CURRICULUM VISION & INTENT
At Stone Lodge School, our core values of Respect, Integrity, Determination, Equality, and Self-Management are at the heart of everything we do. We believe that every student can achieve well and build a bright future for themselves no matter their ability or background. We aim to improve the life chances of every student. Our curriculum provides the foundation for this success.
We set high expectations to ensure that every student excels across all aspects of school life to facilitate the students in leading successful lives.
We intend to ensure that students make outstanding progress and their curriculum removes any potential barriers to learning. We believe all students should have access to a world-class curriculum that is tailored to their needs.
Our curriculum gives students the knowledge and skills to provide the very best opportunities, by developing rich knowledge and attributes pertinent to both their local and global communities in the 21st century.
At Stone Lodge School, students will:
● Experience a broad, deep, and knowledge-rich curriculum that is well planned, sequenced, and rigorous to enable exceptional progress to be made by all students;
● Develop literacy and numeracy skills to help all students to lead successful lives;
● Have the highest expectations for their behaviour and achievement in all aspects of school;
● Build their character to make them Respectful, Determined, Self-managing individuals embodying the value of Equality;
● Develop their cultural, social, moral, mental, and physical development;
● Secure foundations for ambitious progression.
Students experience a broad, deep and knowledge rich curriculum
Our School curriculum helps students to achieve high standards and make excellent progress. At KS3, the curriculum is broad, and students learn essential knowledge built around a learning journey to ensure they have a deep understanding across a range of subjects; not just a series of disconnected facts. Many opportunities are built into lessons to secure the need to recall and retrieve previous learning so that knowledge is fully embedded. We have a 3-year KS3 programme that gives students a full range of disciplines.
Scaffolding is provided for students to ensure all students can achieve their potential. We believe in quality first teaching as the most significant factor in creating a world class curriculum for all. We have the highest standards of our students because we know they can achieve them.
At KS4, the courses are carefully planned to ensure that content is thoroughly revisited, and this undoubtedly prepares students for external examinations and further academic or vocational progression.
Students will be literate and numerate
The development of student language and oracy is at the forefront of our curriculum. We understand how vital it is for our students to build confidence in communication skills during their time in school and prepare them for working life.
We ensure students have opportunities in all subjects to discuss, challenge and build on other points of view and to develop their ability to communicate in a formal register to ensure they can have the confidence to speak and write to different audiences.
Numeracy skills are embedded across the curriculum. Students who arrive with below expected maths skills are quickly caught up through expert teaching and incisive interventions.
The school ensures that students are literate and numerate, enabling them to flourish, thrive and access all stages of their education, employment or training.
Students embody high expectations for their behaviour and achievement
The school is inclusive and ambitious for all. We have high expectations of all students and allow students to learn what is expected of them morally. Our behaviour policy focuses on the school’s values of Respect, Integrity, Determination, Equality and Self-Management. Students know that actions have consequences, and they can accept and appreciate differences between people.
Stone Lodge has the highest expectations of students regarding these values creating a culture where students experience a calm and purposeful environment to thrive. We aim that all students become learners who are enquiring, enthusiastic, engaged and mannerly.
Students will build their character
With a focus on building character and resilience across our student body. We ensure students have access to a wider curriculum that provides numerous opportunities in sport, creativity, performing, the world of work, volunteering and membership. In addition, an extensive enrichment programme supports the development of students into well-rounded citizens.
Students will secure foundations for progression
Our intention is to ensure students have secure foundations for progression into further education and apprenticeships. From Year 7, students receive careers information with a clear focus on the Gatsby benchmarks.
This is supported through LBC days and the use of UNIFROG providing a well-planned, sequenced programme to enhance students’ knowledge and skills of Careers.
Over five years, students receive a rigorous and bespoke aspirations program that exposes every child to a rich and wide range of voices and experiences.
Students will develop their cultural, moral, social, mental and physical development
At Stone Lodge, we pride ourselves on delivering a curriculum with SMSC (Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural) at the heart of all experiences. SMSC is championed throughout to develop students as a whole, not just academically, but also to ensure that they are fully prepared for life in modern society.
Students can envision ‘The Bigger Picture’ and show that learning is linked to the real world and experiences. This happens through our ‘Successful Lives’ lessons (PSHE) which students have for a period every week. Various assemblies further support this to enrich our Personal Social Health, and Economic Education programme. During these events, guest speakers visit to deliver sessions and collaborate with students to learn how to keep themselves (and others) healthy and safe. Examples of explored topics are; first aid training, mental health awareness, and puberty. Furthermore, these topics are carefully chosen to encourage students’ awareness and understanding of their protected characteristics within The Equality Act 2010. These topics are thoughtfully planned and sequenced to reflect the local priorities in our area.
In KS3, all students take part in LBC days (Learning Beyond the Curriculum). These happen three times a year and involve day trips to various venues and locations. Some day trips have a specific STEM theme to broaden student’s outlooks and enhance their cultural capital. These trips are inclusive of all students. Some examples of destinations include KidZania and the Science Museum.
Stone Lodge takes ourselves on providing a rich, diverse extra-curricular programme focusing on various sporting, cultural, and charitable activities. Links with local and national business enrich the curriculum offer and help to contextualise learning.
CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTATION & IMPACT
Curriculum Implementation
We believe that a carefully planned and structured curriculum is the foundation upon which excellent learning and development are created. Therefore, our curriculum is designed and implemented to build on prior knowledge and prepare students for the next stage in their education. In addition, the we ensure that lessons are engaging and suitably differentiated to facilitate all students to support exceptional progress. First and foremost, our priority is that ‘Quality First Teaching’ is available for all students.
The development of language and building knowledge is integral to curriculum planning. Curriculum leaders, who are experts in their subjects, carefully construct a curriculum that promotes a deep understanding of a wide range of topics. In addition, teachers plan learning that allows students to embed and recall knowledge through the interleaving of topics and spaced practice. This builds firm foundations for progression to the next level and exam success.
Curriculum Impact
At Stone Lodge School, our curriculum will:
ensure that the sequence of learning builds on previous knowledge whilst supporting future progression.
lead to qualifications that are of worth for employers and for entry to further and higher education.
enable all students to fulfil their potential.
meet the needs of students of all abilities.
allow students to acquire an appreciation and respect for their own and other cultures.
prepare students to compete in the global economy.
prepare students to make informed choices at the end of KS3, KS4 and beyond.
help students develop lively, enquiring minds and the ability to question and argue rationally.
Assessment
It is fundamental to our mission that we are open and clear when making judgements about students’ learning and progress. We believe that students and parents have an entitlement to assessment information through a precise, informative and understandable reporting system. This information should strike the right balance for students and parents on how well they are learning the curriculum, what targets and support are required, what an individual’s attainment is and how comparable this is to other children with similar starting points.
We believe that praise, reward and encouragement are as important as constructive criticism. To this end, recognition and rewards are awarded for worthwhile effort and endeavour, whether part of the formal curriculum or not.
At Stone Lodge School, we believe that it is unrealistic to attempt to use early assessments in KS3 as a tool to predict the GCSE success of a student who is 4/5 years away from taking these exams. Nor do we believe it is helpful to award a current grade using 1-9 GCSE grading when they are so far from being prepared for these exams. Doing this can cause students to ‘take their foot off of the gas’ due to achieving relatively high grades, or become demotivated early on due to struggling to score on the 1-9 GCSE scale because they are so far from these exams.
Parents of students in KS4 will be able to track the progress their son/daughter makes each year by comparing the working at grade in each subject, with the GCSE Target Grade indicated on the students’ report based on FFT20 data. A flight path from year 10-11 will be shared with parents on reports so they can see how this GCSE grade should improve as they move closer towards sitting their final exam. This triangulation allows parents to see current performance and likely future progress towards the GCSE target.
In our assessment calendar we have 4 x 10-week assessment cycles with:
Super teaching weeks are lessons that are delivered after staff have worked together to discuss student weaknesses in learning and planned to address these in week 10 lessons before moving on to more new learning. This helps to ensure students don’t fall behand as the year goes on. We believe firmly that in KS3 this focus on learning rather than performance embeds the right habits for successful learners who, using this growth approach will perform much better as they move into their GCSEs.
Regular, low stakes, quizzing in lessons ensures that students embed knowledge into their long term memory.
Students are assessed by a combination of peer, self and teacher assessments. Summative assessment will take place in week 8 in each of the school’s four learning cycles.
Parents receive reports 3 times per year. The reports will indicate the progress that students have made towards their target grade and an indication of their behaviour and attitude to learning.
Curriculum Review
Curriculum implementation will be reviewed and quality assured through line management, subject reviews and lesson observations.
The curriculum delivered in each subject is reviewed annually by curriculum leaders and senior leaders, to ensure the sequence of delivery allows students to build on their knowledge, ensuring students are sufficiently stretched and challenged.
The curriculum hours and subjects offered will be analysed by the senior leadership team and governors on an annual basis.
The student leadership team discuss curriculum content and delivery annually. This is be fed back to senior team and staff.
Parents and students will have the opportunity to review the curriculum content and delivery through parent and student surveys.
Curriculum Hours KS3
● At KS3, students are set by ability in Maths and Science and are taught in mixed ability groups in their other subjects.
Lessons are 50 minutes in length (45 minutes on a Wednesday)
● There are 30 lessons per week.
● SMSC (Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural) and FBV (Fundamental British Values) are embedded into the curriculum and delivered through all subjects.
● PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education) provision is taught through our Successful Lives lessons as well as the focus of Assemblies throughout the school year.
KS3 Periods | |
Subject | Periods Per Week |
English | 4 |
Maths | 4 |
Science | 4 |
Geography | 2 |
Computing | 2 |
History | 2 |
Performing Arts | 2 |
Engineering | 2 |
Spanish | 2 |
Physical Education | 2 |
Art | 1 |
Philosophy and Ethics | 1 |
Successful Lives | 1 |
Intervention | 1 |
Curriculum Hours KS4
● At KS4, students are set by ability in Maths and Science.
● Lessons are 50 minutes in length (45 minutes on a Wednesday)
● There are 30 lessons per week.
● Option groups are mixed mainly with some setting if there is more than one group in an option block.
● SMSC and FBV are embedded into the curriculum and delivered through all subjects.
● PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education) provision is taught through our Successful Lives lessons and the focus of Assemblies throughout the school year.
KS4 Periods | |
Subject | Periods Per Week |
English | 5 |
Maths | 5 |
Science | 5 |
Geography/ History | 3 |
Option 1 | 3 |
Option 2 | 3 |
Spanish | 3 |
Physical Education | 2 |
Philosophy and Ethics/ Successful Lives | 1 |
YEAR 9 OPTIONS
Please click below to view a copy of the Year 9 Options Presentation 2024
Key Dates of the Option Process
Date | Actions |
Thursday 18th January | Year 9 Options Evening |
Monday 19th February | Options Form available online |
Thursday 21st March | Deadline for Options forms to be completed online |
Wednesday 5th June | Option choice provisional confirmation returned to students |
Friday 27th June | Deadline for amended option choice forms |
Question and Answer Session
We appreciate you may have lots of questions about this process. If these can please be emailed to [email protected]
CAREERS & THE CURRICULUM
Curriculum
At Stone Lodge School, we take careers, employability and enterprise seriously to ensure that every student has all the information required to help them access their chosen future path.
All young people are required to continue in education or training until their 18th birthday. This does not have to mean staying in school, students can choose to study or train in any of the following ways:
● Stay on full-time in a school, college or with a training provider (many young people also do a part time job alongside this).
● Work or volunteer full-time, together with part-time education or training.
● Take up an apprenticeship or traineeship.
Labour Market Information for All (LMI)
LMI for All is an online data portal, which connects and standardises existing sources of high quality, reliable labour market information (LMI) with the aim of informing careers decisions. Click the Careerometer Widget on the left hand side of this page and type in the job you are interested in, this then gives you up to date labour market information about that job.
The portal makes data available and encourages open use by applications and websites that can bring the data to life for a range of audiences. This is an open data project, which is supporting the wider government agenda to encourage use and re-use of government data sets.
The Careerometer Widget, provides key information and comparable data on various occupations to support the process of identifying potential careers.
