Curriculum Overview
Curriculum Aims
We are ambitious for what our students can and will achieve, and our aim is to provide students with a curriculum that is stimulating, varied and relevant.
Our inclusive school gives each student a broad and balanced curriculum which is responsive to individual needs. Our curriculum provides students with the knowledge, skills and attributes necessary for success in further study, in the workplace, and as active participants in all aspects of their lives no matter what their background.
Our school values are embedded in our curriculum, and we aim to ensure that students are:
- Ambitious in their learning and where their education will take them in the future
- Able to work collaboratively on a range of different work and activities
- Happy in their all areas of their learning whether timetabled lessons or enrichment activities
- Able to show integrity in all aspects of their learning
- Resilient by demonstrating endurance even when challenged
- Versatile by covering a broad range of subjects and disciplines
- Demonstrating Excellence in all aspects of the studies
We achieve this by giving students:
- Experience of a broad range of subjects, content, ideas and concepts in in Key Stage 3, leading to more specialised study in Key Stage 4;
- The opportunity to undertake, as far as possible, the full suite of English Baccalaureate qualifications at Key Stage 4;
- Effective and varying teaching methods to provide diversity within the curriculum;
- Support so their individual needs met in order that they can access the curriculum, or that alternative arrangements are in place where required;
- The ability to develop strong personal moral values, respect for religious values and an understanding of other races, beliefs and ways of life;
- Advice and guidance, so they are able to make choices for Key Stage 4, post 16 and are well qualified to progress to higher education, apprenticeships and employment.
Key Stage 3 - Years 7 - 9
At Key Stage 3 students enjoy a broad and balanced curriculum, which lays the foundation for GCSE study. All students study two languages in Year 7 and 8; Spanish and either French or German. In Year 9 students choose one language to continue studying in preparation for GCSEs however students can continue studying a second language after school if they wish to. A small number of students in Year 9 take the Duke of Edinburgh bronze award with a focus on language skills.
Students choose their GCSE options in Year 9.
Subjects taught at Key Stage 3 are:
| English | Computer Science |
| Maths | Philosophy and Religion |
| Science | PSHE |
| Spanish and either French or German | Technology and food technology (taught in rotation) |
| History | PE |
| Geography | Drama |
| Art |
Key Stage 4 - Years 10 -11
At Key Stage 4, students continue to focus on the core subjects of English, Maths, Science, PE and PSHE, while beginning to specialise in other subjects. Science students take either combined or separate sciences and are guided by the science department when making these choices. From September 2021, students who take separate science also study an accelerated GCSE in either Statistics or Religious Education. Religious Education is also taught as a separate GCSE option subject, and through our assembly programme, tutorial activities, and collapsed-timetable events. Students choose four option subjects one of which can be separate science.
Current core GCSE subjects:
| English |
| Maths |
| Science |
| PSHE |
| Games |
Current GCSE option subjects:
Personalising the Formal Curriculum
Learning Support - The Learning Support department provides targeted support and intervention for those students finding difficulty in accessing the curriculum. This includes:
- Fresh Start reading invention programme;
- Comprehension support;
- Maths intervention, through the Paired Maths scheme;
- English as an Additional Language support;
- Speech and Language intervention run by specialist teachers;
- Anxiety and Anger Management support, organised in conjunction with the educational psychologist;
This support and intervention either takes place during tutor time, or students are temporarily withdrawn from subject lessons.
Shine – Students with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) benefit from specialist support from our Shine intervention team. Wherever possible, students are taught in mainstream lessons. Some are withdrawn from a small number of lessons in order to access one-to-one support, to enable them to thrive in the remainder of their curriculum.
Learning Mentors – students who are falling behind in a particular curriculum area may be assigned a Learning Mentor. This may involve academic mentoring during tutorial period or break times. Where necessary, students may be withdrawn from non-examined subjects, in order to spend more time on their examined subjects. Occasionally, Key Stage 4 students are withdrawn from option subjects to work with the Learning Mentors on the remainder of their curriculum.
The Supplementary Curriculum
Students at Furze Platt also engage in a significant number of supplementary activities that take place before school, during tutorial periods, at break times, after school or during the school holidays. Some of the most significant - in addition to our ever popular Year 7 PGL trip - include:
Sport, including pre-school fitness activities, post-school training and competitive fixtures and the annual ski trip to Italy. These regularly include netball, hockey, cricket, tennis, basketball, ultimate Frisbee, table tennis, football, rugby, cross country, athletics, rowing and fitness clubs (please see our school clubs schedule for further details of termly activities offered);
Music, including individual peripatetic music lessons, and groups, bands and orchestras that practise and perform throughout the year. These include the Chamber Choir, Girls’ Choir, Lads’ Choir, Theatre Choir, school orchestra, Jazz Band and Community Choir;
Drama, including after-school drama clubs, leading to major performances for all age groups throughout the year;
Science, including a major programme of after-school speakers designed to inspire students into careers in science;
Technology, including the Greenpower club, which builds, tests, operates and races its own racing car;
Business, including a major partnership with John Lewis, which provides internships to Furze Platt students;
Educational visits, including many evening theatre trips, Biology and Geography field visits to the Dorset coast, History visits to the First World War Battlefields and to Auschwitz as part of the Holocaust Educational Trust's programme, Geography visits to Iceland, and Languages visits to France, Germany and Spain, as well as the annual ski trip to Italy;
Opportunities for our very most able, including the Humanities GCSE programme, which is open to those in Years 8 and 9, with students taking the Humanities GCSE at the end of Year 9;
Duke of Edinburgh programme for those on vocational courses at Key Stage 4 (Bronze level), as well as all students in Year 9 (Bronze), Year 10 (Silver) and Year 12 (Gold);
Careers and Higher Education events, including some Year 9 students visiting Oxford University, all Year 10 students visiting a university, the annual Careers and Higher Education Fair, work experience for some students in Years 10 and 11 and for all students in Year 12, and careers advice and mentoring for those most in need.
Remote Learning Strategy
Furze Platt Senior School Remote Education Strategy – September 2024
- What is remote learning?
- Remote learning is teaching, activities and content assigned for students to complete when they cannot access the classroom during a school closure, such as a snow day, period of lockdown or self-isolation.
- Work will take the form of specific tasks or wider/general practice and project work which may take a number of lessons’ worth of time to complete.
- Work follows our curriculum and supports the development of students’ knowledge and skills.
- What should students and parents expect from remote learning?
The DfE expectation as of 7/1/21 is that “remote education will include both recorded or live direct teaching time, and time for students to complete tasks and assignments independently.” For students in Years 7-11 this is five hours a day. All students will follow their daily timetable of morning registration and lessons. They will be supported as follows:
- Live lessons – Delivered face to face via TEAMS, featuring an element of teaching, discussion and questioning.
- Online lessons – Delivered via TEAMS and email. Online support is available during lesson time for some discussion and for teachers to answer questions about the task/activities set using TEAMS or Class Charts.
- Independent study – tasks and activities are set on TEAMS or Class Charts and are designed to be completed individually with timeframes for tasks provided.
Should the school be closed for an extended period of time, the curriculum and activities will be sequenced, and the variety in learning importantly reflects what happens in the classroom. Students will receive individual or whole class updates from their subject teacher every week as part of the support across a unit of work that will help them to succeed and progress. How much of each type of learning a student receives will depend on their year group and the subject.
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Year 10, 11, 12 & 13 |
These year groups will receive all of their lessons live, with targeted online lessons to support independent work. There will be a specific and targeted focus on exam specifications, particularly for Year 11 & 13. |
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Year 9 & 10 |
Year 9 are in their gateway year to GCSE study. All their lessons will be live with a particular focus on ensuring that students are getting ‘GCSE Ready’, focussing on a mix independent project work and live teaching. |
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Year 7 & 8 |
These year groups are learning core knowledge and key skills. All their lessons will be live. These may take the form of launching a topic, set of tasks or project and then monitoring progress and learning. Some lessons will be structured to provide 1-to-1 or small group support for those who need it. |
In order to reduce the risk of screen-fatigue and eye-strain, days with online learning will follow the below timings:
|
Form |
08:45 – 09:05 |
|
Period 1 |
09:15 – 10:05 |
|
Period 2 |
10:15 – 11:05 |
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Break 1 |
11:05 – 11:45 |
|
Period 3 |
11:45 – 12:35 |
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Period 4 |
12:45 – 13:35 |
|
Break 2 |
13:35 – 14:25 |
|
Period 5 |
14:25 – 15:15 |
- How will students access remote learning?
All year groups will have access to remote learning through Class Charts, TEAMS or direct email. It is vital for students and teachers that school emails, Class Charts and TEAMS calendars are updated and checked every day.
- Class Charts shares all home learning and project tasks with resources attached and deadlines outlined.
- TEAMs enables the delivery of live lessons and online learning, where resources, web links and videos provide variety and choice for students. Learning checklists and exam questions may be added to support progress.
- Email is a core communication tool for communicating work, progress and feedback.
- Student welfare
Student wellbeing is at the heart of the Furze Platt community. Students will attend a daily morning session with their tutor as a register and welfare check. Engagement with remote learning will be regularly monitored. We will reward and recognise students for their hard work and achievement. We have clear behaviour expectations. Concerns about attendance, behaviour or engagement will be shared with the relevant Head of Key Stage, Head of Progress and parents. The school’s safeguarding responsibilities remain in place.
Research and experience highlights the importance of variety in remote learning to prevent the fatigue that comes with prolonged screen-based work. It is important that students take their breaks and get fresh air and exercise in line with any lockdown or self-isolation restrictions. PE lessons will be one such opportunity.
- Home-School Contact
FPSS staff will continue to use Class Charts to record attendance in online lessons, as well as praise and reward students through the use of ACHIEVE points. Staff will call/email parents to praise students’ work, as well as address any issues that may arise. For example, Attendance and Pastoral teams may call to check on the welfare of students.
Likewise, we encourage parents and carers to call should there be matters they would like to raise. Subject related issues should be directed to the Subject Teacher and Head of Department. Pastoral issues to the Tutor and Pastoral Teams.
- Progress Checks
Students will be expected to check progress of their work against the tasks set for each subject in Class Charts. They will also receive general feedback based on tasks completed.
Assessments will be varied, including online tests, short written questions, problem solving activities. They can include some aspects of student self-review, students using mark schemes and direct teacher feedback. Feedback on formally assessed work will be provided as follows:
- Year 7 – 8: once per term using examples of assessment above
- Year 9 – 10: twice per term using the examples of assessment above
- Year 11, 12 and 13 based on stage of preparation for exams and formal assessment
- Supporting Learning
A wide range of links and websites are available, including:
- The Oak Academy - https://classroom.thenational.academy/
- BBC Bitesize - https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize
- Resources on FP-Cloud: https://furzeplatt.sharepoint.com/sites/fp-Home
- TEAMS
- Kerboodle: https://www.kerboodle.com/users/login
- SPARX Maths: https://selectschool.sparxmaths.uk/
- Reading Plus: https://student.readingplus.com/seereader/api/sec/login
- GCSE Pod: https://www.gcsepod.com/students/
Depending upon the duration of a lockdown period, parents will be contacted to collect a range of printed/additional material, including student exercise books, printed worksheets, workbooks or textbooks.
Top tips for students and parents
We know that remote learning presents challenges for students and parents, as well as for teachers who may be teaching their usual classes or supporting lockdown school while also being responsible for students not in school.
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Student actions – please… |
Parent actions – please… |
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We hope that this strategy supports students and parents to make remote learning as stress-free and successful as possible.