Subject Teacher: Mrs H Childs

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The Art curriculum aims to develop the students’ knowledge, skills and understanding of art in a Fine art context. Fine art practice is defined as the need to explore an idea, convey an experience or respond to a theme or issue of personal significance. It is designed to provide all learners with the knowledge and competencies needed to be creative, independent and with an ability to articulate their critical understanding. Schemes of work have been developed that fully utilise both traditional and contemporary art practises. There are a number of key concepts that underpin the study of art. Students need to understand these concepts in both KS3 and KS4 in order to deepen and broaden their knowledge, skills and understanding.

The key concepts are:

• Realising intentions- Students produce imaginative paintings, drawings and sculptures that are both original and of value.

• Exploring and recording ideas - Investigating, analysing, designing, making, experimenting, reflecting and evaluating effectively.

• Cultural Understanding - Pupils will engage with a range of images and techniques from different artists, designers and cultures, recognising the varied characteristics.

• Developing ideas through a critical understanding - Students explore their own and others' work through detailed investigations.

When studying Art all students will be taught: 

• To use a range of techniques to record their observations and developments within their sketchbooks

• To use a broad range of techniques and media

• To increase their proficiency in the handling of different mediums within art

• To analyse and evaluate their own work, and that of others, in order to strengthen the visual impact or applications of their work  

• About Fine artists including periods, styles and major movements from different eras 

Within the context of Art, students must demonstrate the ability to use Fine art techniques and processes, appropriate to students’ personal intentions, for example: 

Printing	Construction methods
Painting	Sculpture
Carving	Drawing
Mask making	Lens/light  based media

se media and materials, as appropriate to students’ personal intentions, for example: 

Inks	Clay
Thread	Digital media
Paint	Fabrics

he subject content contained within our curriculum is fully compliant with the statutory content outlined in the Key Stage 3 and 4 National Curriculum. 

Students who excel in Art have the opportunity to experiment with higher skilled techniques and more complex concepts and outcomes. Students are able to follow their own development journey to produce individual outcomes of their own creation. 

Students are encouraged to develop employability skills by managing their own time in completing their Controlled Assessments independently and following their own development intentions. Students need to use their own initiative to plan their time and organise materials to develop ideas to realise their final outcomes. Students will develop their communication skills to verbalise their intentions and ideas, analysing the work of other Artists and Designers.

We ensure that Year 7 effectively builds upon content delivered during Key Stage 2 by ensuring that all children have experienced a broad range of techniques and applications by the end of year 7.

The Art curriculum has links with the following subject areas:

• Science: Colour theory, force, area and pressure, 

• Maths: Proportion, ratio, estimation, measurement and tessellation

• Geography: Global issues, current affairs

• Music: tone, contrast, texture and scale

Topics are sequenced to reflect levels of student maturity and understanding. In  year 7 we begin by studying broader concepts such as religious festivals from around the world. In year 8 we look at themes of war and how the environment informs architecture. In year 9 we begin to explore global issues such as homelessness, poverty and immigration. From these explorations students are able to develop their own ideas in response to stimuli.

KS4 builds upon these skills and allows students to develop a personal informed response to a chosen starting point. Key issues are revisited regularly to allow students to understand and retain key terms and concepts. Writing frames are used to scaffold written work and work is regularly group critiqued to allow for self and peer assessment.

We develop students’ Cultural Capital whilst studying Art by giving students the opportunity to participate in enrichment opportunities to support their learning. These include workshops by visiting artists, workshops at the local colleges, visits to art galleries and museums in major cities such as London, Amsterdam and New York. This gives the students a broad cultural experience within the wider arts enriching students’ projects with their experiences

Subject Teacher:  Mrs C Stones

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The BTEC Tech Award in Digital Information Technology gives learners the opportunity to develop sector-specific knowledge and skills in a practical learning environment, students will:

• Develop skills such as: project planning, designing and creating user interfaces, creating dashboards to present and interpret data
• Research effective ways of working in digital information technology, such as project planning, the design process, cyber security, virtual teams, legal and ethical codes of conduct
• Develop skills on personal management and communication
• Research how user interfaces meet user needs, how organisations collect and use data to make decisions, virtual workplaces, cyber security and legal and ethical issues

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The course has two internally assessed and one externally assessed components:

Exploring User Interface Design Principles and Project Planning Techniques

Aim: Develop their understanding of what makes an effective user interface and how to effectively manage a project. They will use this understanding to plan, design and create a user interface.

• Investigate user interface design for individuals and organisations
• Use project planning techniques to plan and design a user interface
• Develop and review a user interface.

Collecting, Presenting and Interpreting Data

Aim: Understand the characteristics of data and information and how they help organisations in decision making. They will use data manipulation methods to create a dashboard to present and draw conclusions from information.

• Investigate the role and impact of using data on individuals and organisations
• Create a dashboard using data manipulation tools
• Draw conclusions and review data presentation methods.

Effective Digital Working Practices (External Assessment)

Aim: Explore how organisations use digital systems and the wider implications associated with their use.

• Demonstrate knowledge of facts, terms, processes and issues in relation to digital information technology
• Apply an understanding of facts, terms, processes and issues in relation to digital information technology
• Analyse, evaluate and make reasoned judgements about the use, factors and implications influencing digital information technology
• Make connections with the concepts, issues, terms and processes in digital information technology

Subject Leader: ICT/Enterprise: Mrs C Stones

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The Enterprise Curriculum is a vocational course in Key Stage 4 which is designed to enable students to develop their technical skills, such as market research skills, planning, promotional and financial skills using realistic work scenarios, and personal skills, (such as monitoring own performance, time management and problem solving) through a practical and skills-based approach to learning and assessment.

All students have the opportunity to develop sector-specific knowledge and skills in a practical learning environment. The main focus is on the knowledge, understanding and skills required to research, plan, pitch and review an enterprise idea which includes: 

• development of key skills which prove aptitude in planning an enterprise activity, including market research, planning, carrying out financial transactions, communication and problem solving
• knowledge that underpins effective use of skills, such as the features and characteristics of enterprises and entrepreneurs, and the internal and external factors that can affect the performance of an enterprise 
• attitudes and ways of working that are considered most important for enterprise, including monitoring and reflecting on performance of an enterprise idea and own use of skills. 

Students are taught Component 1: Exploring Enterprises content in Year 10 where they then  are given the assignment brief to complete from Pearson. Students are encouraged to research and make contact with local enterprises to gain real life research and understand how local small enterprises run and make a profit for Component 1, they are encouraged to select a business that interests them and where they can make contact with the owner.

Students then move on to the content for Component 2: Planning for and Pitching an Enterprise in preparation for the assignment brief in Year 11. Students are encouraged to select an enterprise which interests them where they have prior knowledge of the product or service. Students are then given the assignment brief from Pearson and work independently to complete the assignment brief within the given deadline. 

Theory for Component 3 is interleaved with ILT’s and theory lessons throughout Year 10 and Year 11 and links are discussed to previous learning in Component 1 & 2. Once both assignments are completed we focus in lesson on Component 3 in preparation for the exam, which has been interleaved throughout Year 10 & 11 with ILT’s on Google Classroom. 

Learners who generally achieve at Level 2 across their Key Stage 4 learning might consider progression to: 

• A Levels as preparation for entry into higher education in a range of subjects 
• Study of a vocational qualification at Level 3, such as a BTEC National in Enterprise and Entrepreneurship, which prepares them to enter employment or apprenticeships, or to move on to higher education by studying a degree in the business sector. 

Learners who generally achieve at Level 1 across their Key Stage 4 learning might consider progression to: 

• Study at Level 2, post-16 in a range of technical routes designed to lead to work, to progression to employment, apprenticeships or to further study at Level 3. 

Students who excel in Enterprise have the opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills to different contexts, work independently and are encouraged to take part in extra curricular activities for Enterprise such as competitions and research further into enterprises. 

Students are encouraged to develop employability skills by developing confidence and team working skills by entering competitions, having visiting speakers for inspiration, developing presentation skills during the pitch project, planning and organising their own time for the assignment deadlines and using technology for their enterprise documentation.  

The Enterprise curriculum has links with the following subject areas: 

• BTEC’s due to the assignment briefs and time management
• Art and Textiles for Promotion
• English - Report writing skills
• Geography for Business locations
• ICT for developing coursework, presentation skills, enterprise documentation and research skills
• Maths with all the finance skills - percentages, calculators and formulas 
• Technology with the project cycle and following project planning techniques

We develop students’ Cultural Capital whilst studying Enterprise by entering competitions, visiting JLC for a Business trip with Year 12/13 students and external visitors for inspiration.

Students are encouraged to engage in wider reading relevant to Enterprise such as news articles, business developments, GCSE Pod, Seneca, Google Classrooms content / website, BTEC Revision guides.

Subject Leader: Mrs E Winder

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The CS curriculum aims to help students develop a fuller understanding of their roles and responsibilities as individuals and as citizens. Across both Key Stages students gain practical knowledge and skills to help them to live healthily and to deal with the spiritual, moral, social and cultural issues they face as they approach adulthood. We aim for all of our students to become informed, thoughtful, responsible and active citizens who are aware of their duties and rights. We teach our students to understand why we respect different national, religious and ethnic cultures.  Students develop the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to be able to face challenges, make informed choices and  live confident, healthy, independent lives as individuals, parents and workers.  Finally, the skills and qualities honed in CS allow them to play a useful part in the life of the school, the local community and the wider world.

The subject content contained within our curriculum is fully compliant with the statutory content outlined in the Key Stage 3 and 4 Framework for Relationships Sex and Health Education as well as the National Curriculum Programme of Study for Citizenship at Key Stage 3 and 4 and is underpinned by the guidance of the PSHE Association. 

All students learn about topics within the main themes of PSHE : 

• Health and Wellbeing
• British Values
• Relationships and Sex Education,
• Financial Awareness 
• Living in the Wider World (developing skills such as  resilience, self-esteem, risk-management, team working and critical thinking)

It is important to stress that whilst there is no correct order to teach these themes the needs of the students are paramount and the programme is developed each year so that is relevant and appropriate to the needs of the students at their stage and level of ability and maturity.

CS builds upon exposure to PSHCE at primary level, so the first modules of work are used to encourage students to develop discussion and group work skills whilst tackling a topic within their comfort zone, for example identity, friendships or safety, with more sensitive topics such as personal hygiene, drugs or relationships being studied later. In a spiral curriculum each large theme contains smaller topics which increase in complexity.

The CS curriculum is designed to build on knowledge and skills year by year, revisiting themes within the curriculum but with the focus on a topic at a level appropriate to the students’ age, maturity and ability. Each time a topic is re-visited new learning is linked to prior knowledge putting it into context with the information already acquired. This allows knowledge, skills and understanding to be reinforced each time the students revisit the subject matter and forms a logical progression from simple ideas to complex concepts. 

Each topic begins with an activity to ascertain current knowledge, to identify gaps in learning and address misconceptions. Short and longer term retrieval tasks are a feature at the start of each lesson  followed by the introduction of new material and short tasks designed to promote discussion and build knowledge and confidence in a non-threatening environment.   Plenaries and self assessment tasks as well as low stakes testing help to identify strengths as well as areas for development. Retrieval challenges as well as ILT tasks are used to help embed and transfer knowledge from the short to long term memory

As Citizenship is non statutory at Key Stage 1 and 2 it is assumed that students will enter the Axholme Academy with no prior knowledge.  This is currently also the case with PSHE. This however will change as we move forward with statutory PSHE requirements in Key Stage 1 and 2 from September 2020. Topics are again sequenced so that students start with familiar topics such as identity and Britishness or pocket money and move into less familiar territory of democracy and criminal justice and the spiral nature allows for revisiting age- and ability- appropriate aspects of these  themes at various times over the course of the 5 year learning journey, making links to prior knowledge and using real life experiences to prepare for future situations, risks and challenges. The Adolescent Lifestyle Survey conducted by North Lincolnshire Public Health as well as local knowledge allows for the course to be personalised and address the local needs of our students as well as national issues.

Students in both Key Stages are prepared for the next phase of education and training by developing study skills, planning a career path, acquiring employability skills and  participating in planned work experience. Students work on a variety of tasks to develop interpersonal and communication skills, practise working independently, and as part of a team, solve problems and plan and organise themselves and their time effectively. Over time students build resilience to challenging situations, develop skills to manage risk, to revise effectively and to use technology to complete everyday tasks such as banking.

During lessons, emphasis is very much on discussion and exploration of a topic to allow students to gain knowledge, but more importantly to develop opinions and to practise arguing for and defending a point of view. Progress is gauged not by how much a student may know and can write about a topic, but rather about how they feel about a topic, how far their ideas have developed and how confident they feel about arguing a point, secure in the knowledge that they have the information, understanding and vocabulary to do so effectively. 

Students who excel in CS have the opportunity to use the core body of knowledge to access extension activities within lessons, source additional independent learning materials and suggested titles for independent reading or viewing.

The CS curriculum has links with the following subject areas: 

• Science  - reproduction
• ICT - E safety 
• Food technology - Healthy eating 
• Mathematics - Financial capability 
• PE - physical and  mental wellbeing 
• RE contraception, abortion and moral dilemmas
• English - Loss and bereavement

Students’ Cultural Capital is developed through CS by having visiting speakers from the House of Commons or House of Lords,  Samaritans, Safer Roads Humber partnership;   visiting local careers events, access to the school nurse, individual interviews with careers and guidance officers, watching Theatre in Education performances and assemblies with speakers from local colleges, apprenticeship and training providers.Where this is not possible, cultural capital is gained by taking students out in to the virtual world by using film clip or texts about personal experiences and internet access to places such as the House of Commons or local banks.

Links with external agencies

We have been fortunate enough to develop links with a number of external agencies which support and extend classroom based learning. These include:

• Tiny Giants TIE group
• Humberside Fire and Rescue Service
• Safer Roads Humber (including the i-Car experience)
• Humberside Police
• Samaritans
• British Heart Foundation

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Useful Websites

www.childline.org.uk

www.thinkuknow.co.uk  (internet safety)

www.b-eat.co.uk  (eating disorders)

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Useful Links for Students and Parents

Counselling and support

• www.childline.org.uk  under 19s)
• jo@samaritans.org

General help and support for all aspect of teenage life

• www.life-central.org   (north lincs specific)

www.mymindmatters.org.uk

• www.time-to-change.org.uk
• www.riseabove.org.uk
• www.youngminds.org.uk

Internet safety and reporting

• www.thinkuknow.co.uk
• www.ceop.police.uk

Eating disorders

• www.b-eat.co.uk 

Subject Leader: Mr B. Creasy

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The Computer Science curriculum is designed to equip all students with general computational thinking and programming skills during KS3 and specialist skills and knowledge for those opting to study GCSE Computer Science at KS4.

In KS3 Computer Science is a component of the Technology carousel. During these lessons students learn about hardware, software, computational thinking and introductory coding concepts. Computational thinking and coding skills are introduced in Y7 using Scratch and progress into Year 9 when all students begin to programme using Python. The programming module in Year 9 acts as an introduction to GCSE Computer Science helping students to make informed options choices.

All students have the opportunity to study GCSE Computer Science during KS4. Whilst studying this course students learn subject specific skills such as:

• Constructing and interpreting algorithms

• Writing and testing computer programmes written in pseudocode, Python and Structured Query Language (SQL)

• Converting between number bases (base 2, 10 and 16)

• Adding, multiplying and dividing binary numbers

• Constructing logic circuits and truth tables

• Lossless data compression techniques

• Relational database design and development

Computer Science also develops students’ problem solving, resilience, discipline, independent learning and collaborative working skills. Computational thinking skills are developed by using a wide range of paper and IT based problem solving tasks. 

Programming skills are developed using the KPRIDE model:

• Keywords - improve vocabulary by identifying which line number key python concepts can be found

• Predict - improve comprehension by estimating what the code will do before running it

• Run - improve understanding by comparing predictions with what the code actually does

• Investigate - feed curiosity by tweaking the code

• Debug - improve resilience by fixing mistakes

• Extend - develop high level skills by enhancing programmes

This model introduces key concepts through worked examples; encourages students to make and test hypotheses; solve problems and extend algorithms with increasing levels of independence.

Theory topics are sequenced so that students are initially exposed to general concepts such as binary digits, character sets and network topologies. Once students have established strong foundations, they progress onto more complex topics such as representing sounds, Huffman Coding and TCP/IP 4 Layer Model. When new topics are introduced, a concept map is used to make explicit links to prior knowledge to help students make sense of new related information. Retrieval practice is used during starters and plenaries to help students embed and retain knowledge, including using a concept map to identify and explore links between topics.

During lessons students complete practical problem solving or coding ‘skill builder’ activities weekly in order to develop their skills and knowledge throughout the course. Students typically record key knowledge using structured materials such as analysis grids, flow charts and practice exam questions. Most of students’ classwork is recorded in bespoke workbooks which aid schema development, retrieval and revision.

Through studying GCSE Computer Science, students gain knowledge and skills which serve them well as IT users post-16. Additionally, this course provides a clear progression route onto Level 3 sector relevant qualifications or apprenticeships. As few schools offer GCSE Computer Science, our students stand out from their peers when progressing onto sector relevant qualifications. Computer Science can help prepare students to study Electronics and Engineering post-16. Beyond this, studying Computer Science opens up a range of high demand careers in areas such as software development, cyber security and database management.

The subject content contained within our curriculum is fully compliant with the statutory content outlined in the Key Stage 3 and 4 National Curriculum, particularly for students opting to study GCSE Computer Science. To further develop all students’ computational thinking skills, a series of problem solving activities are being developed for delivery via tutor time.

If opting for GCSE Computer Science, all students learn all of the topics covered by the specification. Students who excel in Computer Science have further opportunities during lessons to ‘Extend’ their pseudocode algorithms and Python programmes by incorporating high level skills such as subroutines, validation routines, error handling and connecting to external files.

Students are encouraged to develop employability skills such as problem solving, independent learning and collaborative working via flipped learning activities.

We ensure that Year 7 effectively builds upon content delivered during Key Stage 2 by building on students’ experiences of using coding tools such as Scratch and Kodu.

The Computer Science curriculum has links with the following subject areas:

• ICT - cyber security, computer laws, hardware & software, cloud technology and coding.
• Design Technology - iterative design process, flowcharts, project planning and problem solving.
• Textiles - environmental issues (recycling materials in particular).
• RE - ethical issues.
• PE - use of technology to monitor health & fitness.
• Science - continuous and discrete data.
• Maths - continuous and discrete data, logical operators / basic inequalities, boolean expressions.
• Complementary Studies - Legal issues including Data Protection Act / GDPR
• French - Impacts of technology on society (mental health, body image etc).

We develop students’ Cultural Capital whilst studying Computer Science by entering national coding competitions (such as the Matrix Challenge), engaging with national raising participation programmes (Amazon Future Engineer) and welcoming guest speakers to lessons including a regional Cyber Crime Police Officer and our network manager.

Subject Leader	Mrs. C Mann
Second in English	Mr. Peter Kench
English Teacher / Literacy Lead	Miss R Wharton
English Teacher	Miss J Laird
English Teacher	Mrs. K Grantham
Core Skills Coach	Mrs S Parkinson

English Curriculum Intent

The Axholme Academy English team strives to ensure that all pupils enjoy and engage fully in the English curriculum, whilst achieving high academic standards throughout our five year learning journey.  Within a local context, where book ownership and reading everyday is at the lowest level nationally, reading is the driver for progress in our department. Reading is at the heart of our curriculum.  From entry in Year 7, the English Language and Literature curriculums are sequenced separately to support pupils in their progression towards two distinct qualifications at GCSE, enabling all of our students to access the post-16 pathway they aspire to. We aspire for our students to become effective communicators and confident speakers who are able to meet the requirements of the world beyond our school community. We commit to nurture a love of Literature, to provide a challenging and diverse range of reading materials and to promote Literature as an attractive option for post-16 study.

The Literacy curriculum is designed to foster a love of reading. Using the Accelerated Reader programme, we encourage students to read independently and respond to a wide range of texts, whilst also monitoring the progress of students in reading, and offering interventions to students when needed. Within Literacy, we address knowledge gaps relating to spelling, punctuation and grammar and equip students with a broad and sophisticated vocabulary. The Literacy curriculum also supports Literacy across the wider curriculum, enabling students to understand and embed the command words used across a range of subjects.

The English curriculum consists of:

• KS3 NC Programmes of Study

• GCSE English Language

• GCSE English Literature

• Entry Level English certificate

• Post 16 - Related A level/Vocational qualifications. Taster sessions are delivered in school to encourage the take up of English post-16

The subject content contained within our curriculum is fully compliant with KS3 statutory content, and fully compliant with the statutory content outlined in KS4.

English Language & Literature Curriculum Model

All students develop their skills in the three main strands of English Language which progress throughout KS3 and KS4. The strands are:

• Reading

• Writing

• Speaking and listening

In addition, all students develop their skills in English Literature which progress throughout KS3 and KS4. The objectives are:

• Read, understand and respond to texts. 

• Analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects, using relevant subject terminology where appropriate.

• Show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they were written.

Students also study a wide variety of literary texts, novels, plays and poems, within English Language and English Literature lessons. The texts chosen build on the reading experienced in our feeder primaries and range from classics to modern texts.  Texts are chosen to enable our students to explore potentially challenging and diverse language and themes in order to broaden their understanding of the world around them.

The English curriculum model allows students to revisit and develop skills in each element of curriculum content at several points in KS3 and KS4, in both English Language and English Literature; the complexity of the subject, text or skill increases with each revisit, therefore new learning has a relationship with previous learning allowing students to progress and reach their full potential. Using this model enables knowledge and skills to be reinforced and solidified each time the students revisit. It allows a logical progression from simplistic skills to highly developed skills in reading, writing and speaking and listening, and students are taught explicitly to apply the knowledge and skills acquired each year to later curriculum learning intentions.

English is taught in mostly mixed-ability groupings, which we believe ensures best progress for all students of all abilities. To support this approach, our lessons incorporate a variety of differentiation strategies. The use of modelling and scaffolding is embedded in our pedagogy to enable all students to access the learning at the highest possible level. A range of assessment approaches is used to identify gaps in learning and address them. Low-stakes retrieval assessment tasks are used in every lesson to consolidate skills or knowledge. Live marking is also embedded in department pedagogy to give students instant feedback on their work and quickly address misconceptions. Students in the I groups, which support lower ability learners, experience the same curriculum as those learners in our GROW sets. The curriculum for the T group is closely aligned with the English curriculum.

Students keep all work, including assessments, in their exercise books or in a Google Classroom, so that they are able to track their progress, and reflect on and refer to prior learning.

Employability

In English lessons, students develop their employability skills. Progress in reading and spelling is monitored closely in KS3 Literacy lessons. As well as progressing in reading skills, in English lessons students develop their skills in functional writing and communication & presentation skills. In addition, Students are further encouraged to develop employability skills by effective communication, planning, organising, self-management, teamwork, presenting, problem solving, creativity, initiative, aiming high, leadership and staying positive.

Progression from KS2

We ensure that Year 7 effectively builds upon content delivered during Key Stage 2 by analysing and sharing KS2 test data with colleagues teaching year 7 to allow appropriate interventions to be put in place where needed. We meet with staff from our key feeder primaries to discuss the implementation of learning links between our curriculums and to standardise assessments. Our curriculum builds on the curriculums delivered by the feeder schools, ensuring progression and challenge in the texts we read.

Skills in reading, spelling and punctuation are consolidated during Year 7 Literacy lessons and low-stakes retrieval activities in English lessons. 

Links with other curriculum areas

The skills which are developed in English provide the building blocks which allow students to access many other curriculum areas effectively. There are also links between content and knowledge.For example, in English ‘An Inspector Calls’ and ‘A Christmas Carol’ are introduced as GCSE Literature texts in year 10.  In History, there is an ILT project rotation across KS3 for both of these texts, to develop students’ knowledge of the context of the texts. We are able to refer to this prior learning in our teaching. There are learning links between our Yr 9 Equality unit and work delivered in RE. 

The Literacy curriculum has links with many subject areas, such as Science, Geography, PE, RE and History. KS3 students are taught the meaning of the command words used in many subject areas through a sequence of themed units of work. 

Cultural Capital

We develop students’ Cultural Capital whilst studying English through our involvement with The Axholme Pledge, celebrating National Poetry Day with our Year 7 students, Shakespeare Day and World Book Day each year. Where the opportunity arises,  students will be offered live performances of the KS4 Literature texts and each year there is a cross curricular collaborative trip, which allows students to experience the theatre in London.

Subject Teacher: Mrs A. Pendrey

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In Food the curriculum is designed to equip all students with knowledge of nutrition to lead a healthy lifestyle and learn a range of food preparation skills in order to learn a life skill of cooking. The curriculum is taught through the AQA Food Preparation and Nutrition GCSE in KS4. 

GCSE Food and Nutrition

All students have the opportunity to study GCSE Food Preparation and Nutrition during KS4. Students will demonstrate effective and safe high-level cooking skills by planning, preparing dishes using a variety of cooking techniques and equipment. Students will develop knowledge and understanding of the functional properties, chemical processes and nutritional content of foods. Students will understand the relationship between diet, nutrition and health, including the physiological and psychological effects of different diets and health.

Food also develops students’ planning, time management, resilience, discipline, independent learning and collaborative working skills. 

Theory topics are sequenced so that students are initially exposed to general concepts such as macronutrients, micronutrients and their functional properties. Once students have established strong foundations, they progress onto more complex topics such as their chemical properties, which brings many cross curricular links into science. Retrieval practice is used during starters and plenaries to help students embed and retain knowledge, including using a concept map to identify and explore links between topics. Students typically record key knowledge using structured materials such as analysis grids, mind maps and practice exam questions. Most of students’ classwork is recorded in bespoke workbooks which aid schema development, retrieval and revision. 

During the GCSE course they will complete two pieces of NEA work, NEA1 is a food science investigation worth 15%, Nea 2 is a portfolio of research, planning and technical cooking skills worth 35%

Through studying GCSE Food Preparation and Nutrition, students gain knowledge and skills which serve them well as cooks for the future and enable them to cook for themselves and others. Additionally, this course provides a clear progression route onto Post 16 routes including, Level 2 diploma in professional cookery course at North Lindsey college, Catering at Lincoln college and catering and hospitality at Doncaster college. Beyond this many Universities and Higher Education courses are available in food science, food nutrition, Food industry in practice, Food processing and preservation and many more. 

If opting for GCSE Food Preparation and Nutrition, all students learn all of the topics covered by the specification. Students who excel in Food Preparation and Nutrition have the further opportunity to extend their knowledge and skills by using higher level skills during practical lessons, and learning more about the functional and chemical properties of more complex ingredients. 

Students are encouraged to develop employability skills by working in groups during a practical which fosters their team working skills.They learn organisational skills and communication, both written and verbal are actively encouraged. Independent learning and self-management is encouraged by the use of their ILPs for their ILTs which are completed on a fortnightly rota. Listening and sequencing skills are developed by the use of demonstrations and applying knowledge to follow and interpret a recipe.

The Food and Nutrition  curriculum has links with the following subject areas:

• PE and Sport Science - Nutrition introduced in Y10 and 11 

•  Maths - standard weights and measures  Ratio and proportion when scaling up a recipe.

•  Science investigations, hypothesis, analysis, recording, charts, graphs and interpreting results again

•  RE - ethics in the food and farming industry, animal rights. Religious and cultural reasons for food choice and religious dietary rules, kosher and halal.

• Geography - aspects of climate change, food miles, local foods and seasonal foods. Also by looking at foods from around the world. 

We develop students’ Cultural Capital whilst studying Food and Nutrition by providing opportunities to engage in visits to local producers and local agricultural shows. A visiting speaker will visit to deliver a talk on vegetarianism and veganism to Y10 and 11. Students also have the chance to visit specialist restaurants to link in with their KS4 topics. This will help our students to see aspects of the curriculum from a different perspective and will increase their knowledge and understanding.

Students are encouraged to engage in wider reading relevant to Food and Nutrition using recommended reading books on the reading programme we are using wholeschool. A wide range of cookery books from other cultures are available from which students are encouraged to undertake research and use to assist in planning recipes for multicultural practicals.

Subject Leader: Mrs L. Underwood

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The H&SC curriculum aims to nurture every student and provide them with the key skills, processes, attitudes, knowledge and understanding required to develop their ability in KS4 and progress to the training and further education preparing them to work in the health or social care sector. As Health and Social care is not studied in Key Stage 3, the CS curriculum case studies are designed to equip students with a general understanding of some of the topics and scenarios covered in Health and Social Care and provide for a more informed decision when choosing options for Key Stage 4. 

Studying Health and Social care will help learners to make more informed choices for further learning, either generally or in the health and social care sector. Learners who generally achieve at Level 2 across their Key Stage 4 learning might consider progression to:

• A Levels as preparation for entry to higher education in a range of subjects 
• Study of a vocational qualification at Level 3, such as a BTEC in Health and Social Care or Childcare 
• Apprenticeship or employment in a wide range of areas

The subject content contained within our curriculum is fully compliant with the specification linked to Pearson BTEC Level 1/2 award in Health and Social Care. Whilst studying this course, students learn about

• human growth and development
• the factors that affect growth and development including major life events
• health and social care services
• care values
• barriers to accessing care
• factors affecting health and wellbeing
• Indicators of physical health
• how to plan to improve health and wellbeing
• the obstacles which prevent individuals from sticking to a health plan 

Health and Social Care helps students to gain an understanding of their own behaviour and processes, develop communications skills, build resilience, develop independence and confidence as well as time management skills. Students are encouraged to develop employability skills by planning and organising their time effectively to meet deadlines and complete coursework, developing teamwork skills in the role play scenarios and use technology to research and complete assignments. 

Topics are sequenced so that students gain an understanding of how they grow and develop from a baby to a sentient, reasoning adult and how a variety of influences can affect the adult who appears at the end of that process. Once students have developed a firm understanding of the theory, it is applied in case studies and then tested in a piece of independently researched and written coursework. As the learning progresses, links are made to prior learning and relevant references to their own lives helps foster a better grasp of complex ideas. 

Notes and worksheets are kept in exercise books, whilst coursework is completed electronically. Starter, plenaries and retrieval challenges as well as ILT tasks are used to help embed and retrieve knowledge.Interleaving of topics is a regular feature of lessons as students are encouraged to link knowledge from previous units and apply this in short case studies as well as their coursework and terminal exam. 

Students who excel in Health and Social Care have the opportunity to work at their own pace, apply their knowledge in different contexts, extend their work to the highest level and learn about specific careers in the health or social care sector.

The H&SC curriculum has links with the following subject areas: 

• CS - healthy eating, mental health and wellbeing, drug abuse
• PE - physical fitness and nutrition
• Science - physical factors affecting health
• Food Technology - nutrition

Students’ Cultural Capital is developed whilst studying Health and Social Care by welcoming visiting speakers from local care homes, agencies and health care providers, by facilitating attendance at local health academy events, giving students valuable insight into the day to day rigours, practices, challenges, rewards and opportunities offered by a wide range of jobs within the health and social care sectors. .Where this is not possible, cultural capital is gained by making virtual visits to  the work of health and social care by using film clips or texts to access care settings as well as give insights into the experiences, thoughts, and feelings of those working or living within those settings.

Students are encouraged to engage in wider reading and viewing relevant to Health and Social Care such as medical and nursing journals, documentaries and films based on true events.

Head of Humanities: Miss N. Henderson

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The Humanities Curriculum’s intent is to create students who leave KS3 with an understanding of how humanity interacts with the physical environment - and how that physical world is shaped and shapes humanity; humanity's interaction with the spiritual and how past events have shaped that understanding.  All this is founded on the development of the skills of being able to research and construct detailed answers to questions which do not have a right or wrong answer.  The aim is to create students who can ask questions and go and find out answers.  We aim to impart our passion for the subject to our students.

A Developing Curriculum

While some students will study RE, Geography and History to Y11 and beyond we are very conscious of the need to provide a broad knowledge of the content of the Humanities for all students in KS3 for those who won’t take on their studies because we believe that to understand the world it is essential to have a grounding in the Humanities.  In KS3 the skills of analysing and deploying content will begin.  They are reinforced and developed at KS4. While conscious not to continually repeat the content we do use similar themes to introduce ideas at KS3 and then develop them in KS4.  For example the idea of a new dynasty, coming to power through war and radically changing the social and political landscape is explored firstly as The Tudors and then revisited as The Normans.

Within the developed curriculum we are aware of the dangers of cognitive load and look to develop materials which cater for this in the form of how information is presented and have developed interleaving to ensure information is constantly being reviewed and reused. The skills of each subject are revisited on a regular basis, applying the developing skill to new contexts and information.  Likewise, the knowledge gained at GCSE level is revisited throughout the course in starter activities and through interleaved recall lessons.

Many students will go on to study ‘A’ Level History and Geography but many more see these studies as a support to move off into areas like Psychology or Archaeology or as part of a portfolio which allows them into many and varied studies.

The subject content contained within our curriculum is statutory content outlined in the Key Stage 3 and 4 National Curriculum and builds on that to give a broader understanding of the Humanities.  For example, elements of the Pre-1066 study have been worked together with Post 1945 Challenges to present a Year 7 Course which gives a framework for British History as a whole, then allowing for deeper delving into, for example, the study of Tudor England - which covers both the Medieval and Early Modern units.  Given that one of the most difficult areas of study for students is understanding the nature of religious belief and ideas this is covered in the ‘How We Know Stuff’ course, which also encourages critical thinking as well as in other modules.

Humanities subjects are examined in non-tiered exams.  Within Geography and RE this means students will have a range of questions targeted at each ability.  In History, each question is designed to be accessible at different ability levels.  The aim of the department is to find what level students are working at and then provide support so they can reach to the next level.  This may be done through extensions tasks in lessons and through the process of giving to support to help to access higher levels in class and through ILTs.

The essence of the Humanities is to be able to construct extended and substantiated answers to complex questions and so require the ability to communicate effectively.  The analytical skills in answering these questions require problem solving skills.

Students are encouraged to develop employability skills by developing the skills of communicating in a written form that is clear, concise and to the point.  Students develop the skills of self-organisation and time management are essential for success and during the course students will be helped to develop these skills and reflect on, for example, which revision techniques work best for them.

The Humanities Curriculum has links with the following subject areas:  

• Music - Afro-American History and the Blues
• Science - Science v Belief; Scientific Revolution and Darwin; Recycling and Global Warming
• Food - Animal Rights / Food Beliefs and Festivals 
• Art - Christian Belief and the Afterlife in Art
• CS - moral issues such as abortion and relationships
• English  Shakespeare and MacBeth / An Inspector Calls

In KS3 students undertake a creative project which will be linked to a theme from a different curriculum area.

Our subject is Cultural Capital.  As Goethe wrote ‘He who can not draw on three thousand years is living hand to mouth.’  Cultural Capital is the ability not to be out of place in any situation.  RE explores differing religious beliefs and moral debates current to the world our student will navigate.  Geography equips students to understand human impact on a world in what is the defining issue of the epoch and History challenges all students with the idea that today is not the same as yesterday and therefore tomorrow will be different too.

We develop students’ Cultural Capital whilst studying by setting Historical projects with a strong basis in the GCSE Curriculum to encourage a deeper understanding of both topics. We have run visits abroad to Poland; Nurenmberg / Munich; Berlin and Amsterdam. We have also run visits to the Holderness Coast and Tropical World.  Future plans include a specifically cultural visit to York. With each visit the aim has been to take students away from this environment and encourage them to engage with a wider and different context; to think more deeply and to open the door to other possibilities.

Students are encouraged to engage in wider reading research and reading through the setting of student set research projects in KS3 History.

The Curriculum at Key Stage 3 aims to build knowledge of:

• Physical Geography [Fantastic Places, Natural Hazards, Weather and Climate, Coasts, Oceans, Africa, the UK and Tectonic Hazards] 
• Human Geography [Crime, Population, Tourism, Russia, Global Impacts]
• Map Skills
• The Ceremonies and structures of Belief
• Faith and the Issues of Faith
• Miracles and Belief
• Christianity
• A Broad Understanding of Human History over the last 12000 Years
• Depth Studies into specific periods eg Tudor England, Medieval Lincolnshire, The Era of the Second World War, American in the Twentieth Century and the impact of ideas in History.

KS4 studies deepen the understanding of topics and develop the essential skills of constructing substantiated answers in the following areas: 

• Health and the People 1000-Present Day
• Conflict in Asia 1950-75
• Germany 1890-1945
• The Normans 1066-1100
• Christianity
• Judaism
• Family and Relationships
• Arguments and Revelation
• War and Peace
• Cold Environments
• The Development Gap
• Nigeria
• Resource Management
• Climate Change
• Coasts
• The Urban World
• The Changing UK Economy
• Ecosystems

 

Subject Leader: Mrs C Stones

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The ICT curriculum consists of varied knowledge and skills across ICT, Digital Literacy and Computer Science.

Within the Technology rotation Year 7, 8 and 9 students study ICT, Digital Literacy and Computer Science. The content of the lessons are based on the national curriculum and skills for the future. The topics covered are:

Year 7: Google suite & E-Safety, Spreadsheets and Block Programming

Year 8: User Interfaces, Binary and Text Programming

Year 9: Cyber Security, Computer Laws, Hardware and Environmental Impact

Year 9 students have Core ICT lessons where students develop skills in preparation for the BTEC Tech Award in Digital Information Technology. Students practice and develop skills in User Interfaces by researching, designing and developing a user interface and then evaluate the final system. Students use project planning techniques to monitor their progress and examples of all aspects are modelled and writing frames are available to scaffold the work, so they have practiced and are ready for the assignment brief in Year 10.  Students also have interleaving theory content in preparation for the Year 11 BTEC external exam.

ICT at Key Stage 4 is separated into 2 areas: BTEC ICT and Computer Science.

• BTEC ICT lessons cover the specification to complete the theory and assignment briefs. Students are taught Component 1: Exploring User Interface Design Principles and Project Planning Techniques in Year 10 and then given the assignment brief to complete from Pearson, then students move on to the content for Component 2: Collecting, Presenting and Interpreting Data in preparation for the assignment brief in Year 11. Students then work independently to complete the assignment brief within the given deadline. Theory for Component 3, topics such as E-Safety, Cyber Security, Cloud Technology, Digital Technology and the future, Impact of Digital Technology, Ethical, Legal and Environmental Impact is interleaved with ILT’s and theory lessons throughout Year 9, Year 10 and Year 11.
• Computer Science is delivered 5 lessons a fortnight covering Programming and theory topics from the specification - please see Computer Science Curriculum Intent.  

Learners who generally achieve at Level 2 across their Key Stage 4 learning might consider progression to:

• A Levels as preparation for entry to higher education in a range of subjects
• Study of a vocational qualification at Level 3, such as a BTEC National in IT, which prepares learners to enter employment or apprenticeships, or to move on to higher education by studying a degree in the digital sector.

Learners who generally achieve at Level 1 across their Key Stage 4 learning might consider progression to:

• Study at Level 2 post-16 in a range of technical routes designed to lead to work, to progression to employment, to apprenticeships or to further study at Level 3.
• Study of IT Support or Digital Technology through the study of a Technical Certificate.

The subject content contained within our curriculum is fully compliant with the statutory content outlined in the Key Stage 3 and 4 National Curriculum across the whole Academy if the students opts for Computer Science at KS4. We cover all the National Curriculum across Key Stage 3 and cover some in KS4 Core ICT.

Students who excel in ICT have the opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills to different contexts, work independently and at their own pace, there are many opportunities for students to engage in many online platforms to develop subject specific knowledge further such as seneca, cyber discovery and code academy.

Students are encouraged to develop employability skills by entering online competitions, having visiting speakers for inspiration, developing ICT skills, planning and organising their own time for the assignment deadlines and using technology for their enterprise documentation.

We ensure that Year 7 effectively builds upon content delivered during Key Stage 2 by completing a Seneca Year 5 / 6 Computing Basics task as a baseline and discussions in class.

The ICT curriculum has links with the following subject areas:

• BTEC’s due to the assignment briefs and time management
• Art and Textiles for design skills
• Complementary Studies for E-Safety and Computer Laws
• Design Technology for Ergonomics, Health and Safety, Flow Charts, Project Planning, Inputs and Outputs,
• English - Writing reports, evaluations and command words

• Enterprise for developing coursework, presentation skills, enterprise documentation and research skills
• History with the History of computers

• Maths for Data representation, angles, repetition
• MFL for E-Safety and Social media
• Music for Video recording / editing
• PE for modern technologies
• RE with Ethics
• Science for environmental issues, spreadsheets, graphs, data tables, data logging,

We develop students’ Cultural Capital whilst studying ICT by entering online competitions and encouraging students to engage with online platforms to develop knowledge.

Students are encouraged to engage in wider reading relevant to ICT such as news articles, ICT / Technology developments, GCSE Pod, Seneca, Google Classrooms content / website and BTEC Revision guides.

Study+ Group

The Study+ Group is an option pathway in KS4.  These students do not study a humanity subject and instead have 5 hours per fortnight working on enhancing their study skills in order to be successful in their core and option subjects.  Students are placed in this group by the SENDCO in liaison with SLT and core Heads of Department.  They typically have an EHCP or have Special Educational Needs which means that they would benefit from studying a reduced number of qualifications.  Students are not placed in this group due to behaviour difficulties, but those students with medical needs may do so in order to use the time to catch up with other subjects that they have fallen behind in due to absence.

The purpose of the Study+ curriculum is to enhance the study skills of students with Special Educational Needs so that they are able to study effectively both for examinations in school and beyond the curriculum such as passing their driving test and accessing college or an apprenticeship.  Reducing the number of subjects which they are required to study prevents them from being overloaded and gives them the best opportunity to be as successful as possible in the core subjects and their option subjects which they will need to progress onto further education.   

The content which is delivered can be altered each year depending on the needs of the students in the group.  Typically, there will be a focus on literacy skills required for study purposes such as developing reading comprehension techniques, understanding the command verbs in questions, and the spelling of key words.  Students with Special Educational Needs require these skills to be repeated regularly in order to over learn them.  Revision techniques need to be taught such as the use of cue cards, memory maps, and mnemonics.  Study skills such as note taking, conducting research, and avoiding plagiarism are also taught, along with the skills required to complete a longer project as is required in many vocational courses.  Students in this group typically have access arrangements in place for their exams and as such they are taught how to use these effectively.  Additionally, the SENDCO meets with the core Heads of Department half termly and they may ask for a particular idea or concept to be focused on or re-taught.  As such the Study+ group is not about following a particular course or programme.  However, many resources are used including the HiLo Comprehension Skills Programme, RWI Study Skills module, and Multisensory Learning for SpLD’s.  Some sections of the work completed can be formally accredited through OCR Life and Living Skills, AQA Foundation Project, and ASDAN credits.

Subject Leader	Miss K Causier
Teacher	Miss K Patrick

The languages curriculum aims to develop students’ linguistic competence and understanding to enable them to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and to understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and in writing.

Alongside the evident linguistic developments, language learning allows students to broaden their cultural knowledge and understanding, and supports in their development of a deeper understanding of the wider world around them. 

Across the key stages, students will develop their understanding and be able to respond to spoken and written language with increasing confidence, fluency and spontaneity, whilst continually improving the accuracy of their pronunciation and intonation through understanding of phonics and decoding skills. Students will also develop their skills in writing at varying length, for different purposes and audiences using the variety of grammatical structures and vocabulary that they have learnt, and discover and develop an appreciation of a range of writing in the language studied. 

The key grammatical structures and vocabulary introduced at KS3 are seen as building blocks for more in-depth learning and re-visiting at KS4 (& routes beyond). The use of online websites such as Quizlet are well-established for reinforcing newly acquired knowledge or for setting tasks to support longer term memory and recall. 

Lessons are structured with the intention of building student knowledge, and recalling and retrieving previously learnt vocabulary and grammar throughout the course of the lesson. The usual structure includes a retrieval starter task followed by new content delivery/recall of previous content which is modelled and explained. Students then complete a series of short tasks designed to build student confidence and avoid cognitive overload. These could include, but are not limited to, teacher-led tasks with mini-whiteboards including dictation, grammar recall and translation, peer and teacher-led speaking tasks, and other listening/reading/writing tasks followed by whole-class feedback to address any misconceptions. Larger writing tasks take place once it is ascertained through formative assessment and reflection that particular demonstrable vocabulary and grammar is becoming ‘mastered’ which may be at the end of a series of lessons.

Students who decide to take languages post-16 will usually complete an A Level in their chosen language which will enable them to progress onto higher education routes. For students aiming to take languages post-16, we have developed links with two local sixth form college language departments and have taken part in other higher education language-based outreach to experience languages in a post-16 setting.

The subject content contained within our curriculum is fully compliant with the statutory content outlined in the Key Stage 3 and 4 National Curriculum. 

All students are introduced to the grammatical foundations of the language, which is built upon as they progress throughout the key stages. This knowledge is then applicable to new contexts as grammatical structures are revisited and consolidated. 

Students are given the opportunity to master the four key skills:

• Listening
• Reading
• Writing
• Speaking

Students also study a range of topics that offer them an insight into other cultures and customs. They will learn how to manipulate language for their own purpose to be able to communicate orally and through written means whilst expressing their opinions, using a variety of tenses and using a variety of vocabulary including that considered to be more complex.

Students who excel in languages have the opportunity to:

• Extend their knowledge and competences by learning languages independently using the skills acquired in language lessons at the academy e.g. via apps (Duolingo, Quizlet, Memrise)
• Participate in language events via the NLEC such as European Day of Languages and University visits. 
• Explore the linguistic links that exist between subject vocabulary through etymology of words e.g. science, music, English.

Students are encouraged to develop employability skills by:

• engaging in a variety of language tasks which require them to work alone and with others
• engaging in team-work activities in the language classroom
• working with others in their class with whom they wouldn’t normally work with
• taking part in problem solving activities such as thinking skills tasks and escape room challenges
• learning skills that enable them to self-manage their language learning at home e.g revision skills
• learning coping strategies and how to use their initiative when working independently in class, for instance to carry on with work they can do if stuck on an activity in class and to think of other resources they can use if the teacher cannot help them immediately. 
• being encouraged to use a variety of internet based tools for language learning for example Word Reference, Duolingo, Quizizz
• being asked to reflect on their work and learning and think of improvements that could be made
• learning how to accept constructive criticism from their peers and teacher as a way of improving their language skills.
• being encouraged to meet deadlines e.g. for tasks set within a lesson or for ILT. 
• developing their listening and communication skills in language lessons

We ensure that Year 7 effectively builds upon content delivered during Key Stage 2 by revisiting core vocabulary and grammar from the KS2 programme of study within the KS3 schemes of learning. Learners from our main feeder schools learn French as part of their language learning but those from other primaries may have less knowledge/exposure to French. This means that the first module at year 7 is considered a ‘bridging module’ in order to both support and challenge learners irregardless of their starting point. We also ensure that we meet as many of our feeder primary students both prior to and during their transition phase to the academy to begin building the links between the two settings.

The languages curriculum has links with the following subject areas: 

• Maths - Ordinal/cardinal numbers, dates, times, number, concept of regular vs. irregular.
• Food - International cuisine.
• Art - Dia de los Muertos.
• Science - Terminology used via Latin, climate change and environment.
• Literacy - Structure of language.
• RE - Festivals and celebrations.
• Computer Science/ICT - Advantages and disadvantages of technology (bullying, mental health, danger).
• Geography - climate change and environment.

We develop students’ Cultural Capital whilst studying languages and exploring the cultures presented by those speaking the languages. We also offer additional language learning opportunities in clubs such as Spanish club, French film club and additionally taster sessions in languages spoken by our students. Students have had opportunities to visit universities to experience language learning outside of the classroom as well as a taster of a local further and higher education environment. Additionally, a bi-annual trip to France takes place for students in years 8 and 9 which has included visits to the battlefields and Northern France, and Paris. The trip to France has enabled students to develop their intercultural understanding with their need to adapt to a different culture during the visit e.g. language, currency, food.

Students are encouraged to engage in wider opportunities in languages such as:

• reading relevant to French such as newspaper articles and news bulletins. 
• the opportunity to borrow short stories in other languages or ask for literary reading recommendations.
• using online resources such as YouTube and Netflix to access appropriate media in other languages or about other cultures.
• using apps to extend their language learning such as DuoLingo.

 

Subject Leader	Miss D Robinson
Second in Maths	Mrs L Woodhall
Teacher	Mrs A Brown
Teacher	Ms E Leigh
Teacher	Mr B Pendrey
Teacher	Mr S Whitter

Mathematics Curriculum Intent 

Our ambitious Mathematics curriculum, from Year 7, is designed to be bespoke to the individual needs of our learners. Through cumulative knowledge, emphasis is placed on the importance of mathematics to develop students' capacity to think logically and intuitively, building resilience and confidence, this establishes an understanding of the laws of mathematics which govern everything around us.

To ensure a smoother transition into secondary education, through the collaborative partnership established with primary schools, our Year 7 curriculum effectively builds upon content delivered during Key Stage 2. Our spiral based curriculum ensures that the sequencing of skills effectively builds upon previous knowledge and understanding.

We aim to spark a love of maths through inspiring and creative lessons where:

• Learners become confident and fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics through varied and frequent practise. This promotes development in the conceptual understanding of increasingly complex problems, strengthening the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately.

• Emphasis placed on students’ proficiency promotes mathematical reasoning, following lines of enquiry, conjecturing relationships and generalisations to develop their capacity to argue, justify and use proof through mathematical language.

• Students solve problems by applying their mathematical understanding to a variety of routine and non-routine problems with increasing sophistication, including the skills of breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions.

By using frequent question level analysis of each topic assessment, we are able to identify strengths and gaps in knowledge and understanding. This prepares each individual with a personalised pathway for intervention as they progress through their learning journey.

Schemes of work used are fully compliant with the statutory content outlined in the Key Stage 3 and 4 National Curriculum. Students who excel in Mathematics have the opportunity to further their understanding and skills through Core Maths and Statistics tuition, building skills in preparation for GCSE examinations and beyond for A Level and apprenticeships.

All students develop and build upon their knowledge and understanding in 

• Number

• Shape, space and measurement

• Algebra

• Data handling

• Thinking skills and logic

• Cross curricular applications of maths

• Mathematics in ICT

• Problem Solving

In order to develop students’ independence and skills we use weekly retrieval learning tasks using Hegartymaths. These tasks are specifically tailored to each individual student and helps to maintain competence of past topics. Flashcards are used, as a restructuring activity, alongside this task in order to aid knowledge retention.

The Mathematics curriculum, from Year 7, is designed to support cross curricular teaching by introducing the skills required to achieve mastery of the chosen material at the relevant time. This develops critical thinking presenting in detail the relationship between mathematics and other subject areas. We work closely to ensure students skills, understanding and vocabulary are widely transferable and consistent.

We pride ourselves on developing critical maths skills to open many doors to our students on the next step of their journey. There is a high demand both in further education and career progression for competency in mathematics. Further strands in our curriculum prepare students for studying STEM subjects beyond GCSE and we aim to inspire our learners to use their finely tuned mathematical skills to consider careers in science, technologies, engineering and maths at our local colleges John Leggott, North Lindsey and the Engineering UTC Northern Lincolnshire.

Students’ Cultural Capital is nurtured whilst studying Mathematics in the classroom by relating teaching to real life examples, giving students a glimpse of where maths can take them, opening their eyes to the many careers available and seeing maths in action.The structure of our maths curriculum lends itself well to be a strong support for the development of schema through each skill/topic/unit. This enables students to solve cultural problems using cultural facts. We also encourage participation in external competitions such as Maths Challenge, maths nightclub events and Maths Feast for high flyers. Using the whole school 5 year journey of trips and visits, maths has a cross curricular focus developing students' experiences of maths in action around the country.

Students are encouraged to engage in wider reading relevant to Mathematics such as:

• https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel-gcses/mathematics-2015.html       (this is the exam boards website)

• www.mathsgenie.co.uk    (Good source of exam style questions)

• https://corbettmaths.com/(Provides 5 questions a day to be completed to maintain revision, amongst other things)

• https://nrich.maths.org/secondary  (Extension work to really test understanding)

• www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/maths

• http://www.accessmaths.co.uk/revision-resources.html (various revision resources)

• https://www.piximaths.co.uk/the-revision-zone (good compilations of exam questions and ‘Aiming for grade…’ booklets)

• https://www.gcsepod.com/gcsepod_content/maths/  (students have their own login details)

• https://www.onmaths.com/ (Includes predicted papers for the upcoming exam)

• http://mrchadburn.co.uk/resources/ (Includes the ‘Little bit of Maths Every Day’ questions)

• https://www.bossmaths.com/gcse (Various revision resources)

Music Teacher : Mrs F Bishop

Aims and purposes of music

By engaging students in making and responding to music, music education at The Axholme Academy offers opportunities for students to:

• Develop their understanding and appreciation of a wide range of music, extend their own interests and increase their ability to make judgements about the quality of music.
• Acquire the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to make music, e.g. in community music making, and, where appropriate, to follow a music-related career.
• Develop the skills, attitudes and attributes that can support learning in other subject areas and are needed for employment and life, e.g. listening skills, concentration, creativity, intuition, perseverance, self-confidence and sensitivity towards others.

Students learn to make, perform and understand music, using as many instruments, other media arts and music technology as possible.  Weekly lessons always offer practical activities that appeal to a wide range of musical abilities, whether students work alone or in groups.

Key Stage 3

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Students will gain knowledge, skills and understanding in music by focusing on different ways music is created in Western, popular and World Music.  Through years 7 to 9, students are encouraged to use increasingly technical language when describing musical styles, genres and traditions and relating knowledge to new skills.

Year 7

•     Music rhythm cycles, including samba, gamelan and African drums;

•     Musical clichés, exploring how music is used in media like film, adverts and TV;

•     Soundscapes, including programme music, composing and digital music.

Year 8

•     The Blues, exploring how blues music influenced the progress of all American popular music;

•     Dance and Folk Music from around the world, as well as closer to home;

•     Hooks and Riffs, learning how to spot, notate and compose ‘catchy’ melodies and grooves.

Year 9

•     What makes a good song? identifying song structure, style and popular production values;

•     Music in the Media, performing film themes and composing to a storyboard;

•     Musicals, exploring the concepts, devices and conventions of musical theatre.

In particular, students acquire and apply knowledge and understanding of:

• How music is constructed, eg the use of musical elements and devices.
• How music is produced, eg the use of instruments, ICT, musical processes and procedures, including relevant symbols and notations.
• How music is influenced by time and place, eg the effect of the occasion, purpose or venue.

Key Stage 4 – GCSE Music

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Course description 

The Edexcel GCSE in Music is designed to allow the study of music through the integration of performing, composing, and listening & appraising, with opportunities to use music technology.

It recognises that we live in an age of cultural diversity and the Areas of Study cover a wide range of music: instrumental music, vocal music, music for stage and screen, and fusions. This flexibly structured course allows students to capitalise on their different interests. It gives students the opportunity to make music, both individually and in groups, to develop a life-long interest in music, and to progress to further study.

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Course structure

Unit 1 - Performing:

Students perform 2 pieces, one solo and one ensemble. This unit is worth 30% of the GSCE. 

Unit 2 - Composing:

Students compose 2 pieces of music one is written from a choice of 4 briefs provided by the exam board and the other is a free composition. This unit is worth 30% of the GSCE.

Unit 3 - Listening and Appraising:

Students will develop their listening and appraising skills through the study of music across a variety of styles and genres. The content for the unit is grouped into the four Areas of Study, each of which contains two set works that the students have learnt across the course.

This unit will be assessed through a I hour 45 minutes exam. This unit worth 40% of the GCSE.

Subject Leader	Mr L Mason
Teacher & SENDCO	Miss J Harrison
Teacher	Mrs E Winder
Teacher	Miss L Underwood

The Physical Education (PE) Department at The Axholme Academy ensures that all students of all abilities have access to a broad and balanced PE curriculum with the aim of inspiring a lifelong commitment to sport and physical activity. PE facilities are outstanding and include a four badminton court sports hall, 9 a-side floodlit 3G football pitch, multi-use games area, 25m four lane swimming pool, fitness suite, dance studio, gymnastics/table tennis hall and extensive fields. At the forefront of all our PE lessons are the PE Core Values of Respect, Effort, Sportsmanship and Teamwork. Students are encouraged to display these values within a sporting context but also throughout everyday life. Outside of lessons students are given a vast range of opportunities to be involved in PE with extra-curricular clubs, fixtures and tournaments as well as sports tours abroad.

The PE Curriculum

The subject content contained within our curriculum is fully compliant with the statutory content outlined in the Key Stage 3 and 4 National Curriculum

Core PE:

Students should expect to:

• use a range of tactics and strategies to overcome opponents in direct competition through team and individual games (for example, badminton, handball, cricket, football, volleyball, hockey, netball, rounders, rugby, table tennis and tennis)  

• develop their technique and improve their performance in other competitive sports (for example, athletics and gymnastics)

• perform dances using advanced dance techniques within a range of dance styles and forms  

• take part in outdoor and adventurous activities which present intellectual and physical challenges and be encouraged to work in a team, building on trust and developing skills to solve problems, either individually or as a group  

• develop knowledge of health and fitness, fitness tests and training methods

• have the opportunity to develop confidence and competence in water using the swimming pool at Axholme North Leisure Centre 

• analyse their performances compared to previous ones and demonstrate improvement to achieve their personal best  

• take part in competitive sports and activities outside school through extra-curricular clubs, fixtures, tournaments and local club links

• take on alternative roles such as leader, coach or official

Within core PE, lessons are sequenced so that students develop and focus on a core skill for that sport (e.g a drop shot in badminton) by isolating the skill, refining it and then applying it to conditioned practices. Only when a range of skills have been developed, practised and refined will the students experience the full context version of the sport.

Our KS4 offer:

We currently offer students the opportunity to develop their interest in Physical Education via OCR Sport Studies.

 

Sport Studies will encourage students to think for themselves about the study of sport and the application to real life practical sport, leadership and evaluation of the skills required there. They will study topics affecting sport through the contemporary issues unit, both play and lead sporting activities, as well as having the chance to either explore the world of sport and the media.

 

These include:

• Contemporary issues in sport

• Performance and leadership in sports activities

• Increasing awareness of Outdoor and Adventurous Activities

Students who opt for Sport Studies during Key Stage 4 should expect to develop their understanding and love of sport from a Sport Studies perspective. Key topics are covered with students developing knowledge and understanding of how to work with elite performers in a range of focused units to include assignment work and an exam. 

During lessons students experience interleaving regularly in order to retrieve and retain knowledge of previously taught topics. The units within the course all interlink naturally and students are encouraged to work synoptically within lessons. Students typically record key knowledge using structured materials such as flipped learning mats, bullet pointed notes, worksheets, mind maps and practice exam questions along with model answers. Students’ are then challenged to work collaboratively to increase their engagement in lessons.   

Students naturally progress onto a Level 3 Sport Science course or A Level PE following successful completion of OCR Sport Studies at Key Stage 4.

Students who excel in PE have the opportunity to extend learning by:

• Becoming a coach, leader, official or teacher within the lesson

• Representing The Academy in extra-curricular clubs and fixtures

• Using word wall to further develop knowledge and understanding

• Representing North Lincolnshire in sports events

• Participating in sports tours both in the UK and abroad

Students are encouraged to develop employability skills by;

• Communicating effectively within a sporting context

• Working as a team

• Solving problems and creating solutions within a sporting environment

• Using initiative to find solutions

• Being organised with kit and attendance to clubs and fixtures

• Independence during sports tours abroad

• Self-discipline with commitment to fitness and training

• Resilience and determination when the going gets tough

• Developing a growth mindset regarding improvements in performance

• Winning and losing gracefully within a sporting context

We ensure that Year 7 effectively builds upon content delivered during Key Stage 2 by reviewing curriculum plans by our feeder primaries. For PE these clearly include invasion games, dance, athletics, net and wall games as-well as striking and fielding games.

The PE curriculum has links with the following subject areas: 

• English - command words used in assessments and exams

• Science - body systems, physics of speed, aerobic and anaerobic exercise

• Maths - measuring distance, scoring, rank orders

• Technology - nutrition and a healthy diet, modern technologies relating to sports kit and equipment and training aids

We develop students’ Cultural Capital whilst studying PE by;

• Extensive extra-curricular programme both at lunch and after school focusing on the popular sporting activities within the local area and feeding into participation at local clubs outside of school

• Sports trips and tours such as PGL, Barcelona FC Football Tour, Disneyland Paris Netball Tour and Skiing in Austria or Bulgaria.  

• Sports Presentation Evening - guest speakers who are successful athletes

• Opportunity to complete Duke of Edinburgh Award 

Students are encouraged to engage in wider reading relevant to PE such as;

• OCR Sport Studies by Mike Murray and Ross Howitt

• GCSE Simplified Sport Studies - Contemporary issues in sport 

• My Revision Notes Cambridge Nationals Sport Studies by Sue Young & Symond Burrows

Subject Leader	Mrs M Miriello
Second in Science	Mrs Z Hall
Teacher	Mrs A Pendrey
Teacher	Mr M Liddle
Teacher	Mr B Pendrey

The Science curriculum strives to ensure that all pupils are passionate about the three science disciplines and are able to apply their knowledge, understanding and skills to real life familiar and new situations. The curriculum is designed to enthuse and inspire pupils to develop their key knowledge and skills, as well as a keen focus on guiding all pupils to become fluent in scientific language and proficient using mathematics for science. Our aim is to engage students for success by establishing a strong transition from key concepts introduced in key stage two and skilfully scaffold pupils learning to develop these fundamental ideas into more complex theories.

The science curriculum:

• KS3 Syllabus 

• GCSE Combined Science - Trilogy

• GCSE Biology

• GCSE Chemistry

• GCSE Physics

• Entry Level Science Certificate

Spiral curriculum

The key features of students learning Biology, Chemistry and Physics using a spiral curriculum model allows each big idea topic to contain multiple smaller topics that build in complexity.  Students revisit a topic, theme or subject several times throughout their school career. Each time the complexity of the topic or theme increases with each revisit. Therefore, new learning has a relationship with previous learning and is put in context with the information already gained. Using this model enables knowledge, understanding and application to be reinforced and solidified each time the students revisit the subject, it allows a logical progression from simplistic ideas to complicated ideas and students are encouraged to apply the early knowledge to later course objectives. 

To prepare students for their development of more complex ideas, 6R activity checkpoints at the beginning of new topics are used to assist memory,  identify gaps in understanding and to address misconceptions. This analysis identifies where re-teaching is necessary.  To aid the understanding, explanation and application of more abstract, theoretical ideas, models are provided, for example role playing, physical and/or information process modelling are regularly featured. Working scientifically skills are used consistently in all topics to embed the scientific enquiry process using evidence from data, observations and investigations to create logical explanations and answer questions. 6R’s practice (retrieve, restructure, revisit, reflect, repeat and review) features in lessons and ILT’s to promote prior knowledge and understanding being transferred from short to long term memory. 

Students use exercise books and subject folders to organise lesson notes and activities. Revision skills are integrated into lessons and students are encouraged to produce and store their own revision materials for use throughout the course before taking the end of topic tests. Students record their own data in micro-trackers which assists them in realising personal progression as well as identifying areas of strength and weakness, where they need re-teaching and to use the 6R’s to make personal progress.

Knowledge & skills gained during KS3

The subject content contained within our curriculum is fully compliant with the statutory content outlined in the Key Stage 3 National Curriculum. Using the AQA Key Stage 3 science syllabus ensures that students can organise the content around Big Ideas, which are the 10 fundamental themes in science and defines precisely what understanding is expected for each scientific enquiry. This progression model focuses on securing a rich-web of knowledge for every student. The aim is to get every student secure with key concepts before moving on and intervention is provided to help support this. Once students have a secure grasp of knowledge, they are supported and encouraged to use their maths, literacy, and working scientifically skills to put the knowledge and application into practice in scientific contexts. We embed purpose into the science curriculum by using the science capital approach and making the curriculum personalised and localised, linked to relative everyday science in order to build students confidence so that their curiosity in the sciences thrives.  

Knowledge & skills gained during KS4 and post-16 progression routes available

The subject content contained within our curriculum is fully compliant with the statutory content outlined in the Key Stage 4 National Curriculum. All students study either AQA Separate Science or Combined Science Trilogy content to ensure a deep, broad, rich and balanced curriculum to prepare students for life and post-16 STEM subjects. In addition, the science capital teaching and learning approach continues with opportunities to relate current science events with the content and building skills in preparation for GCSE examinations and beyond for A Level, BTEC and apprenticeships.

By the end of year 11, the science department aims to have developed our students by:

• Giving them a strong foundation of scientific knowledge, with scientific enquiry skills that enables them to take biology, chemistry and physics to the next level and inspires a lifelong interest in science

• Catering for differing backgrounds, interests and a full range of abilities by supporting each student to achieve well in whichever qualification they choose

• Instill a natural curiosity about the world around them, in science and elsewhere

• Raising student awareness of the issues facing them, and the world, that can best be solved using scientific and technological approaches

• Giving them transferable and cross curricular skills in order to distinguish claims in the media based on the use of scientific evidence

• Enabling them to become independent, creative and resilient learners regardless of their starting point and background

Students who excel in science have the opportunity to learn about further topics, content, processes and application to unfamiliar contexts with further focus on analysis and evaluation which involves problem solving and creative and critical thinking skills. 

Students are encouraged to develop employability skills by effective communication, planning, organising, self-management, teamwork, presenting, problem solving, creativity, initiative, aiming high, leadership and staying positive.

We ensure that Year 7 effectively builds upon content delivered during Key Stage 2 by ensuring the KS3 curriculum builds on the KS2 knowledge and understanding and that it does not repeat content. This programme of study is completed in collaboration with feeder primary schools, such a Crowle Primary and their lead for science. Transition days take place from Year 3 to 6 to secure skills, confidence, curiosity and enthusiasm at an early educational stage in development.

Cultural Capital is developed whilst studying science by inviting external speakers into school, such as past students who have gone on to study science disciplines at universities such as Oxford and Nottingham, hosting physics days by the IOP, taking students to the Big Bang event and Cambridge and Hull universities to inspire higher education in STEM subjects. Running a STEM club and organising residential trips which incorporate activities that enhance science understanding relative to the specification content. Students are encouraged to engage in wider reading relevant to science such as:

KS3: Horrible Science series, KS3 revision guides and BBC bitesize  

KS4: AQA KS4 revision guides, The New Scientist, BBC Bitesize and Science, Technologies and Nature homepages.

The science curriculum has links with the following subject areas:

• Maths - Collecting data, calculations and representing values and data, drawing charts and graphs, proportionality and ratio, finding relationships (graphs), scientific models and mathematical equations, mathematics in the real world such as conversion and standard form 

• English - Reading, writing, evaluation and critical thinking for scientific literacy

• ICT - Research, evaluating opinions, developments in hardware and software that allow data analysis and conclusions to be processed quickly

• PE - biological and physical processes and concepts

• RE - Ethical issues and evidence based scientific developments 

• History - Discussion of surviving historical theory, documents, events and opinions 

• Art - Isaac Newton white light investigation, colour and wavelength

• Geography - Geology of the Earth, it’s structure and properties

• D & T - Elements, composites and material properties

• Food technology - Microscopy and aseptic techniques, states of matter

• Textiles - Crude oil, plastics and clothing, recycling non-renewable and renewable resources

• Complementary studies - Social sciences

Subject Teacher: Mrs L Cooke (Assistant Principal)

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The Textiles curriculum aims to develop the students’ knowledge, skills and understanding of art in a textile context. It is designed to provide all learners with the knowledge and competencies needed to be creative, independent and with an ability to articulate their critical understanding. Schemes of work have been developed that fully utilise both traditional and digital textile competencies. There are a number of key concepts that underpin the study of Textiles. Students need to understand these concepts in both KS3 and KS4 in order to deepen and broaden their knowledge, skills and understanding.

The key concepts are:

• Realising intentions- Students produce imaginative images, samples and high quality outcomes that are both original and of value.

• Exploring and recording ideas - Investigating, analysing, designing, making, experimenting, reflecting and evaluating effectively.

• Cultural Understanding - Pupils will engage with a range of images and techniques from different Artists, Designers and cultures, recognising the varied characteristics.

• Developing ideas through a critical understanding - Students explore visual, tactile and other sensory qualities of their own and others' work through detailed investigations.

When studying Textiles all students will be taught: 

• To use a range of techniques to record their observations in their booklets and sketchbooks

• To use a range of techniques and media

• To increase their proficiency in the handling of different materials within textiles  

• To analyse and evaluate their own work, and that of others, in order to strengthen the visual impact or applications of their work  

• About textile artists and designers, including periods, styles and major movements from different eras 

• Within the context of textile design, students must demonstrate the ability to: use textile design techniques and processes, appropriate to students’ personal intentions, for example:

  • Weaving 

  • Felting 

  • Stitching 

  • Appliqué 

  • Construction methods 

  • Printing

 

• Use media and materials, as appropriate to students’ personal intentions, for example: 

  • Inks 

  • Yarns 

  • Threads 

  • Fibres

  • Fabrics 

  • Textile materials 

  • Digital images

 

The subject content contained within our curriculum fully compliant with the statutory content outlined in the Key Stage 3 and 4 National Curriculum. 

 

Textiles is taught at KS3, students’ receiving one lesson per fortnight. Students can then choose the subject as one of their options at KS4. In year 9 students start their textiles option early, beginning the course in the summer term of year 9, this helps develop key skills and conceptual ideas before students start their Controlled Assessment in year 10. 

 

Students who excel in Textiles have the opportunity to experiment with higher skilled techniques and more complex garment design. Students are able to follow their own design journey and produce individual outcomes of their own creations. Work is also submitted to competitions when these are available to enter. Students are encouraged to keep their own pinterest boards and read fashion magazines, articles.  

 

Students are encouraged to develop employability skills by managing their own time in completing their Controlled Assessments independently and following their own design intentions. Students need to use their own initiative to plan their time and organise materials to develop ideas to realise their final outcomes. Students also learn about technology and how this enhances textile design, students will use Computer Aided Design to create digital prints and modern manufacturing methods such as the Laser Cutter. Students will develop their communication skills to verbalise their intentions and ideas, analysing the work of other Artists and Designers. 

 

We ensure that Year 7 effectively builds upon content delivered during Key Stage 2 by enriching students KS2 Art curriculum at Primary school by developing their design skills and knowledge of textile processes. 

 

The Textiles curriculum has links with the following subject areas:

• Science: Yr7 plastic pollution, fossil fuels, environmental impacts of plastic pollution. Sustainability. Yr8 How fleece is made, recycling plastics, synthetic fabrics.  

• Maths: Yr 8 Pattern drafting, Measuring, addition. Yr9 Pattern drafting, Measuring, addition, estimation. 

• Geography: Yr7 plastic pollution, location of pollution in the world's ocean. Marine conservation in the Philippines looking at the geographical location and characteristics of the country. 

 

We develop students’ Cultural Capital whilst studying Textiles by giving students the opportunity to participate in extra-curricular trips to support their learning, these include workshops by visiting artists, workshops at the local colleges, visits to art galleries and museums and major cities such as London, Amsterdam and New York. Giving the students a broad cultural experience within the wider arts enriching students’ projects with their experiences.

 

Students are encouraged to engage in wider reading relevant to Textiles such as:

• Vogue Magazine

• Elle

• Elle Design 

• Fabric Manipulation by Ruth Singer 

• Printed Textile Design by Amanda Briggs-Goode

• Basics Textile Design 01: Sourcing Ideas: Researching Colour, Surface, Structure, Texture and Pattern by Josephine Steel 

• Create their own Pinterest boards using the App