Our Curriculum Purpose - The Wolfreton Way

The purpose of our curriculum is rooted in our mission statement and our core values.  It has been designed to enable each individual to achieve and fulfil their potential and in doing so, to prepare them to achieve success in the future and in their lives beyond school.

We aim to enable everyone to fulfil their potential, providing the foundations for them to excel in all that they do and to move on, prepared to achieve their ambitions.

Our approach to achieving this is underpinned by what we call The Wolfreton Way; the promotion of what we judge to be important in life - the principles or standards of Excellence, Endeavour and Respect.

EXCELLENCE - We aim to inspire - to be the best we can be

ENDEAVOUR - We promote the qualities of determination and courage

RESPECT - We are firm advocates of friendship and equality

This ethos of ‘Excellence, Endeavour, Respect’, has informed the principles we identified to lie behind our curriculum. 

We have and continue to establish a curriculum based on 4 key principles.  A curriculum that will ensure that the education we provide is:

1. Ambitious	Designed to develop ENDEAVOUR To promote the qualities of determination and courage
2. Broadly based and balanced	Designed to develop RESPECT We are firm advocates of friendship and equality
3. High quality "rigorous, coherent, sequenced"	Designed to deliver EXCELLENCE We aim to inspire - to be the best that we can be
4. Stimulating and demanding	Designed to ensure we are Igniting Fires and Expectations and as young people grow, that we are Expanding Horizons

At Wolfreton, our curriculum is knowledge rich and we have identified the specific subject content knowledge that students should learn and apply at key points along their learning journey. Our curriculum design identifies the knowledge that will be taught and the reason why this is part of the curriculum.

The curriculum follows a coherent and carefully sequenced approach to the content knowledge that subjects will cover throughout the Key Stage. This reflects the requirements of the National Curriculum which supports the notion of a ‘big picture’ and underpins the knowledge which is central to the curriculum provision. The sequence is not taken in isolation but is designed to interleave the knowledge requisition and application and enable students to access new knowledge in a coherent and structured manner as they progress into Key stage 4 and 5 in turn.

Subjects have responded in their planning to the researched strategies of interleaving, working memory, knowledge acquisition and assessment of learning to ensure that the curriculum sequence is fit for purpose and will offer challenge and promote a love of learning to Ignite Fires and Expand Horizons.

 

Key Stage 3

The Key Stage 3 curriculum includes Art, Computing, Drama, English, Geography, History, Maths, Languages, Music, Society and Ethics, PE, Science, Technology, PSHE and Literacy.

In Year 9 students are guided in their choices for Key Stage 4 according to their potential and current progress and to suit to their individual interests.

A key feature of the curriculum at Wolfreton is the programme of Enrichment Days.  This enables students to focus in depth on a particular subject or learning activity and gives a greater opportunity for the development of personal learning and thinking skills.  There is a full programme of Enrichment Days delivered across the school (Years 7-11) which support the full PSHE offer delivered through lessons and tutor time.

PSHE covers aspects of personal and social development, health, sex and economic education, as well as developing the personal, social and moral education of students.  This is also delivered in part through the subject curriculum in PE, Maths, Science, Humanities and Drama, and on Enrichment Days.

Citizenship is also delivered through other subjects such as Society and Ethics, History and Geography.

 

Key Stage 4

The Key Stage 4 curriculum is organised to enable students to follow more individual learning programmes that meet their individual needs and aspirations. We provide high quality vocational options, work related learning and work based learning to ensure our students are better prepared for the world of work. Our students have the chance to mix different types of learning, in terms of location of delivery, style of teaching and content.

At Key Stage 4 students are maturing and developing and are more aware of their own strengths and interests. All students make some choices about their programme of study from a diverse selection of opportunities within a broad and balanced framework.

The opportunities provided are part of the overall provision from 14 – 19. Students should see that subjects chosen at Key Stage 4 lead to further opportunities post 16 either in the Sixth Form at Wolfreton or at other post 16 providers. Our BTEC courses help some students experience a different learning environment, and recognise the opportunities for work-based learning.

At Key Stage 4 all students must study a core curriculum of English, Mathematics, Science, Computing, Humanities, Society and Ethics, PE, and PSHE (health, sex, careers and citizenship). The most able students also follow Separate Sciences and at least one modern foreign language. Students then choose options from a personalised pathway. These cover a wide range of GCSEs including modern languages, expressive arts, technology subjects and vocational courses.

Our aim is to maximise the potential of every student through the opportunities we provide. This may be through studying groups of similar subjects, choosing a vocational pathway, or continuing with a wide range of subjects.

We place a strong emphasis on the value of work-related learning. In addition to our Careers Education programme and our work experience provision, students participate in work related learning activities in their Key Stage 4 courses and participate in tasks to develop their enterprise and employability skills.

 

Key Stage 5

The Key Stage 5 Curriculum at Wolfreton School and Sixth Form College offers students the opportunity to follow their own strengths and interests, building on what they have achieved at Key Stage 4.

Students are able to choose a programme of study from a very wide range of courses including A Levels, Applied A levels and BTECs, which are available both at Wolfreton and in The Consortium.

Our Consortium of schools (Cottingham High School, Hessle High School and Wolfreton School and Sixth Form College) opens up a vast variety of resources for students to develop as individual learners. This increases the number of subjects on offer, and enables students to study a very diverse range of subjects.

The main focus of the curriculum is Level 3 courses; however, some students will need to continue with GCSE English and/or Maths post 16.

The Extended Project Qualification is undertaken by many sixth form students.  This course is designed to help the students develop the necessary skills in research, analysis, problem solving and other independent study skills required by higher education establishments.

At Key Stage 5, Wolfreton aims to maintain the highest standards to encourage every student to achieve their potential. There is also a full range of enrichment opportunities available to students across all three schools, this includes the provision of self-canvassed work experience and bespoke support for future university and training applications.