Curriculum Overview

Farlingaye High School – Curriculum Statement

At Farlingaye we endorse the notion that, when we talk about our curriculum, we are talking about what Dylan Wiliam has called the “lived experience” of our students. This means that the curriculum is everything that we provide and that students engage with. The combination of subjects offered to our students and of programmes of study chosen by subject teams is part of the curriculum, but so too is the set of decisions made by each individual teacher regarding the resources and tasks they will use to deliver those programmes. The activities offered through lunchtime clubs and the sports fixtures in which students play are part of the curriculum. Discussions within tutor time, the 1:1 sessions offered to SEND students, the rehearsals for school performances, and all our trips and visits are all part of the curriculum.

Everyone who works at Farlingaye is involved in developing and delivering the curriculum, every day.

Principled Curriculum Design at Farlingaye

The principles that underpin the development and delivery of the curriculum are as follow:

All students at Farlingaye will have access to a full range of subjects and educational/developmental experiences. Our aspiration is a curriculum that allows learning for all
The way we teach will be based on students’ needs, knowledge and previous educational experiences
All courses will be appropriately challenging in their content, delivery and assessment
Creativity in thinking and practice is valued in all subject areas and by all staff supporting students’ work and development
Staff will be supported in being brave in the way they look to change and grow our curriculum
All subjects at Farlingaye are of equal value, whatever the timetable allocation given to them
Learning outside of the classroom is a very important part of the educational experience of all students and will continue to be a major focus for the school
Adapting what we do to suit each student will be part of our designing process.

The Intention of the Curriculum

We intend that our curriculum will ensure the following:

Students’ needs are key to the day-to-day designing and implementation of the curriculum, and we are very effective in establishing these needs
Students develop skills that are essential for adult life, including literacy and numeracy skills. All students must be able to read for meaning and inference, and must have effective writing skills, at least at a basic level. All students must be able to make basic calculations, including in situations where numbers are built into ‘real-life’ situations and problems.
Students are enabled to be good lifelong learners, so that, after they leave school, they can be successful within a full range of contexts, including those that are unfamiliar to them
Students develop strong values – including respect for the rule of law and the democratic system, and a belief in justice and fairness
Students build the competences, characteristics and attitudes that allow them to be full contributors to the development of a prosperous, fair, accepting and caring society – including through their involvement with the world of work
Students build knowledge of the world around them, and the capacity to use that knowledge creatively and critically
Students develop the ability to connect ideas and elements of evidence together, both within and outside subject disciplines, so that they can understand how things are organised, make predictions and put forward explanations, and find solutions and answers to challenging problems and questions
Students develop the capacity to build positive relationships with a range of people, including those that do not share their interests or world view
Students develop digital literacy that will support their ability to connect meaningfully to each other and to the word around them, and to select and filter streams of information and ideas
Students are enabled to participate in the full range of extraordinary opportunities offered by the curriculum, regardless of ability and background, with the result that, for example:
Every student will be involved with at least one significant school activity outside of the classroom every year of their school life
Every student will attend or participate in at least one cultural event every year of their school life.