As part of our approach, we have developed a Curriculum for Social Justice which delivers cultural capital and has two layers: An Intellectual layer and a social capital layer.
A strong academic layer, which gives children a foundation of intellectual capital, so that they can go on to live choice-filled lives. A sequenced, knowledge-rich curriculum carefully planned into a MFA Cycle. All children know what they are learning in advance and explicitly understand how well they are doing and what they need to improve further.
Equally important is the promotion of social capital which we call the Be More Curriculum. This includes wider opportunities for sport, music, drama, art, outdoor education and travel alongside the necessary behaviours to be good citizens focusing on the development of our children’s moral virtues and skills.
We aim to deliver a high-quality education that will ensure that all children gain the social capital that enables them to have:
- Unlimited ideas and dreams that can make the world a better place.
- A vision of what they want to achieve in life and how to achieve it.
- A strong sense of duty, responsibility and service.
- Care and compassion towards each other, within the local community and the wider world.
- Choice-filled lives and the desire and motivation to develop as a good person.
- A positive contribution to local communities and wider society and a zest for living life to the full.
Intellectual Capital
The curriculum is at the heart of our school’s purpose and reflects our core value of social justice through excellence in education. We believe that improving educational outcomes is the biggest way we can positively impact on our pupils’ futures. We have designed a Curriculum for Social Justice that will not only enable pupils to achieve life-changing examination qualifications, but also a set of knowledge, skills and behaviours (cultural capital) that will enable them to lead a choice-filled life guided by a moral compass.
Curriculum Principles
Our seven whole school principles of curriculum are:
- Balanced – Promotes intellectual, moral, spiritual, aesthetic, creative, emotional, and physical development.
- Rigorous – Seeks to develop intra-disciplinary habits of mind; powerful ways of thinking that are developed through sustained engagement with the discipline.
- Coherent – Makes explicit connections and links between the different subjects and experiences.
- Vertically Integrated – Focuses on progression by carefully sequencing knowledge; provides clarity about what ‘getting better’ at the subject means.
- Appropriate – Matches the level of challenge to a pupil’s current level of maturity and knowledge.
- Focused – Seeks to keep the curriculum manageable by teaching the most important knowledge; identifies the big ideas or key concepts within a subject.
- Relevant – Seeks to connect the valued outcomes of a curriculum to the pupils being taught it; provides opportunities for pupils to make informed choices.
Academic Curriculum Design
At Key Stage 3, all pupils study a broad and balanced knowledge rich curriculum. We operate a 3:2 curriculum model with 3 years assigned for a delivery for Years 7, 8 & 9 programmes of study.
These programmes of study have been carefully crafted to ensure they go beyond the requirements set out by the national curriculum.
At the end of Year 9, pupils opt for subjects they will study in Years 10 & 11 and they complete these subjects at the end of Year 11. Our 2-year curriculum allows us to create personalised guided pathways for all of our pupils.
Pupils can opt to study the English Baccalaureate.
The Be More Curriculum enhances pupils wider personal development through extensive cultural capital opportunities and prepares our pupils to have a choice-filled life.
Equality and diversity are promoted through our inclusive curriculum offer and we provide all pupils with the opportunity to succeed and achieve the highest levels of personal achievement.
We shall achieve this by:
- The promotion of equality of opportunity
- Challenging discrimination in all areas of the curriculum
- Ensuring that curriculum planning will take account of the needs of all
- Monitoring and evaluating curriculum provision at school and Trust wide level so that it represents a diverse culture and society and encourages tolerance and respect.
- Ensuring that the teaching methods used in the delivery of the curriculum will be diverse and appropriate for all needs and learning styles
- Providing resources that reflect and promote equal access for all
- Promoting cultural understanding and awareness through the content and delivery of the curriculum
- Actively closing gaps in attainment and achievement between pupils for all groups of pupils; especially pupils eligible for Pupil Premium, pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, looked after children and pupils from minority ethnic groups.
Curriculum Plans
Each department devises a curriculum plan for each year group which lays out a sequenced knowledge rich curriculum. These are transposed into a five learning programme annual cycle which outlines for pupils what knowledge they need to learn in the year.
These plans detail:
- the knowledge that pupils will learn by the end of the year / key stage.
- the sequenced order in which knowledge is taught.
- the rationale behind the sequence.
- what prior knowledge this is based on.
- how pupils are assessed and how learning is revisited.
- how this links to other subjects including career pathways.
- how this links to the Be More Curriculum.
- key Vocabulary that children must know.
- how this knowledge will be secured and deepened.
- what pupils can do with this knowledge.
Learning Programmes
All pupils follow a Learning Programme (LP) in each subject. They detail the programme of study for each subject, setting out the core knowledge each child is expected to learn. All pupils follow the same Learning Programme. This means that all pupils are taught the same broad and balanced curriculum. The Learning Programme sequences the learning in a set period of time (7 weeks). There are 5 LPs each year. It also outlines key words for each week and the homework which supports learning. It is really important that parents take an active interest in the learning that their child is experiencing. By following the Learning Programmes, parents can supplement the work being done in in school through further enrichment activities or independent study.
Each Learning Programme builds on prior learning and outlines links with previous and future topics The teacher explains how the learning links with previous learning and supports the learning to come. Retrieval practice is built into the teaching and learning process.
Learning Programmes should be stuck on the first page of any new book or before the first lesson of a new learning programme.
Curriculum Design
Our curriculum is well-planned and designed to enable Social Justice to take place for our young people. We aim to remove any barriers to learning that our pupils may have and support their learning through targeted support.
At Key Stage 3, all pupils study a broad and balanced knowledge rich curriculum. We operate a 3:2 curriculum model with 3 years assigned for a delivery for Years 7, 8 & 9 programmes of study. These programmes of study have been carefully crafted to ensure they go beyond the requirements set out by the national curriculum.
At the end of Year 9, pupils opt for subjects they will study in Years 10 & 11 and they complete these subjects at the end of Year 11. Our 2-year curriculum allows us to create personalised guided pathways for all of our pupils. An increasing number of students study the English Baccalaureate.
At KS5, students study a curriculum bespoke to them, from a wide range of subjects on offer.
Equality and diversity are promoted through our inclusive curriculum offer and we provide all pupils with the opportunity to succeed and achieve the highest levels of personal achievement.
Parents have a right to withdraw their children from collective worship and/or all or part of religious education. Any parent who wishes to exercise this right should consult the Principal.
Download the GCSE Options Course Guide here.
Equality & Diversity
Equality and diversity are promoted through our inclusive curriculum offer and we provide all pupils with the opportunity to succeed and achieve the highest levels of personal achievement.
We shall achieve this by:
- The promotion of equality of opportunity
- Challenging discrimination in all areas of the curriculum
- Ensuring that curriculum planning will take account of the needs of all
- Monitoring and evaluating curriculum provision at school and Trust wide level so that it represents a diverse culture and society and encourages tolerance and respect.
- Ensuring that the teaching methods used in the delivery of the curriculum will be diverse and appropriate for all needs and learning styles
- Providing resources that reflect and promote equal access for all
- Promoting cultural understanding and awareness through the content and delivery of the curriculum
- Actively closing gaps in attainment and achievement between pupils for all groups of pupils; especially pupils eligible for Pupil Premium, pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, looked after children and pupils from minority ethnic groups.
Be More Experience (Our Co-Curriculum)
At EPC, we have developed a co-curriculum called ‘The Be More Experience’ and expect all our pupils to have a 7 year  journey, undertaking a series of ongoing challenges throughout that celebrate their personal development.
We have designed a Be More Experience taught over 4 stages during their time with us. These are:
- Foundation Be More Experience: Year 7 and 8
- Intermediate Be More Experience: Year 9
- Master Be More Experience: Year 10 & 11
- Graduate Be More Experience: Year 12 & 13
Our curriculum and co-curriculum are designed to make sure pupils feel valued and are respected so that they in turn learn to value others around them.