At the Clacton Coastal Academy we aim to ensure that every child ends up in successful employment. To that end we ensure that our curriculum creates opportunities for students to become independent and self-motivated with the ability to be responsible, determined and aspirational. All students are individuals who develop in different ways and at different rates and the curriculum is designed to meet those individual’s needs and provide appropriate technology, qualifications and experiences to support students into their chosen career pathways.

The curriculum is centred around core concepts which are sequenced in order to support students in every subject. Core concepts form the bones of the subject. These pieces of knowledge or skills unlock further learning. Core concepts are sequenced in such a way that students are supported to secure each essential concept before moving onto the next. These concepts are focused around a knowledge rich curriculum where students learn topics to a high level of depth to help them to tackle mastery of each subject discipline.

We prioritise the development of reading, writing and communication to support students to access new challenges in the curriculum as this is an essential element for success in our local context. Students have dedicated reading lessons, to enhance their reading skills and build a culture of reading. Students read for twenty minutes a day every day. Subject leaders work hard to build vocabulary and increase the number of opportunities for students to read in lessons, with at least one reading focused lesson per half term.

We recognise our young people as individuals, offering support and challenges to empower them to achieve their aspirations with a high standard of lesson content. Where students need further support they are provided with opportunities within our Remarkable Futures programme (which provides intensive support to students at risk of disengaging with education) or our Transition Curriculum (which provides an enhanced curriculum to accelerate the progress of students who join CCA with significant gaps in their learning).

Additionally, there are a variety of enrichment activities to enhance our curriculum that mainly take place during our Wednesday enrichment afternoons. Year 11 and the Sixth form have allocated intervention times and a study hub to support their revision as they build up to their public examinations.

CCA is committed to providing all of our students with a broad and balanced curriculum. It is our belief that this large discipline of all subjects helps our students to receive a strong traditional academic education, while also having time to find expression in the creative subject areas.