At Passmores Academy our curriculum is central to our ethos. Our aim is to inspire confident learners by encouraging, nurturing and challenging them to maximise their potential and thrive in an ever-changing world. We aim to immerse them in opportunities where they can continually ‘improve upon their best’ and stretch their boundaries so that they can learn more than they ever thought possible. We want all young people to enjoy their learning and understand that education is for life and that we all continue to learn every day.  

Our curriculum:  

• Is ambitious and broad, focused on rich knowledge; it builds on success enabling all students to grow and develop, regardless of ability or circumstance.  

• Has a strong emphasis on retrieval practice, sequencing and interleaving, with the curriculum seen as a progression model. 

• Builds resilient, confident learners who understand that things may become difficult, but with hard work and the right attitude anything is possible.  

• Develops knowledge about the learning process, so that students know more, remember more and can do more. 

• Provides a wealth of opportunity within and beyond the classroom, developing cultural capital that enables an individual’s view, understanding and interpretation of the world to deepen.  

• Ensures that powerful knowledge gives our young people the digital literacy they need to become active citizens in society.   

• Guides every student in making informed decisions about their future lives so that they can access university, higher education, employment, or an apprenticeship. 

• Ensures that knowledge, concepts and vocabulary build from KS2 and key literacy and reading skills are consistently embedded across subjects.  

Supporting Students 

The learning experience of our disadvantaged and those with SEND are at the heart of our thinking on curriculum and teaching.  We provide support in a variety of ways and centre our approach on: 

• Quality first teaching, where all tasks and activities are carefully sequenced to allow students to build on their knowledge and understanding. 

• Effective modelling of tasks and activities to ensure that students can access learning and be successful. 

• Students who require additional support in English and Mathematics at KS3 attend targeted sessions through which they can build their literacy and numeracy. 

• Quizzing and other methods ensure retention of knowledge over time. 

• Routines and positive relationships help to ensure a calm and purposeful classroom environment. 

Key Stage 3 

During KS3 our aim is to provide a rich curriculum, building knowledge and enjoyment in a range of subjects that enables students to be curious and inquisitive.  We have a three-year key stage 3 that fully prepares students for KS4. We deliver a curriculum that teaches rich and powerful knowledge and language, offering a suitable level of challenge to engage students from the start of Year 7.  Students in Key Stage 3 are given access to an exciting curriculum covering the requirements of the National Curriculum (and occasionally going further) so that all students can be successful by the end of year 9. Students with additional needs are carefully encouraged via multiple layers of support both academically and socio-emotionally. In Year 9, our students are supported in selecting their subject areas for further study at GCSE.  This process is carefully managed by providing tailored guidance through a carefully planned programme to ensure all students make choices which offer them the best chance to fulfil their potential. 

We have a two-week timetable of 4 x 75-minute lessons a day. Below are the number of lessons for each subject during KS3 –  

YEAR 7		YEAR 8		YEAR 9
Maths	6	Maths	6	Maths	6
English	6	English	6	English	6
Science	5	Science	6	Science	6
French or Spanish	2	French or Spanish	3	French or Spanish	3
Computer science/ Digital Literacy	3	Computer science	2	Computer science	2
Geography	2	Geography	2	Geography	2
History	2	History	2	History	2
Art	2	Art	2	Art, music, drama*	2
Music	2	Music	2	Technology	2
Drama	2	Drama	2	i-Future	2
Technology	2	Technology	2	PE*	4
i-Future	2	i-Future	2	Appreciative Inquiry	2
PE	3	PE	3

*Students will choose to study two subjects from art or photography, music and drama.  

**Students can choose to start the Duke of Edinburgh Award through PE in year 9, or do an officiating, coaching or personal training programme.  

 

Key Stage 4 

Our KS4 curriculum continues to be rich and ambitious, building on what students have learnt in KS3. All students will study English Language and Literature, Maths, Science, PE and i-Future. They can then choose four further subjects, of which all students must choose to study one of French, Spanish, history, geography, or computer science with many more students following the full EBacc suite of qualifications. We offer a range of options at Key Stage 4 that will ensure our students leave Passmores ready to make informed decisions about post-16, be that for college, 6th form or apprenticeships. 

We have a two-week timetable of 4 x 75-minute lessons a day. Below are the number of lessons for each subject during KS4 –  

YEAR 10		YEAR 11
Maths	7	Maths	6
English	6	English	7
Science	7	Science	7
PE	3	PE	3
i-Future	1	i-Future	1
Option 1	4	Option 1	4
Option 2	4	Option 2	4
Option 3	4	Option 3	4
Option 4	4	Option 4	4

We are always looking at ways to enhance our offer of subjects within Key Stage 4 to meet the needs of the community.  These are the subjects that are currently available to choose from, but some may change year on year depending on need.  

Art                                                                                         History 

Children’s Learning Play and Development                    Music 

Citizenship                                                                           Photography 

Computer Science                                                              Psychology 

Creative Media                                                                    Spanish 

Drama                                                                                   Sport 

Food and Nutrition                                                              Textiles and Fashion 

French                                                                                   Three-Dimensional Design 

Geography                                                                            Triple Science 

 

Students will choose their options in the spring term of year 9. 

 

How do we review the impact of our curriculum 

We continually seek to review the impact of our curriculum in a variety of ways. 

 These include 

• Student outcomes 

• Student destination data at post 16 

• Internal monitoring of student data including termly Progress and Attainment data and Behaviour for Learning data 

• Systems for self-evaluation and conversations with subject leaders   

• Quality assurance approaches within subject areas 

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