At Ridgeway Secondary School we are driven by a core purpose to educate and develop the whole person. We strongly believe that education in school does not begin and end in the classroom alone but extends to an array of opportunities and experiences that allow every student to become a well-rounded individual and citizen. Ridgeway 360 is built on the principle of guiding and developing our students in the following four areas:
Academically (knowledge and skills)
Socially (communication, empathy and kindness)
Mentally (resilience and wellbeing)
Physically (health, fitness and stamina)
The curriculum embodies our ethos of Ridgeway 360°, the development of the whole person academically, mentally, physically and socially and promotes our values of Ready, Respectful and Safe. Each of the four aspects of Ridgeway 360° are interdependent. In some way, every opportunity and experience in school will help to develop our students academically, mentally, physically, or socially.
Physical – During adolescence students develop physically, for example, growth or sexual maturation. The curriculum seeks to help students to understand the physical changes that they will experience while at school and the mental, physical, social and academic benefits of healthy eating and exercise. The curriculum also gives students a wide range of physical and sporting experiences that promote skill acquisition, teamwork, decision making and health and fitness. Improvements in both physical and mental health can positively influence a young persons’ level of life satisfaction and will lead to higher engagement with exercise as an adult, which then in turn has longer-lasting physical and mental health benefits throughout the individual’s life (Boreham & Riddoch, 2001). We know that children who are more active and who have better health and wellbeing are likely to achieve better educational attainment.
Mental – We understand that we have a central role to play in enabling our students to be resilient when managing the normal stresses of life effectively and to support good mental health and wellbeing. Good mental well-being is promoted through a well-structured school environment which is safe and calm, with clear expectations of behaviour and well communicated social norms and routines, which are reinforced with a successful rewards policy and highly consistent consequence systems. It is also promoted through our curriculum, in particularly in PSHE lessons where education about relationships, sex and health are important vehicles through which we can teach our students about mental health and well-being.
Social – Schools are social settings in which all members of the community need the skills and confidence to interact with others. At Ridgeway, our ethos of developing the whole person recognises the correlation between positive social behaviour and academic success, with outcomes in both improved when there is strength in the quality of teaching, a clear behavioural climate with high expectations, an emphasis on learning and self-development, and positive relationships between students and staff. Ridgeway is a small school but big family and we pride ourselves on the relationships that we build with our students and endeavour to support and work in partnership with families, parents and the local community.
Academic – Students that are safe, happy and healthy are more likely to achieve better educational outcomes at Ridgeway. Each area of development within our Ridgeway 360° ethos is crucial to academic achievement. Equally, how students develop and progress academically plays a crucial role in their physical, mental and social well-being. The curriculum is central to the academic development and success of our students and in promoting an academic ethos where students are interested in learning, want to do well and continue their education past compulsory schooling age.
Our curriculum supports the development of the whole person by being very carefully planned and constructed. Subject teams select content to be ambitious inspiring and challenging, whilst at the same time ensuring that all students can access every lesson. Through careful sequencing, subject leaders have shaped the curriculum in order that knowledge is built upon and core concepts returned to. We use thoughtful and rigorous assessments to identify and address misconceptions, and provide structures to ensure that knowledge is securely learned. Teachers carefully plan explanations and model precisely how to produce work which enables students to think deeply about the knowledge they are taught.
We keep the curriculum as broad as possible, for as long as possible to allow all students a rich experience. Students are taught in class sizes smaller than the average in other state schools and experience a three-year Key Stage 3 and a two-year Key Stage 4, with all subjects studied at Key Stage 3 being available to study at Key Stage 4, enabling our young people to become knowledgeable and confident, with a deep academic and cultural understanding.
Subject teams have reviewed the gaps that have emerged during the pandemic and have adapted their schemes of work or methods of teaching to address these. This is also supported by a range of whole school strategies, including use of the National Tutoring Programme. High quality careers education, information, advice and guidance is built into each Key Stage to support students with their next steps.
Adolescence is a time of rapid change and we recognise the importance of our ethos, values, curriculum and structures in guiding students while they develop physically, cognitively, emotionally and behaviourally and socially. Our values of being Ready, Respectful and Safe encapsulate every desirable behaviour that we seek from Ridgeway students and serve as a compass that helps guide them through the frequent challenges that they will experience as they develop into well rounded young adults.
The House System
The House system at Ridgeway Secondary School is an important part of our school community. Our three houses: Attenborough, Franklin and Owen, are named after three inspiring figures who each represent and act as a champion of key values, which are central to the ethos of the school.
Each form is selected to represent one of the three houses. Cultivating a healthy competition, students will have a range of opportunities to represent and compete to earn merits for their house throughout the year. Each house will also be responsible for running charitable events throughout the year linked to one of the three houses.
Attenborough
Owens
Franklin
