At Ridgeway Secondary School, our ethos of developing the whole person, Ridgeway 360°, is embodied through our curriculum which lies at the heart of the education we offer. As a result, our young people experience a rich, varied curriculum with the overarching aim of developing them into well rounded, confident and responsible young people prepared for further study, the World of work and their place in a Global society. Students engage with a wide range of subjects through ambitious, well-designed courses, tailored to their needs.
At KS3 our aim is to provide a rich and varied curriculum that develops the whole student by building a depth of knowledge and skills in each subject area. The curriculum at Key Stage 3 is a means to an end in itself – it does not function as a ‘watered down’ version of, nor is it primarily a preparation for, GCSE. As such our curriculum remains as broad as possible for as long as possible. KS3 is three years and there is no attempt to put children on pathways during this time. We put emphasis on a curriculum that teaches rich and powerful knowledge and language from the start of Year 7. Students in Key Stage 3 are given access to an exciting curriculum (including Computer Science, Technology subjects, Music and PSHE) covering the requirements of the National Curriculum (and occasionally going further) by the end of Year 9. Students with additional needs are carefully encouraged via multiple layers of support both academically and socio-emotionally and we provide personalised provision for some students to support them in achieving their full potential. This is always in the best interest of the child and often is informed by external support. Therefore, children with additional needs flourish at Ridgeway and achieve highly. In Year 9, our students are supported to engage in selecting their subject areas for further study at GCSE. This process is carefully managed by providing tailored guidance through taster lessons and conversations with targeted individuals (mostly, but not exclusively SEN and Pupil Premium) to ensure that we are not disadvantaging any students through this approach.
Year 7 Learning Journey examples
Our two-year KS4 provides breadth and depth across a variety of subjects enabling our ambitious curriculum experience to continue from KS3 into KS4. In Key Stage 4 all students study the core curriculum of English Language and English Literature, Mathematics and Science at GCSE and non-examined PSHE, RE and PE. Students are required to follow up to four additional courses leading to GCSE examinations. Students in top set study Separate Science as part of the core curriculum. Additional core Science hours in the Key Stage 4 curriculum support the increased content for Separate Science and the opportunities for purposeful practicals which are at the heart of effective Science delivery. Students are also provided with a wide and ambitious range of further options. These open up extensive options post-16 and post-18, including access to prestigious courses and progression into a range of career options.
Some students choose, or are guided to take, additional lessons to support their English and Maths and Science. Students are taught in sets according to ability in Mathematics and with a mix of setting and mixed ability in English and Science at Key Stage 4. Students are taught in mixed ability groups in all other subjects. Nearly all of our students choose at least one Ebacc subject, with over 90% of students taking either Geography or History. Currently, just over a quarter of students follow the full Ebacc suite (against a national percentage of 40%). This provides us with a helpful benchmark to aid our current aspirations in this area of our curriculum delivery. The implementation of a new languages curriculum which has led to greater student engagement in KS3 will help us to achieve our ambition to increase the percentage of students taking a Language at KS4 to well above the national percentage. Alongside this however we recognise the importance of the broader, non-Ebacc curriculum, in giving students a rich and engaging experience. In creative and practical subjects, such as Technology, Art, Food and PE our numbers are above the national average. We want our students to retain the opportunity to engage with the whole spectrum of the curriculum taught in subject disciplines across KS4.
