Curriculum

This is Your World

See it. Care for it.

Love it. Respect it.

Flourish in it.

We intend our curriculum to support the Trust ambition that we 'inspire learners and change lives'.

Our community resides in the heart of a beautiful but small and densely populated island city - the only one in the UK. Being surrounded by the sea on all sides can make travel feel difficult for young people and can engender insularity. We are determined that our students do not become insular in their thinking and are motivated to see and experience cultures and communities within and beyond our island. Our ambition is for all of our young people, by the time they leave us in Year 11, to feel empowered to see, care for, love, respect and to flourish in their world.

Our ambition, and our taught curriculum, is underpinned by our 3 Pillars to Success. These are:

strong reading skills (Reading)
knowledge that will enable them to make informed decisions about their wellbeing, health and relationships? (RSHE)
living daily by the core values of, working hard, being kind and avoiding excuses in favour of taking personal responsibility (Core Values)

We are confident that with these skills and attributes our young people are well placed to succeed academically and to craft successful adult lives either in or out of Portsmouth.

Summary of how we teach our three pillars to success:

Reading:

Reading ages are closely monitored through Star reading tests which give us an overall reading age and specific areas where a student may need additional support. Students reading ages are tested and monitored every half term.

Daily tutor reading programme:

All students in Y7-9 will read a quality novel every day with their tutor for twenty minutes. 6 novels per year.
The tutor will read to the group, enabling students to hear the novel read by a sophisticated and accomplished reader.
The tutor will provide clarification of vocabulary, character, setting and plot through skilled questioning.

The Reading Room (Reading Matters):

Students with large gaps between their reading and their chronological age or who are identified through Star testing are referred for additional support
Students are withdrawn twice a fortnight from lessons
Small group intervention on reading strategies Y7-11

Accelerated Reader Lessons:

One lesson per fortnight is dedicated to students’ personal reading in the library and taking quizzes on books read.
Students who are avid readers are encouraged to read widely and discuss their reading
Students who are reluctant readers, are supported by reading to their English teacher, discussing themes, characters and storylines.

Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE):

Curriculum:

Reading and English: all novels are chosen for their age relevance and thought provoking social themes (EG: Immigration and identity) - RSHE here is caught not taught.
Topics taught in lessons reflect social and cultural needs of students appropriate to stage of development.
Additionally, ‘When a Book can Help’ is a strategy used in the library/pastoral team to support students navigating difficult moments in their life.

Assemblies

Year group specific and addresses cohort learning

RSHE timetabled lessons

Led by head of RSHE
Curriculum plans available on curriculum area of website

Drop Down Days

Thematic depending on year group
Specialist speakers and educators
Focused sessions

Core Values:

Assemblies
Taught through the curriculum
Individual support through ACE tutoring and SLT mentoring

Our three Pillars to Success will support young people’s development, but it is imperative that they are academically successful too if they are going to truly ‘flourish’ in our world. Our taught curriculum follows the National Curriculum and is available in full on our website. Our Co-curricular opportunities are also vitally important for young people to build confidence in trying new things, working as a team and experiencing other places and people.

Our taught curriculum is knowledge rich. We believe in the value of teaching core and facilitating knowledge in order that students can apply it while building skills and across different domains and contexts.

Our subjects inspire students to make sense and seek out a deeper understanding of our world through careful and small step sequencing which always builds subject specific learning on top of previous learning. Learnt knowledge is revisited regularly and retaught if required. It is assessed regularly for understanding and retention at specialist teacher, subject leader and whole school level. Subject specific ‘Road Maps’ and subject specific planning can be found on the website under each subject name.

Our students are taught the beauty and fragility of our physical world through regular lessons in science, geography and technology. They will understand ways in which they can care and respect our world in order that they can help it ‘flourish’ as civic minded individuals. This is further supported by our Eco club, our nature club and our science trips and explorations.

They are also taught the beauty and fragility of our ‘human world’ through literature, history, drama, RE, RSHE, psychology and English. Here they will develop their understanding of morality, ethics and human behaviour both strong and weak. They do this through looking back in history and through evaluating written texts from different cultures, beliefs and eras.

Understanding where they fit in their world and recognising their privileges and their strengths is as important as overcoming any barriers they may endure. Our curriculum is designed to expose students to the wonderfully diverse and exciting cultures, backgrounds, beliefs and lifestyles of the world today and so it ensures that all students experience a range of different perspectives and viewpoints. We endeavour to help them explore the themes of identity and personal choice through our arts subjects such as music, drama, art, English and photography.

Young people’s health and personal self sufficiency is key and is addressed through physical education, science and food technology. These subjects focus their teaching on ensuring that students understand how to stay healthy and how to develop a life that reduces physical and mental health problems for the future. Mental health is dealt with explicitly through their RSHE curriculum. In-person counselling and welfare support is readily available through our excellent pastoral services and this includes our online personal counselling service, Kooth.

Being able to ‘flourish’ in our world, young people need to grow in so many elements but none more so than being able to make positive decisions through strong knowledge and contextual understanding and by being able to solve problems logically and with determination and resilience. Young people need to understand and be able to apply formula and interpretation of language or data which is explicitly taught through their maths, technology, geography, languages and science curriculum. All Miltoncross students study a language until Year 10 and then most (50%+) continue their study to GCSE.

Our Co-Curricular programme is extensive and aims to introduce young people to fresh experiences and challenges thus building their confidence to step away from their normal habits and feel uncomfortable which we hope will translate into brave aspirations to travel. After-school activities including, an extensive sport programme, art club, choir, music, performances and Lego clubs help challenge students to experience success and enjoyment outside of the taught curriculum. Our Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme plays an exciting role in developing students’ views of the world around them - offering opportunities to help others, become involved in community projects, building teamwork and resilience as they prepare and undertake their expeditions.

Beyond school, trips and visits begin, in Year 7, within our city and its surrounding area. As students move through the school we provide opportunities for them to travel further afield and broaden their experiences as they develop their cultural awareness on a local, national and global scale.

From the Historic Dockyard and Marwell Zoo in Year 7, theatre trips to London, tours of the History and Science museums, watching tennis in Wimbledon, or travelling further afield to the CERN particle collider in Geneva, the Battlefields of Belgium or historic sites of Poland in Key Stage 4, we aim to provide all students with the opportunity to experience the wider world in a safe and engaging way before they make their personal step into it as the adults of the future.

Impact

‘This is Your World’ curriculum enables students no matter, race, gender, ability, sexuality, disability or social class to make their best possible progress and achieve the highest standards of personal and academic development. Students are encouraged to discover their own strengths by a staff team which recognises that equal opportunity does not mean identical provision, and celebrates and promotes diversity.

The impact of our subject curriculum is assessed regularly using a variety of methods to ensure that learning and knowledge has been effective and so that any gaps can be addressed. This could include low stakes knowledge tests, end of topic assessments or end of year exams. Students are monitored and tracked by Curriculum Leaders, who report to either the Assistant Headteacher for KS3 or KS4 Progress. Most subjects are assessed using our Common Assessment Framework which enables strong comparison of learning and discussion regarding teaching methods with our partner secondary schools in the TKAT family.

Our co-curricular programme is regularly reviewed and student input helps shape the range of activities we provide to support students in their journey to adulthood as successful, global citizens learning what it means to ‘be me, in our World’.

For more information on individual subject areas, please click below...

Should you wish any further information about our curriculum please contact deb.mason@miltoncross-tkat.org