
• The development of character and skills that are important for life

In order for our Curriculum to have its intended impact, we must:

1. Ensure ambition for all students.
2. Treasure the subject disciplines.
3. Ensure the use of research-informed practice
4. Subject leaders and staff have the autonomy to act as professionals and refine their own curriculum
5. Ensure that professional discussion with relevant stakeholders leads to constant curriculum review and updating to suit the individual needs of our student cohorts
6. Ensure that our school is meeting the standards it has set itself by supporting staff in all forms of CPD and QA. Staff professional development is rooted in the needs of the school and its students and, these are aligned with the curriculum which results in high-quality teaching and learning for our students.
7. Ensure that the curriculum and provision are carefully mapped for all and that it includes all of the specific academic intervention that may be required to support the achievement of all.
8. Ensure that what happens in the classroom reflects the highest standards of Teaching and Learning and that students are provided with quality-first teaching.

Our Curriculum has been designed following the seven key principles suggested by William (2013) and mapped sequentially using the steps below:

Curriculum Intent:

Our intent for the curriculum at Bingley Grammar School is to offer a broad and balanced curriculum which engages, challenges, inspires and prepares all of our students for the future.  We place the student at the heart of our curriculum and strive to offer a personalised learning experience, in which we are able to discover and develop the talents and abilities of each and every student in our care.

Our broad and balanced curriculum reflects our commitment to encouraging confident, independent learners.  There is a clear focus on developing a reading culture and metacognitive strategies across all year groups so that students can develop transferable skills which will support them to become lifelong learners.

A range of progression routes is in place and inclusive for all pupils to ensure that they are provided with the opportunity to grow, develop and realise their potential.

The school's curriculum is planned and sequenced to ensure a smooth transition between Year 6 and Year 7. We build on our students’ knowledge and skills and lay the foundations to enable them to broaden and deepen their knowledge and understanding in Key Stage 3 continuing into Year 10 and beyond when they specialise in their core area and chosen subjects.

Students follow the National Curriculum through this broad and balanced approach and are provided with the opportunity to study a wide range of subjects.  The knowledge-rich KS3 curriculum demonstrates progression in structure, setting out what we want our students to learn and therefore the progress we expect them to make in developing and refining their knowledge and skills.

The whole school Curriculum develops students for the next phase of education, training or employment. The Curriculum also develops and deepens the Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural focuses, as well as the British Values and Cultural Capital already established within the reviewed curriculum.

The diagram below shows the different aspects of implementation which support the effectiveness of our curriculum:

Key Stage 3 Years 7-9:

To achieve our vision, Bingley Grammar School is further developing a well-balanced three-year programme that allows students to study a full range of subjects including English, Mathematics, Science, Design and Technology, Food and Nutrition, MFL, PE, Geography, History, Art, Music, Drama, PSHE and Computer Science. The National Curriculum is followed in all of these subjects.

Throughout Key Stage Three we aim to build upon Key Stage two and ensure our students develop the required knowledge via a carefully sequenced design.  Pupils are provided with subject Learning Journeys which allow them to see the curriculum plan and map their learning over time.  We aim to ensure our students meet the highest expectations by training them to develop the skills required to be able to think like Geographers, Mathematicians, Artists, Scientists, and Historians.  Each Department has its own curriculum intent which reflects the subject-specific skills and the intention for teaching these via their curriculum.

The curriculum is designed to help pupils gain the skills, knowledge and understanding that they need to become well-rounded global citizens.  All our pupils take part in a wide range of activities and experiences that will help open up doors later in life. In doing so, pupils learn to recognise their own worth, develop a sense of their own identity, and take their place in the community. Pupils are encouraged to reflect on their experiences and to recognise how they are developing personally and socially, addressing the spiritual, social, moral and cultural issues that form an intrinsic part of growing up.

The school has also implemented a reading action plan  for year 7 and 8 to improve reading across the school. The plan focusses on increasing the number of books read by students and supporting their reading outside of the school.

Current Key Stage 3 ‘Recovery’ Curriculum Model:

September 22 Key Stage 3 Curriculum model:

KS4 Years 10-11:

At Key Stage 4, students have an opportunity to start to specialise in slightly fewer subjects but to a greater depth, ready for public examinations. We ensure, however, that everyone maintains a balance of subjects while at the same time students can begin to shape their education just a little, so that it more closely reflects their individual interests and abilities. Making decisions is an important part of students taking responsibility for their own learning and, indeed, their futures.

More information on the options process for Year 9 students can be found in the latest Options Booklet.

KS5 Years 12-13/14:

Our post-16 curriculum allows students access to both vocational and A level provision which enables students to progress to their chosen degree, higher apprenticeship or employment. Our curriculum offer is based on student choice which allows each student to follow an individual programme of study. There is an extensive programme of personal development running alongside academic study and support.

Implementation of the Curriculum:

At Bingley Grammar School, we believe that learning should be stimulated through quality-first teaching which makes content memorable and enhances the development of students’ independent and cross-curricular skills.

Staff receive high-quality continued professional development to support this and the rigorous practices for quality assurance maintain expected high standards.

By ensuring that Students receive quality-first teaching, they learn the cognitive and metacognitive processes to enable them to, ‘…acquire, store, retrieve and manipulate their learning’, as well as how to, ‘…plan, monitor and assess their understanding and performance’.

Our daily practice has a focus on our practices for Retrieval, Revisiting and Recall help to check and evaluate whether students’ learning is being embedded into the long-term memory and, embeds consistency in our implementation across all subject areas.

Quality Assurance (QA) of the Curriculum:

At Bingley Grammar School we believe that quality assurance provides us with the ability to deliver our curriculum intent, at both school and subject level, in the most effective way. Subject QA looks at the following broad areas of practice:

Curriculum Intent:

• Does the subject intent align with the school aims? Has this been effectively defined and communicated to all relevant stakeholders?
• Are our teachers absolutely sure of what our students are expected to know as a result of precise and detailed itemisation of curriculum objectives?
• Can our subject leaders and teachers explain the curriculum rationale and why it is appropriately challenging? Is there obvious depth of thought regarding selection and sequencing of content?
• Is curriculum coherence effective? Do all parts of the curriculum work towards a common goal?
• Are we ambitious about delivering our intent to all students?
• Is the curriculum consistent? Are all teachers delivering the same curriculum and giving all students every chance of learning it?

Curriculum Implementation:

• Do our QA activities show curriculum intent is being followed?
• Does the CPD curriculum demonstrate time allocated for curriculum development?
• Does our student voice show effective curriculum implementation?
• Does our appraisal process monitor curriculum intent, implementation & impact where appropriate?
• Is internal and external assessment data effectively used to monitor implementation?

Curriculum Impact:

• Does internal and external assessment/results data show effective implantation?
• Is positive curriculum impact supported by the Inspection Data Summary Report (IDSR)?
• Does our student voice show effective curriculum impact?

Click here to download our Subject Curriculum Intent for September 2022 >>

Remote Learning:

We will be using Google Classroom and Google Meet (details sent out with our last email before Christmas) and the school timetable will followed as normal. Please note, live lessons will not necessarily be for the full period; sometimes, the live element/s will be the introduction of new content, more detailed explanations, modelling by the teacher or giving feedback, with students at other points in the lesson working independently on set learning tasks. Attendance registers will be taken by the teacher and if your child is ill could you email attendance@bingleygrammar.org to let them know that they will not be attending their online learning. If a teacher is unwell or unable to teach the lesson online, then an email will be sent to the class with alternative instructions for the work to be completed.

For more information about our curriculum contact Mr Ashley by email: david.ashley@bingleygrammar.org