Aston Manor Academy

Curriculum Overview

Aston Manor Academy Curriculum Rationale

Introduction

Aston Manor Academy’s vision is modelled in our curriculum, where we strive for students to be ‘All Different, All Equal and All Achieving’.

Our curriculum provides students with a broad and balanced education; one which equips them with the attitudes to be successful citizens of modern British society, along with the knowledge and skills necessary for their progression through education. Running through the curriculum are the values we feel are important for young people to develop a sense of pride and belief in themselves; at the end of their journey at the Academy, students leave us with a high regard for themselves and for the positive contributions their education has empowered them to make to their wider community. Students can follow multiple pathways as they move through the school, so that the suite of subjects they are studying is suitable for them as learners and for their future careers.

The curriculum at Aston Manor Academy has been designed with careful consideration of the students and the local community we serve. We offer a strong core of academic subjects and many of our students opt to follow an EBacc pathway. However, we recognise fully that this is not an appropriate route for all students and we therefore offer a range of vocational and BTEC options to ensure that we are including, engaging and developing all students from our diverse intake and enabling them to progress onto their desired Post-16 pathways either at Aston Manor Academy, or further afield.  We provide support and guidance for students when they are opting for their GCSEs and hold informative meetings with parents during which all stakeholders are able to consider the broad range of factors available to help make the correct decisions about the subjects they would like to study. We believe that it is important that students enjoy their learning and as such we never devalue non-academic subjects.

For more information about our curriculum, please contact Mr N Turner, Deputy Headteacher, nturner@astonmanoracademy.com or Ms Jones, Assistant Headteacher, zjones@astonmanoracademy.com. For more information about our Key Stage 4 subjects, please see our Options Booklet.

Key Stage 3 Curriculum Overview:

In order to deliver the aims of our curriculum we ensure all students in Key Stage 3 study 9 lessons of English, 8 of Maths, 6 of Science, 4 of PE, 3 of History, R.E, Geography and DT, and 2 of French, Spanish, Art, IT, PSHE and Music per fortnight.  Where appropriate, each subject uses the National Curriculum as a basis for determining what is covered at Key Stage 3 and then adapts the content to suit our learners.

At Key Stage 3, students are introduced to all of the key skills they require to be successful in each of the subjects they are studying. Our curriculum leaders consider the Key Stage 2 and 4 curricula when determining what these skills are, so that students can develop their existing skills to facilitate a transition into Key Stage 4.

Key Stage 4 Curriculum Overview:

We believe that our students must aspire to achieve the best they can and therefore access a curriculum that inspires them but is appropriate for all to become successful citizens. We choose to run a three year GCSE programme at Aston Manor Academy because experience tells us that in order to build the depth of knowledge and cultural capital required for all learners to be successful in their chosen courses, and indeed the wider world, they need time and guidance. We ensure that the curriculum in each subject in Year 9 is structured so that students are acquiring the key knowledge and skills they will need to build upon in order to be successful at GCSE or BTEC. We do not advocate a narrowing of the curriculum and we ensure that at all key stages, our students learn broadly and deeply, but we know that the students in our care do not always have access to the additional scholarly support and guidance many of their peers in more advantageous social settings will receive, and that it is our job to ensure that our learners are not educationally disadvantaged. At Aston Manor Academy we truly recognise that all students are different, all students are equal and that every student in our care will achieve. We believe that the curriculum should be flexible to allow for personalised choices. This is why, when students select their GCSE options, there are three pathways and multiple subjects in which they can study, and there is a clear link to the subjects we offer at Key Stage 5 for those who wish to continue their journey with us.

We work hard to offer a broad and balanced curriculum model throughout Key Stage 4. We believe in offering subjects that allow a wide range of pathways and progression for our students in the future. Students start their GCSE courses in Year 9 so that they can develop the foundations in these subjects so that they are fully ready to access all of the GCSE subject content in Year 10 and beyond.

We deliver the following: