Our curriculum is more than the qualifications that students leave with, its about real-life experiences and opportunities. We know that Handsworth matters and what it means to live in a place that is home to people from every corner of the world.

We believe that there are no limits to our ability to learn from each other. We take, we adapt and we move forward. Our students are ambitious, this is only matched by teachers who inspire intellectual curiosity and provide the skills and knowledge needed for students to understand what it means to be an historian, a scientist or a musician. The knowledge that we acquire must challenge us, broaden our minds and our values. We need to think deeply. Learning at Holyhead is student-led, highly meta-cognitive, literacy focused and inclusive.

CREATIVITY

Focus on problem solving, higher order thinking

COMMUNITY

Mission-led curriculum, Sense of pride and heritage in Handsworth, creating global citizens who self-regulate and participate actively. Students learn and enjoy experiences collaboratively

CHARACTER

Intellectual curiosity, love of learning, meta cognition, reflection

CARE

Inclusive approach to learning and deliberate focus upon literacy and oracy. Broad entitlement to opportunities and experiences to lift aspirations and build social capital

Mr A Bowen

Vice Principal - Curriculum

We achieve fantastic examination outcomes! You can see on our website, we offer a broad range of subjects who are amazing at developing knowledge.

Our wider curriculum is designed to meet the needs of our community and is focused upon developing skills, developing character and developing cultural capital.

Our Directors of Learning design sequences of lessons which combine with our Personal Development Programme delivered by Form Tutors. These closely align with our mission to ‘Teach What Matters’, a deliberate approach to ensure we address challenges that our students are likely to face and to give them the best possible chance of meeting their limitless potential.

We want all Holyhead students to be able to:

Solve problems
Apply knowledge to the real world
Adapt to change and be resilient to failure
Be aware of their own thought processes and memory (metacognition)
Be articulate and express themselves
Think critically

We want all students at Holyhead to be strong in relation to the following attributes:

Leadership
Organisation
Resilience
Initiative
Communication

We also want them to recognise the best of human thinking and appreciate the fundamental British Values.

British Values

Promoting British values

Holyhead School is committed to serving its community. It recognises the multi-cultural, multi faith and ever-changing nature of the United Kingdom. It also understands the vital role it has in ensuring that groups or individuals within the school are not subjected to intimidation or radicalisation by those wishing to unduly, or illegally, influence them.

It follows equal opportunities guidance which guarantees that there will be no discrimination against any individual or group, regardless of faith, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, political or financial status, or similar. Holyhead School is dedicated to preparing students for their adult life beyond the formal examined curriculum and ensuring that it promotes and reinforces British values to all its students.

The Government emphasises that schools are required to ensure that key ‘British Values’ are taught in all UK schools. The Government set out its definition of British values in the 2011 Prevent Strategy.

The five British Values are:

Democracy
The rule of law
Individual liberty
Mutual respect
Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs

Holyhead School uses strategies within the curriculum and beyond to secure such outcomes for students. The examples that follow show some of the many ways the school seeks to embed British values.

Democracy

The principle of democracy is constantly being reinforced, with democracy processes being used for important decisions within the school community, for instance, elections being held for Head Boy and Girl and Senior Students positions, Form, Sport and College Captains and members of the School council. The principle of democracy is also explored in the curriculum, for example in History and Religious Studies, PSHCE, Tutor time and assemblies.

The rule of law

The importance of laws, whether they be those that govern the class, the school, or the country, are consistently reinforced. At Holyhead students are taught the rules and expectations of the school which are highlighted by the student code of conduct and student expectations for behaviour, attitudes and character. Students are taught the value and the reasons behind laws that govern and protect us, the responsibilities that this involves and the consequences when laws are broken. Again, this is explored in such subjects as PSHCE, Sociology, Tutor Time and assemblies. Visits from authorities such as the Police, ex-convicts, motivational speakers also reinforce this message

Individual Liberty

At Holyhead School, students are actively encouraged to make independent choices, with the knowledge that they are in a safe, secure and supportive environment. Staff at Holyhead educate and provide boundaries for students to make informed choices, through a safe environment and an empowering education.

Students are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and are advised on how to exercise these safely, for example through e-safety, PSHCE, Tutor Time and assemblies.

Holyhead has a robust anti-bullying culture and has in place a comprehensive Behaviour Policy.

Mutual Respect

Respect is a strong part of Holyhead School with regard to it’s behaviour culture and is part of the Mission Statement & Values. Students learn that their behaviour has an effect on their own rights and those of others. All members of the school community treat each other with respect and this is reiterated through its teaching and learning environments.

Mutual respect is embraced throughout the curriculum by providing the opportunity for students to express their views in a safe environment and so that the thoughts and answers of all are respected’.

In addition Holyhead is currently completing the ‘Rights for Respect Schools Award’.

Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs

This is achieved through equipping students with the ability to understand their place in a culturally diverse society and by giving them the opportunity to experience such diversity within the school community. Students are actively encouraged to share their faith and beliefs within the school and celebrate festivities throughout the calendar year. The Religious Studies curriculum provides a broad and balanced education on a range of faiths, religions and cultures.

Through our SMSC education we help students to develop their self-knowledge, self-esteem and self-confidence; distinguish right from wrong and to respect English law; encourage students to accept responsibility for their behaviour, show initiative and contribute positively to society; enable students to acquire a broad general knowledge of, and respect for, English public institutions and services and to appreciate and respect their own and other cultures.

Holyhead School strives endlessly to ensure that its students leave with the strongest foundation of values upon which to build a successful life and a successful contribution to our Society.

Curriculum Plan - September 2021

We teach to a 4-period per day timetable, with each lesson lasting for 75 minutes. We believe that this allows for a greater depth of learning within each lesson. Tutor time lasts for 25 minutes. The lesson allocation for each year group is as follows:

Mrs Marnell

Associate Vice Principal - Years 7 & 8

Key Stage 3

From September 2021, we provide a 3-year Key Stage 3 for our students, which means that we start teaching GCSEs when students reach Year 10. We aim to provide a broad curriculum offer to our students in order to prepare them for the next stages in their academic careers. Students will choose their GCSE options midway through Year 9.

In Key Stage 3, there are 20 single periods in a week with each lesson lasting for 75 minutes. There is also a Form Tutor period that lasts for 25 minutes. This focuses on students' personal development. The weekly lesson allocation is as follows:

3 English

3 Mathematics

3 Science

1 History

1 Geography

1 Core RE

1 Languages (French or Spanish)

1 Drama

1 Art and Design

1 Music

1 Food and Nutrition

1 Information and Communication Technology

1 Physical Education

1 PSHCE

In addition to this, we offer a wide variety of extra-curricular activities which we would encourage all of our students to participate in. The importance of these cannot be understated, as they enable our students to realise their fullest potential, helping students learn valuable social skills, leadership and how to cope with responsibility. Details of these can be found on the individual faculty pages.

Mr Wright

Associate Vice Principal - Years - 9 & 10

Key Stage 4

Students in Key Stage 4 (Years 10 and 11) have 20 periods per week, with lessons lasting for 75 minutes. In addition to this, there is a Form Tutor period that lasts for 25 minutes, which will focus on students' personal development. The weekly lesson allocation is as follows:

2 English Language

2 English Literature

3 Mathematics

4 Combined Science (6 for Triple Science)

1 Physical Education

1 Core RE

1 PSHCE

3 Option A (1 subject from the following):

3 Option B (1 subject from the following):

3 Option C (1 subject from the following):

Mr Lovell

Associate Vice Principal - Year 11

Year 11

Progress and Attainment 8

Progress and Attainment 8 measures were introduced from 2016 and replaced the 5 A*-C (including English and Mathematics) performance measures that were used as the main headline in school performance tables nationally.

These new measures are based on students’ attainment and progress measured across eight subjects: English; Mathematics; three other English Baccalaureate (EBacc) subjects (Sciences, Computer Science, Geography, History and Languages); and three further subjects, which can be from the range of EBacc subjects, or can be any other approved high value arts, academic, or vocational qualification.

The Attainment 8 measure shows students’ average achievement across this suite of subjects as an average grade, whilst the Progress 8 measure compares this grade to how students with a similar average Key Stage 2 score performed nationally.

English Baccalaureate qualifications

From September 2017, the Government intend for the majority of students to be entered for GCSEs in English Language, English Literature, Mathematics, at least two GCSEs in Sciences, a GCSE in either History or Geography, and a GCSE in a Modern Foreign Language. Achieving good grades in this combination of subjects means that students are considered to have completed the English Baccalaureate.

Only qualifications that count towards the EBacc can be included in the Progress 8 slots reserved for English, Mathematics, and the three ‘EBacc slots’. Any combination of EBacc subjects can be used to fill these slots, e.g. Biology, Chemistry, Physics; Combined Science; Computer Science; French, Spanish; History, Geography.

Mr Knox

Deputy Principal

Sixth Form

The continued success of Holyhead Sixth Form is based on 5 core values:

That staff place the safety and wellbeing of the students as a prime concern meaning that students can achieve their potential
That everyone holds the highest of expectations in terms of the effort we give and the way we conduct ourselves as professionals regardless of age
That teachers and support staff are accessible and available to provide advice and guidance whenever and wherever this is needed
That teachers will provide stimulating and challenging learning experiences for their students and that students will rise to the challenge of wanting to improve
That mistakes are fundamental to development and that staff and students should be reflective and be analytical in learning from these experiences

When Holyhead School took the decision to become an 11-19 school in 2008 in conjunction with Bournville School welcoming an initial cohort of 10 students being taught across two school sites, it would have been a gamble to have believed that we would be where we are now. Over a decade later we have grown to be a provider of post-16 education for more than 250 students from across the city and have sent hundreds of students to university to pursue their future ambitions, be that in medicine, law, teaching, nursing and many other career paths.

By placing a clear emphasis on these core values we have worked with our students to produce consistently high outcomes over a number of years. The key indicator of the effectiveness of a Sixth Form’s provision is not the most obvious one, namely the percentage of A*-A grades, although these catch the eye and are the basis for league tables that are published in newspapers after A-level results are released. The real indicator of effectiveness lies in terms of value added progress, effectively meaning that in the time between a student arriving in Year 12 and leaving in Year 13 has the Sixth Form helped them to achieve above their targeted grades based on their performance at GCSE. For the last 6 years Holyhead has been achieving value added progress that is well above national average, regularly placing the school in the top 15% of Sixth Form institutions nationally, this being shown through the A-level Performance System (ALPS) measure used by the vast majority of Sixth Forms as an indicator of progress.

We are a Sixth Form and a school that takes great pride in this track record of success, but we do not take it for granted. We believe sincerely in those highest of expectations and we believe in our ability to provide those students who choose to place their faith and futures with us, with the support needed for them to make the progress which results in so many students moving onto degrees or apprenticeships of their choice.

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