CURRICULUM – Wigston Academy

The aims of our curriculum Our central aim is to ensure that all students at Wigston Academy achieve the highest standards of which they are capable. These standards will apply to all that our students do, whether in the classroom, on the sports field, in concert or on stage, or in the extensive range of other opportunities we offer to students at all stages of their education. Our curriculum aims to enable our students to become:

• successful young people, who enjoy learning, make progress and achieve

• fascinated by the world around them

• imaginative, creative and reflective in their learning

• confident individuals who are able to live safe, healthy and fulfilling lives

• socially responsible people who can interact with people of varying backgrounds and cultures

• responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society, upholding the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law and individual liberty

• positive contributors to our local community through school based and local activities

• tolerant and respectful of those who have different faiths and beliefs

• respectful of our co-operative values.

We aim to provide a secure and disciplined environment where staff and students can work together in pursuit of our common moral purpose. The aim is to develop a coherent 11-16 curriculum that builds on our students’ experiences in the primary phase and helps them to become successful learners, confident individuals and responsible citizens. Our curriculum reflects values in our society that promote personal development, spirituality, equality of opportunity, economic wellbeing, a healthy and just democracy, and a sustainable future. It will allow our students to be prepared for life in a culturally diverse modern Britain. All our students, regardless of their gender, colour, creed, ability, background or disadvantage, will be given the opportunity to follow a curriculum which is broad, balanced, relevant, differentiated and coherent and which enables continuity and progression. Every student will be expected to experience success. Specifically, our curriculum is intended to help our students to:

• achieve high standards and make the progress that their ability suggests

• narrow the gap and enable those not achieving age-related expectations to catch up with their peers

• become independent learners

• have and be able to use high-quality functional skills

• be challenged and stretched to achieve their potential

• have increased commitment to and enjoyment of learning, leading to participation from 16 and beyond.

In particular, our curriculum will:

• promote high standards, particularly in literacy and numeracy

• provide entitlement to a coherent, broad and balanced curriculum

• provide a balanced approach to religious education which is broadly Christian but respects and encompasses all major world faiths

• instil in our students a positive disposition to learning and a commitment to learn

• promote and pass on essential knowledge, skills and understanding valued by society to the next generation

• be relevant to our students and prepare them for the here and now, for the next phase of their education, and for their future

• widen horizons and raise aspirations about the world of work, further and higher education

• make our students more aware of, and engaged with, their local, national and international communities

• help students recognise that personal development is essential to wellbeing and success

• allow our students to make the relevant progression from the primary phase to the secondary phase particularly in the core areas of English, mathematics and Science.