Curriculum Purpose 

Our school is committed to providing an ambitious, high quality and inclusive curriculum that is underpinned by our school vision of: 

Igniting Fires, Expanding Horizons and Achieving Ambitions 

Our curriculum is much more than our timetabled academic lessons.  It includes our ethos, values, behaviours and relationships - what we call The Wolfreton Way.  It also includes our carefully planned personal development curriculum, incorporating personal, social and health education alongside our ambitious and rich entitlement and elective enrichment opportunities that together deliver The Wolfreton Experience.  As a whole, our curriculum aims to develop the character virtues our values espouse: 

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 

Our curriculum has been designed around the core agreed knowledge that our subject specialists have determined our students should learn.  Knowledge that can, ‘Ignite Fires, Expand Horizons’ and ultimately enable our students to ‘Achieve Ambitions’.  This knowledge has been carefully sequenced, to first build on knowledge acquired across Key Stage 2, and then, on each topic, term and year that follows through the secondary years.  Our subject curriculums have been developed by our own subject specialists, and more recently, in the core subjects of English and maths, in collaboration with our Trust colleagues. 

Individual subjects have determined the core concepts, themes or strands that run through their subject.  Our staff know that understanding these concepts, themes or strands is fundamental to our student's achieving success.  Collaboratively, teams have agreed their ‘Curriculum Intent’ or ‘strapline’ to convey the importance of their subject and the passion they have for it. 

As a school, breadth and balance have always underpinned our approach – we value all subjects.  We recognise and allocate sufficient time to allow students to achieve success in English and maths however, alongside this, all national curriculum subjects benefit from timetabled lessons each week across each year at Key Stage 3.  We understand the importance of the strongest of foundations and the value of regularly revisiting knowledge and regular retrieval practice as part of a high-quality and sequenced approach. 

At Key Stage 4, alongside the core, students can select from a broad range of options.  All students can study the EBacc (English, maths, science, a humanities subject and language) however, alongside these facilitating subjects, through our guided preferences process, the full breadth of subjects including in the arts, sport, technologies and beyond is available.  Our offer supports those ‘ignited’ interests whilst providing early pathways towards both Level 3 and university courses, as well as local labour market opportunities; as the former City of Culture, our arts offer is one example of this. 

At Key Stage 5, the breadth of offer is maintained with clear pathways guiding students to Level 3 success and positive futures at university, in higher level apprenticeships and employment and beyond. 

Engagement in our curriculum is possible because we prioritise reading and, where further support is needed to accelerate skills in this area, we ensure this is in place. 

While our curriculum provides a foundation, teachers translate this.   

Our teachers are subject specialists, valued as experts in their fields.  Our Teaching and Learning Framework guides an evidence-informed approach to planning and teaching.  Effective modelling, questioning and retrieval practice, alongside carefully targeted feedback, collectively builds knowledge, skills, and confidence in learning.  Our students often say that their teachers have inspired them: to love a particular subject and in the choices, they make, as they journey towards their own positive destinations.   

Beyond the classroom, our carefully constructed Personal Development curriculum delivers The Wolfreton Experience and a carefully considered PSHE curriculum.  Teaching our Values and expectations through our Behaviour Curriculum, developing understanding of Personal, Social and Health Education, through timetabled lessons and drop- down entitlement experiences, and providing a rich calendar of entitlement and elective enrichment and extra-curricular opportunities, we aim to develop cultural capital and ultimately, through a long-established careers programme of the highest – quality, healthy and happy and ambitious individuals who have absolute confidence that they can ‘Achieve their Ambitions’.  

Ultimately, the purpose of our curriculum is underpinned by our vision of:  

Igniting Fires, Expanding Horizons and Achieving Ambitions 

and our Trust vision of ‘Shaping Positive Futures’.