Curriculum

Our School Curriculum Aims To:

• Allow students to enjoy their learning, building confidence whilst gaining knowledge in a way that means student recall and reapply their learning, creating a love of what they are being taught.
• Enrich our students, allowing them to make excellent progress, regardless of their prior attainment, whilst developing character so that they are well-rounded and well-prepared for life and uphold British values.
• Develop student aspiration for excellent academic achievement, by providing lessons with outstanding teaching and learning evident.

We achieve this by ensuring that our curriculum is accessible, enjoyable and provides a rich educational experience.  In Years 7 to 9, students follow the National Curriculum subjects, keeping the curriculum as broad as possible for as long as possible.  Students then choose a range of subjects to continue developing their knowledge and skills during Years 10 and 11.  Students experience curriculum and career guidance from the start of their time at Notley to ensure and encourage a strong academic range of subjects and a clear progression onwards into employment.  Use and understanding of tier 2 and 3 vocabulary and reading is encouraged and celebrated in every year group from 7 to 13, aiding the deepening of student understanding and use of vocabulary. The Notley Aspire programme affords those that show high levels of enthusiasm and commitment to a subject by providing access to super curricular activities across all key stages.  Students can immerse themselves in vibrant experiences and express themselves as individuals. Our taught curriculum is knowledge engaged. All students learn skills hand in hand with knowledge so that the two are explicitly developed. There is a strong focus ensuring students know, can recall and can apply learning in all subjects and this is monitored and assessed to ensure that all learners are progressing as expected or better, and where needed, intervention and support is timely and impactful. The design of our curriculum ensures that educational disadvantage can be tackled and that anyone can succeed despite their background or prior attainment; opportunities are plentiful to access higher education and the work force.

Lessons are designed to instil a love of learning, to be adaptive, to ask questions and to ensure all students are included every lesson.  Teachers ensure the classroom environment is positive, purposeful and safe, which in turn promotes positive learning behaviours and HEART.  Students develop key skills such as problem solving, independent work and collaboration through the varied activities they engage in.  This aligns with the values within the HEART and the PDT programme, which is woven into and throughout our curriculum to develop personal development, encouraging building personal skills and attributes to mould individuals.  Each subject curriculum allows students to develop their HEART.

Our school aims for its learners to learn from the expectation that they behave safely and responsibly, showing understanding and respect for others and their lifestyles regardless of their identity and individuality.

Withdrawal From Religious Education (PER) Lessons

Parents and carers have the right to withdraw their children from all or part of the Religious Education (PER) programme, as outlined in Schedule 19 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. However, we hope that all parents and carers will feel confident in the religious education offered at our school.

For those considering withdrawal, we encourage an initial appointment with the RSL to address any concerns and discuss the potential impact of withdrawal on the child. We will ensure that parents and carers wishing to withdraw their children from PER are informed about the PER syllabus, its relevance to all students, and how it aligns with their personal beliefs.

Parents and carers will be provided with details on the learning objectives and topics covered in the PER curriculum, and they will have the opportunity to discuss these if they choose. The decision to withdraw should be initiated by the parents, specifying whether it applies to the entire subject or specific components. No reasons need to be provided.

If parents request their child's withdrawal, we will respect that choice. If PER is integrated into the wider curriculum, the school will coordinate with parents and carers to determine the best accommodations for the child's withdrawal. Once a child is withdrawn, they will not participate in the RE programme until the withdrawal request is rescinded.

You can find out more about the curriculum by speaking to the subject leads listed under each subject area.