At SJA we work tirelessly towards our vision of ‘securing life chances for all’. Our curriculum is the driving force which is at least as ambitious as the national curriculum. The implementation of our curriculum consists of more than merely the delivery of a statutory range of subjects. It comprises of all the learning experiences within the academy and includes not only knowledge and skills, but also the attitudes, beliefs and values that underpin the relationships of the school community. As a nurturing and ambitious community, we seek to promote the academic, personal, physical, social and moral development of each learner.

Our curriculum is successfully adapted, designed and developed to be ambitious and meet the needs of all learners, particularly disadvantaged learners, learners with SEN and/or disabilities, developing their knowledge, skills and abilities to apply what they know and can do with increasing fluency, automaticity and independence. Our curriculum enables learners to achieve the aims and ambition of the curriculum, which is coherently planned and sequenced towards cumulatively sufficient knowledge. We are clear that our learners will study the full curriculum; it’s not narrowed. We teach a broad range of subjects (exemplified by the National Curriculum) throughout years 7 to 9.

The curriculum is underpinned by 6 intent pillars:

1. Our Locality: we are proud of our Black Country locality but also the diverse cultures within our academy which have been considered in making our curriculum rich and exciting.
2. Ambitious for All: We believe all learners ‘can’ and ‘will’ with our team of experts guiding them.
3. Equitable delivery: All learners, particularly our disadvantaged learners and learners with SEN have equal access to the curriculum and equality of opportunity. We support and we stretch through the curriculum. Beyond the curriculum: Our learners embrace ‘learning that inspires’.
4. Broad and Balanced: We offer a broad curriculum to all learners with a wide range of subjects for as long as possible.  Furthermore, we offer a balanced curriculum by ensuring each subject area and learning experience has enough space to have a distinct contribution that enables learners to gain crucial knowledge.
5. Sequence & Progression: New knowledge and skills build on what has been taught before, and towards clearly defined way-points and end-points. Therefore, helping learners know more, remember more and do more.
6. Holistic Development: Our curriculum doesn't just aim to teach academic subjects but also aims to develop learners holistically by fostering their psychological, emotional, moral, spiritual, and physical growth.

Above all, our curriculum is learner-centred, striving for academic excellence as learners embrace a love for knowledge, which goes beyond public examinations within a balanced and diverse programme, while at the same time recognising and rewarding non-academic achievement.

Curriculum Research

This academy’s focus on curriculum is based on the insight from research into human cognition: if learners don’t succeed in learning what is intended then they have knowledge gaps that will be preventing that success. When learners are successful, it means that the knowledge they need has built over time, allowing them to understand more complex ideas and undertake more complex tasks. A key part of understanding the subject specific research evidence, leaders have used the research evidence available about different curriculum areas.  Some key research and theories used to reinforce our knowledge of the curriculum include:

• A series of curriculum research reviews by Ofsted: CLICK HERE
• The British Educational Research Association (BERA): CLICK HERE
• Educational Endowment Foundation (EEF): CLICK HERE
• Research School Network: CLICK HERE
• NFER: Evidence for excellence in education CLICK HERE
• ResearchEd: CLICK HERE
• Mary Myatt- Life Long Learning: CLICK HERE

 Curriculum Structure

Key Stage 3

The curriculum is an exciting and enriching curriculum that provides disciplinary and substantive knowledge that will prepare learners for future study, ignites their passion for learning and equips learners with the tools to tackle the wider world with confidence. There is a whole school focus on metacognitive skills and 25-30 mins is dedicated to our metacognition curriculum.

The Key Stage 3 curriculum has three core aims:

• to identify and overcome learning deficits on entry, ensuring all learners are fully prepared for a successful secondary education in terms of both their knowledge and their skills – we want learners to be at least COMPETENT by the end of Year 7.
•  to provide a breadth of educational experience across Years 7 and 8 through learners experiencing a broad and balanced curriculum offer we want learners to be at least CONFIDENT by the end of Year 8.
•  to enable learners to gain a deeper level of understanding of areas of the curriculum in Year 9, leaving them ready to embrace the rigor and challenge of Key Stage 4 – we want learners to be at least ASSURED by the end of Year 9.

At SJA we have a traditional and academic Key Stage 3 curriculum, delivered over three years. Learners specialise in subjects they excel at as they progress onto the next phase of their academic life (key stage 4). We believe this specialisation should be put off as long as possible, to ensure learners study a broad and balanced curriculum for as long as possible. The Options Process takes place in Spring Term of Year 9 and is supported through our CIEAG programme, and transition events involving parents and carers.

As a result, key changes were made to discontinue the teaching of the ‘literacy for life’ curriculum, from September 2022 subjects have been taught in subject domains at key stage 3. Our academy’s aim is to have the EBacc at the heart of our curriculum, in line with the DfE’s ambition, and there is ongoing progress which has been made towards this ambition.

At Key Stage 3, we offer the following subjects:

• Maths
• English
• Science
• Geography
• History
• Languages
• Drama
• Music
• PE
• RE
• Art
• Food
• DT
• Computing

Key Stage 4

The curriculum at Key Stage 4 is designed to continue to build upon the foundations of knowledge learners have learned at Key Stage 3 alongside the application of this knowledge to a broad range of increasingly complex problems. Where appropriate, skills will be explicitly taught and practised. Skills such as evaluation, analysis, synthesis and creativity are taught more explicitly at Key Stage 4 alongside the progression of core content.

The Pathways at Key Stage 4 are bespoke and are driven by the ambition of ‘Securing life chances for all learners. We believe that academic currency at 16 will give learners the power of choice in their next academic phase. We have high academic ambitions for all learners and want every child to see studying at university or an alternative path as a realistic option. We also recognise our duty to ensure that as many learners as possible are successful in accessing an appropriate post-16 qualification, reducing the possibility of having to re-sit GCSEs in Maths and English.

Learners’ development is not limited to the examination syllabi and subjects at Key Stage 4 are not constrained by the terminal examination. Learners are given the opportunity to develop a broader understanding of the subject over time, including a continuing emphasis on developing their cultural capital and knowledge of the wider content and context within each domain which is important to life-long learning. We endeavour to ensure our curriculum allows learners to be able to do the following;

• Understanding the disciplinary codes and the nature of truth-claims
• Ability to think well
• Sustaining and treasuring the disciplines

Full Ebacc Suite

Approximately thirty per cent of the cohort follow the full suite of subjects within the English Baccalaureate, which includes either History or Geography and a Language, as well as the core subjects of English, Maths and Science. Learners study a total of eight qualifications. Our ambition to improve the number of learners studying EBACC is ongoing.

At Key Stage 4, we offer the following subjects:

• Maths (EdExcel)
• English Language (AQA)
• English Literature (AQA)
• Triple Science (AQA)
• Combined Science (AQA)
• Geography (AQA)
• History (OCR)
• Lanugages (AQA)
• Hospitality and Catering (WJEC)
• iMedia (OCR)
• Drama (AQA)
• Music (Pearson)
• Sports Studies (OCR)
• RE (AQA)
• Art (OCR)
• Photography (OCR)
• Business Studies (OCR)
• Engineering (OCR)

Gateway to The Curriculum

• The importance of vocabulary, oracy and reading: Promoting reading, communication skills and understanding of vocabulary are at the heart of SJA’s curriculum. We know that being able to read is key to accessing the entire curriculum. We are determined that every child will learn to read, regardless of their background, needs or abilities. The curriculum is planned so that any learner who falls behind is supported to learn to read quickly. Reading and vocabulary are taught in all subjects and through the pastoral curriculum. Our staff understand that teaching content in subjects such as history and geography is also teaching reading. We recognise that reading is a complex process. The ‘simple view of reading’ conceptual framework identifies two dimensions to reading – ‘word recognition’ and ‘language comprehension’ which we use to support learners through reading interventions.
• We develop our learners’ social and personal wellbeing, alongside subject disciplines which teach topics such as economic understanding and cultural understanding. This includes developing our learners’ knowledge and understanding of British Values and their place in 21st Century Great Britain and the world, as well as valued knowledge about mankind’s technological, artistic and social development.
• We also ensure our learners display exemplary behaviours towards their learning and the learning of others through their understanding of 'fundamental British values' of: democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect for and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs and for those without faith.

Summary

At SJA, we believe:

• Knowledge is power
• Curriculum development in continuous
• Subject knowledge and subjectspecific pedagogy are highly valued
• Curriculum content must centre around the ‘Big Ideas’
• Language and literacy underpin everything
• We teach for understanding and retention
• We teach to the top: no limits, no labels
• We always assess with purpose