The Curriculum – Vision, Context and Intent

Curriculum Vision

At The Radclyffe School we believe in the transformative power of knowledge and learning in tackling social inequality and providing our students with the best possible chance of success. We are committed to providing young people with the highest quality of education for them to achieve their personal excellence.

All children deserve the very best education in order to fulfil their potential; we believe that academic success complemented with life-enriching experiences will prepare them for success now and in the future.

Our vision is that every student who attends The Radclyffe School will have access to a knowledge-led curriculum that will not only allow them to learn the essential knowledge across a range of subjects but enable them to build on this knowledge in the future and use it to make sense of the world around them.

We want all our students, no matter what their background or previous social and academic experience, to leave school as well qualified, resilient, independent and confident young adults, ready to make a highly positive contribution to their community and wider society. In a rapidly changing world we feel strongly that our students should show adaptability and resilience as well as demonstrating respect, kindness and tolerance of people from all faiths, cultures and backgrounds.

Curriculum Context

The Radclyffe School is a maintained 11-16 comprehensive school located in Chadderton, part of the Greater Manchester Metropolitan Borough of Oldham; offering 1500 students a high quality, inclusive education in line with the national curriculum. Oldham is an urban area and shares many of the challenges found in inner city communities. The school strives to foster a sense of belonging in a safe and cohesive community for all students regardless of their background and previous experience. The school has earned a strong reputation within the community and is therefore oversubscribed.

The Radclyffe school is situated in one of 12 opportunity areas across the UK which aim to help local children get the best start in life, no matter what their background. Ensuring all children can access high-quality education to raise their aspirations and broaden horizons.

Oldham Levels of deprivation across the borough are generally ranked among the highest in the country. The employment rate in Oldham (68.4%) has fluctuated over time but remains significantly lower than the Greater Manchester (70.1%) and national averages (74.1%). Oldham as a whole has a higher proportion (22.5%) of non-white Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) residents than in Greater Manchester (16.3%), the North West (9.8%), and England (14.6%).

The Radclyffe School Context  Each year the school draws 300 students from a large number of primary schools (approximately 50).  The students are predominately from the wards of North Chadderton (30%), Central Chadderton (20%), South Chadderton (20%), Werneth and Coldhurst (approximately 30%).  Whilst the wards of North Chadderton and Central Chadderton compare favourably in terms of many of the deprivation indicators with Oldham as a whole, Werneth and Coldhurst are amongst the most deprived areas of the town.  Coldhurst is particularly deprived with over three times the number of homes which are classed as overcrowded than Oldham as a whole, and the average income is significantly lower than the Oldham average.  Around 40% of students are classed as ‘disadvantaged’.  The proportion of students who are Black and Minority Ethnicity (BME) is much higher than that of Oldham as a whole at 86%. The largest ethnic groups are Bangladeshi at around 48% and Pakistani at around 30%. The proportion of White British students is around 10%  70% of students speak English as an additional language.  Around 10% of students have Special Educational Needs. (SEN EHCP 1% SEN support 8%)  Students’ reading on entry is below national averages.

Evidence:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/education-secretary-announces-6-new-opportunity-areas [accessed October 2019]

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/education-secretary-announces-6-new-opportunity-areas, Oldham in Profile: Business Intelligence Service, April 2019 [accessed October 2019]

https://www.oldham.gov.uk/downloads/file/4009/ward_profile_data [accessed October 2019]

https://www.oldham.gov.uk/downloads/file/4740/oldham_in_profile_2017_pdf_format [accessed October 2019]

https://www.analyse-school- performance.service.gov.uk/2019/Report/BasicCharacteristicsYearGroups [accessed October 2019]

Curriculum Intent

At The Radclyffe School we offer a purposeful, academically rich and coherent curriculum which leads to the development of deep subject knowledge in a broad range of subjects. Our curriculum is planned and sequenced so that new knowledge is built on what has been taught before as students work towards defined milestones at the end of academic each year. Students are supported in developing rich interconnected webs of knowledge and the cultural capital they need to succeed in life.

Our curriculum is designed to allow students to acquire and retain the core knowledge in each subject through careful planning, sequencing and revisiting of threshold concepts. Our curriculum is designed to provide opportunities to develop common skills that make up the wider curriculum; Literacy (written fluency, stamina and reading), numeracy, SMSC, engagement and cultural capital. The curriculum is brought to life through high quality teaching which develops and extends these threshold concepts to provide a rich and engaging curriculum.

The curriculum is planned as a five-year journey; with students spending 2 years studying a broad range of subjects at Key Stage 3, followed by 3 years studying a range of GCSE courses in more depth. Many of our students are significantly disadvantaged and we believe that this model enables us to provide the additional support they need through enhanced curriculum time in key areas. In year 9 our students’ choices are guided and personalised to ensure they have access to an appropriately broad curriculum that also provides the opportunity for depth. Students are supported through this model to develop secure knowledge and enable them to be successful and achieve the currency they need to secure positive progression for the future and tackle social inequality associated with high levels of deprivation.

In order to achieve this, we have a clear picture of the overall provision map for each subject year by year in the form of a standard long-term plan which is supported with a clear narrative to provide coherence. Threshold concepts are identified in each subject which provide the building blocks for learning; and seek to provide opportunities for coherence and collaboration between subjects. We have considered the way that students learn and aim to deliver this key knowledge in a way that supports a change in long term memory to develop a secure memory store whilst avoiding avoid cognitive overload.

Evidence:

Impact, Issue 6, Summer 2019

Counsell, C. (2019) [online] https://thedignityofthethingblog.wordpress.com/ [accessed October 2019]

Myatt, M. (2018) THE CURRICULUM Gallimaufry to Coherence, John Catt Publishing

Brown, P. C. Roediger, H. L. McDaniel, M. A. (2014) Making it stick The Science of Successful Learning, Belknap – Harvard Publishing

Ofsted (2019) [online] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/education-inspection- framework [accessed November 2019]

Didau, D. (2019) [online] https://learningspy.co.uk/tag/long-term-memory/ [accessed November 2019]