Curriculum Overview

The curriculum makes students cleverer  

The academy curriculum will make our students cleverer by producing durable changes in their long-term memories. They will develop the knowledge-rich mental frameworks to make sense of the world, to appreciate diversity, to be creative and curious, and to recognise the power of academic subjects to uncover deep truths and create beautiful, useful things. Students leave the academy with the knowledge to ask pertinent questions about the world and able to evaluate suggested answers to their questions.   

The curriculum is not restricted to the subjects taught and assessed. It includes non-assessed content such as clubs, trips, visits, and so on.

Common values that underpin our curriculum are kindness, integrity and perseverance. Consequently, we pitch high and provide genuine challenge for all students, which support to reach high standards. We show that errors and misconceptions are essential in developing deep understanding, and that first efforts are rarely our best. By exposing students to the norms of many cultures, religions, time periods and lifestyles, we engender respect for diversity.

Our subject curricula enable students to: 

• Develop subject-specific knowledge and skills

• Learn the big ideas of academic disciplines

• Read critically across their subjects

• Write eloquently and incisively across their subjects, demonstrating a large vocabulary

• Solve novel problems, transfer their knowledge to new scenarios, and create original work

• Frame the world around them with big ideas

• Have broad options post-16: A-levels, vocational courses, technical qualifications, apprenticeships; they will be able to choose university if that’s what they want