Year 9 Thematic Journey

Intent – What are we aiming to achieve through our curriculum?

• To provide students with an engaging and outstanding curriculum through year 9’s themes.

• • World War Two – focussing on the lives of those in the past, how the lives of others were impacted by the war and what lessons can be learnt from the war effort.
  • Forces and Light – focussing on world religions and develop empathy and understanding of others in the world around us.
  • Amazon – focussing on learning about the wider world. Being able to identify how the world beyond our local area is used and the lives of people in the Amazon and Brazil.
  • Heroes and Villains – focussing on the struggles of minority groups throughout history. Building an understanding and tolerance of others.
  • Japan – focussing on how the culture in Japan differs from our own. Learning about locations of countries around the world and our links to them.
  • Sports and leisure – focussing on worldwide sporting events and the dedication that is needed to achieve.

• To ensure that all students have access to learning which is adapted to their needs.
• To provide a curriculum which is enriched with a range of trips, visits and experiences.
• To provide all learners with a safe, caring and engaging learning environment which best suits their needs.
• To help pupils to develop the knowledge, skills and attributes they need to manage opportunities, challenges and responsibilities they will face as they grow up and in adulthood.
• To support and enable pupils to develop an understanding of themselves, their sense of self and to build confidence and self-esteem.
• To support and develop skills in social communication in order to communicate effectively and build positive relationships.
• To prepare pupils for the transition to key stage four.

Implementation – How are we delivering our curriculum?

• Design a curriculum which is challenging, but appropriate to each pupil’s stage of development.
• Adapt all learning to each student’s needs to enable them to succeed.
• Use the thematic approach to enable students to make purposeful links between their learning in different subjects.
• Track progress in learning termly and share information on this with families.
• Regularly review and reflect on the themes to ensure that the curriculum content is current and relevant to our learners.
• Use a range of resources, such as IT equipment and Widgets, to allow children to access their learning.
• Building on literacy and numeracy skills.
• Preparing key skills needed to access key stage 4 qualifications.
• Regular contact with home via Class Dojo, email and telephone communication.

Impact – What difference is the curriculum making to our students?

• Pupils will engage in personalised purposeful learning which enables them to build confidence and resilience along their learning journey.
• Pupils feel safe and ready to take learning risks within the nurturing learning environment.
• Pupils access subject matter which is interesting and engaging to them whilst allowing them to develop their personal, social and academic skills.
• Pupils have targeted learning to ensure that they reach or exceed expected progress in all subjects.
• Pupils build their independence and personal responsibility by demonstrating they are ‘Ready, Respectful and Safe’ in each lesson and engaging with the points reward system.
• Pupils are well prepared to access the next stage in their education.