Curriculum development

Curriculum development.

We are focussed on achieving high academic standards across all of our schools and have credible and effective strategies to do this. We have a firm commitment to common curriculum principles which encourage professional dialogue and expertise rather than imposing a rigid curriculum template on our schools. These include: -

Training time is prioritised for teams of teachers to meet regularly (often weekly) to discuss, clarify and share good curriculum plans and practice in every subject. We call this ‘subject mastery’ and it is the cornerstone our CPD programme and school improvement work.

As an accredited ‘Visible Learning’ Trust we are focused on improving learning derived from a wide range of educational research and innovation.

We learn from cognitive science to ensure that curriculum plans include essential knowledge, conceptual understanding, and independent skills. These need to be well sequenced and supported with deliberate practice. This is summarised in our curriculum ‘equation’:

Our focus on the curriculum is not solely academic; it includes the planning and teaching of a coherent behaviour and personal development curriculum.

Trust executive leaders provide curriculum training and support - both directly or via partnerships with outside agencies or schools.

Regular assessment including low stakes questions, quizzes or tests are vital to check pupil learning.

Information Technology is used to support effective pedagogies such as the modelling expected learning or reducing workload by delivering and ‘marking’ assessments and homework for teachers.

Bi-yearly Education symposium

We meet as a whole Trust and then breakout into subjects, to discuss ideas and share best practice.

Ofsted support

All of our schools are rated Good, and we support you through the whole Ofsted process. We work with industry professionals to ensure you and your teams are best prepared for any inspection and work with you to take any action that may arise.