Curriculum

We aim to provide our students with a safe, welcoming and nurturing environment, where everyone is valued and given the chance to achieve success. All students are entitled to a curriculum that meets their needs and prepares them for life’s opportunities, responsibilities, and experiences. Our aim is to provide a curriculum that is ambitious, broad and balanced and one that nurtures and encourages each individual to achieve their full potential. We hope to provide students with the skills, knowledge, and cultural capital they need to access further education, employment or apprenticeship, preparing them for adulthood.

Our curriculum is designed to:

Be ambitious, broad and balanced and allow all students to access a range of academic, vocational and creative subjects that inspire, motivate and foster a curiosity to learn
Enable all students to make progress form their individual starting points and to achieve success in their learning
Be underpinned by the national curriculum but flexible enought to adapt to the needs of our students
Have a strong focus on improving students literacy and numeracy
Support students social, emotional and mental health and develop confidence, self-esteem, independence, social skills, and teamwork
Support all students to lead healthy and safe lifestyles
Be inclusive, encourage respect, celebrate diversity and uphold the fundamental British values
Prepare our students for the next stage in their education and for adulthood

Our pedagogy and curriculum learning are underpinned by the six principles of nurture:

Childrens learning is understood developmentally
The classroom offers a safe space
The importance of nurture for the development of wellbeing
Language is a vital means of communication
All behaviour is communication
The importance of transition in children's lives

Curriculum Implementation:

Heads of Department are experts in their subject, they lead on the content, specifications and delivery of the curriculum in each subject. At the heart of curriculum design is a shared commitment to constructing programmes of study that pupils find interesting and challenging but are coherently planned and sequenced towards cumulatively sufficient knowledge. Teachers use the principles of quality first teaching to plan lesson that allow students to know more, remember more and do more over time, sustaining a change in their long-term memory. A range of assessment strategies are used to check students’ prior knowledge, identify gaps and check understanding and inform teaching. There is an emphasis placed on improving students’ literacy in all lessons, including prioritising reading and vocabulary and this works alongside our reading intervention program.

Our Key Stage 3 curriculum builds on knowledge and skills from Key Stage 2 and provides our students with a solid foundation for KS4. We aim to provide students with a broad and balanced range of subjects. We emphasise core skills of literacy and numeracy and whilst our curriculum is broadly based on the national curriculum, it is flexible enough to ensure we meet the needs of our students. As well as the core subjects of English, Maths and Science, all students study PSHE/RSE, History and Art and Design. To enrich their offer students also have timetabled enrichment activities including multimedia, Food and Cooking and visual arts and Physical activity.

At Key Stage 4, we offer GCSE’s, Functional skills and entry level certificates, BTEC and ASDAN qualifications and these include both academic and vocational subjects. As well as the core offer of English Language, Maths, Science, Art and Design, History and PSHE/RSE qualification students have the option of studying subjects including sport, food and cooking, construction, ASDAN, and Engliish Literature.

Our curriculum documentation outlines the broad and balanced curriculum that all our pupils can expect. It outlines our emphasis on key skills and knowledge, broad and engaging experiences and a focus on personal development.

We provide the following key curriculum documents:

- ‘Whole School long-term overview’ which shares the overview of topics for every year group across our centres.

- ‘Subject long-term overviews’ which share the whole school sequence of topics that are covered in each year group for every subject.

- ‘Subject end point documents for each subject, which outline the progressive subject skills, knowledge and Concepts and work alongside progress ladders.

- ‘medium term plans/unit plans’ which guide staff on the learning journey a class may take to meet the end points. These include details of how we ensure all students are able to learn and make progress regardless of SEND or ability.

- ‘Knowledge Organisers’ outlines key knowledge and vocabulary we want children to know in particular subject areas.

The wider curriculum and pastoral support are as important to us at Music Stuff Education as academic achievement. Building confidence and aspirations for the future irrespective of their entry point and SEND. The curriculum is designed to give pupils a wide and varied range of learning experiences sequenced at each key stage, to develop their academic, social and emotional ability in both familiar and new environments. This is intended to raise self-esteem, challenge pupils at an appropriate level and to help them enjoy learning whilst achieving positive outcomes.

Curriculum Impact:

Our students experience a wide range of academic, vocational and enrichment activities, ensuring they are well prepared for the next stages in their education, training and employment and have a positive attitude to learning. The impact of our curriculum is measured by students’ achievements and attainment. Students make progress from their starting points, and this impact is monitored by analysis of half termly student progress data, individual learning plan reviews, student voice and external accredited courses and nationally standardised summative assessments. Students are supported and prepared for life in modern Britain with a well-planned program of PSHE, RSE, and enrichment opportunities. Students are well informed about the next steps and opportunities that exist post 16 and supported achieve their ambitions through our CEIAG program.

If you would like more information about our curriculum please email [email protected]