Year 11 students have 25 lessons a week and will be on the red or blue pathway for their GCSEs.
Year 10 students on the red pathway study English, maths, science, physical education, personal development, French and either history or geography, they also choose to pursue two further subjects.
Students on the blue pathway study the same core subjects as above with the exception of French, students therefore have three additional subjects to choose.
For a more in-depth outline of our core and optional subjects, please click on the subject hyperlinks from the drop-down menu below.
If you would like to speak to us about any aspect of our curriculum please get in touch.
Core subjects
Students study these core subjects.
Additionally they will choose between history or geography and, depending on their pathway, may have French as a core subject (please see the optional subject list to learn more about these subjects).
English
Literature
Autumn term – Anthology / Unseen poetry
Spring term 1 and 2 – revision – the 19th Century novel and Shakespeare
Summer term 1 – revision for the summer exams
Language
Autumn and spring term – revision and mocks
Summer term – revision for the summer exams
Maths
Autumn term – graphs and algebra
- Gradients and lines
- Non-linear graphs
- Using graphs
- Expanding and factorising
- Changing the subject
- Functions
Spring term – reasoning and revision
- Multiplicative reasoning
- Geometric reasoning
- Algebraic reasoning
- Transforming and constructing
- Revision
Personal development (including RE)
Autumn term – careers and post 16 transition
- Presenting personal information
- Writing a personal statement
- How to apply
- Application forms
- Mock interview applications
- How to ace an interview
- Review interview skills and target set
Spring term – GCSE revision skills and managing stress
- Study skills
- Revision techniques
- Trade unions
- Sexual harassment
- Marriage
- Self-examination and screening
- Issue-based topics chosen by the class
Visit our personal development page for more information
Religious education
- Sanctity of human life
- Death penalty
- Medical interventions
- Forced and arranged marriages
- Right wing extremism
- Community cohesions
- Terrorism and holy war
- Suicide
- IVF
- Cloning
- Euthanasia
Physical education
| Girls | Boys |
| Trampolining | Football |
| Table tennis | Rugby |
| Tag rugby | Handball |
| Handball | Boxercise |
| Boxercise | Trampolining |
| Netball | Table tennis |
| Rounders | Rounders |
| Athletics | Athletics |
| Fitness | Fitness |
| Football | Cricket |
| Softball | |
| Frisbee |
Science (combined)
Autumn term
- Inheritance, variation and evolution
- Chemical analysis
- Waves
Spring term
- Ecology
- The Earth and our resources
- Electromagnetism
Optional subjects
Additionally students choose to study two/three of the subjects listed below.
Art
Autumn term – final project (independent)
- Selecting appropriate starting points
- Selecting appropriate artist/source materials
- Developing initial ideas
- Presentation skills
- Experimentation
- Recording skills
Spring term – component 2 (NEA) controlled assessment
- Student will be given the starting points as selected by the exam board.
- Students will begin the preparation process which will involve the following:
- selecting appropriate starting point
- developing initial ideas through written and visual presentation
- artist research and source selection
- visual analysis of both primary and secondary research
- material experimentation
- ideas refinement
- record refinements
- Final idea plan for 10-hour assessment
Business and enterprise
Unit 2 understanding resources for business and enterprise planning
Autumn term
- Research, resource planning and growth for business
- Human resource requirements for a business start-up
Spring term
- Sources of enterprise funding and business finance
- Business and enterprise planning.
Summer term
- Exam technique practice and revision
Child development and care
Autumn, spring and summer terms
Coursework 2 – working in child care setting
Visit our child development and care page for more information
Computer science
Autumn term
- System security
- Further programming techniques
- Computational logic
Spring term
- System software
- Translators and facilities of language
- Legalities associated with technology
Summer term
- Ethical, cultural and environmental issues linked to technology
- Data representation
Creative i-Media
Autumn term
• Types of digital animation
• Uses of digital animation
• Animation file types
• Analysing a brief
Spring term
• Storyboarding an animation
• Using animation software
• Evaluating an animation
• Types and uses of digital video
• Designing a digital video
Summer term
• Shooting a video
• Editing and cutting
• Evaluating a digital video project
Creative textiles
Autumn term
Final project (independent)
- Selecting appropriate starting points
- Selecting appropriate artist/source materials
- Developing initial ideas
- Presentation skills
- Experimentation
- Recording skills
Spring term
Component 2 (NEA) controlled assessment
- Students will be given the starting points as selected by the exam board
- Students will begin the preparation process which will involve the following:
– selecting appropriate starting point
– developing initial ideas through written and visual presentation
– artist research and source selection
– visual analysis of both primary and secondary research
– material experimentation
– ideas refinement
– record refinements - Final idea plan for 10-hour assessment
Drama
Autumn term – component 2: developing skills and techniques in the performing arts
Spring term – component 3: responding to a brief
Food and cookery
Autumn term
- Investigating specific nutrients and their importance in different age groups including people with medical conditions
- Investigating how different cooking methods will affect the nutritional value of certain foods
- What characteristics people show if they are deficient in certain nutrients
- Careers focus in the industry – menu planning for a customer base
Preparation for food presentation
Spring term
- Completion of food presentation involving taste testing
- Revision for written exam
Summer term
Exam preparation and revision
French
Autumn term – thematic contexts: travel and tourism; my neighbourhood
- Describe holiday destinations and where I would like to go
- Discuss my ideal holidays, activities
- Talk about my last holiday in detail
- Discover and talk about French regions and what they are famous for (cultural capital)
- Discuss environmental problems and actions (worldwide)
- Discuss how people can work together to protect the environment
- Talk about what I do to help the environment.
EXAM preparation for autumn mock exam listening, reading and writing
Spring term – thematic contexts: my neighbourhood; studying and my future
EXAM preparation for speaking mock
- Talk about my town (description of where I live)
- Describe where I live, my ideal home
- Discuss school subjects likes and dislikes.
- Talk about future studies and aspirations
- Talk about jobs and part-time work.
GCSE EXAM final exam preparation: Speaking (1st exam), listening, reading and writing, reading
Summer term – cont. GCSE EXAM final exam preparation: listening, reading and writing
Geography
Year 11 topic order:
- Urban issues and challenges – growth of cities, Mumbai and London case studies and sustainable cities
- Economic World – development in countries, Nigeria and UK case studies
- Resource management – changing use of food, water and energy in the UK, food as resource around the world
- Decision making exercise and fieldwork for paper 3
Graphic communication
Autumn term
- Continue with sustained phase
- Preparation for exam
Spring term
- Preparation for controlled assessment
- Seven starting points are provided on the paper and the student selects and responds to one of these
History
Half term 2 of the summer term and autumn term 1
Anglo-Saxon and Norman England [British depth study] – examines Anglo-Saxon England focusing on how society was structured and how government operated. The unit then moves to look at the impact of the Norman invasion and the social, political, cultural and economic changes that resulted.
- Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman Conquest
- How William I secured England
- Norman England
Half term 2 of the autumn term
American West [period study] – students look at how the United States of America was formed between 1835-1895. Thinking in particular about migration and settlement, removal and destruction of the Native American people, and development of transportation and industry. Anglo-Saxon and Norman England combined with American West completes paper 2.
• Early settlement of the Plains
• Development of the Plains
• Conflict and conquest
Spring term
Weimar and Nazi Germany [modern depth study] – starts with the armistice agreement and the setting up of the Weimar Republic through to the rise of Adolf Hitler to the creation of the Nazi state. This completes paper 3.
• The Weimar Republic
• Hitler’s rise to power
• Nazi control and dictatorship
• Life in Nazi Germany
Music
Autumn term
BTEC unit 2 – managing a music product
GCSE – music theory basics and compositional developments
Spring term
BTEC unit 5 – composition continued
BTEC unit 4 – performance
GCSE – Purcell analysis developments, Beethoven analysis developments and composition 1 completion
Summer term
BTEC unit 4 – introduction to composition
BTEC unit 1 – the music industry exam
GCSE – Purcell analysis, Queen analysis
Performance development
PE BTEC
Autumn term
Component 2: taking part and improving other participants’ sporting performance
- Understand how different components of fitness are used in different physical activities.
- Participate in sport and understand the roles and responsibilities of the officials.
- Demonstrate ways to improve participants’ sporting techniques.
Controlled assessment: October/November
Spring and summer term
Component 3: developing fitness to improve other participants’ performance in sport and physical activity
- Explore the importance of fitness for sports performance.
- Investigate fitness testing to determine fitness levels.
- Investigate different fitness training methods.
- Investigate fitness programming to improve fitness and sports performance.
Exam: summer term
Photography
Autumn term
Students select their 2 – 3 chosen coursework topics and spend this term improving, refining and developing these topics. Topic titles are independently chosen and driven by the students, with specialist support from staff to guide and facilitate their ideas. This is worth 60% of their grade.
Spring term
Students receive their exam paper. This consists of seven topics set by the exam board. Students select a topic and begin exploring and personalising the outcomes of the topic.
The work leading up to the exam is known as prep work. The exam project is completed during a 10-hour controlled assessment under exam conditions. Students continue to explore and finalise their topic resulting in one or more creative and personal outcomes.
Summer term
Students spend the remaining time on the course consolidating their coursework ready for hand-in at the end of May.
Product design
Autumn term
- Preparation for NEA
- Outcomes for assessment of NEA
Spring term
- Revision for written exam
Summer term
Completion of course work and exam preparation.
Science (separate)
Autumn term
- Biology: homeostasis and response
- Chemistry: rates of reaction, equilibrium and organic chemistry; organic reactions and polymers
- Physics: waves
Spring term
- Biology: inheritance, variation and evolution
- Chemistry: chemical analysis
- Physics: forces and motion; electromagnetism
Summer term
- Biology: ecology
- Chemistry: the Earth
- Physics: space
Statistics
Autumn term
Scatter diagrams and correlation:
- Scatter diagrams
- Relationships between data
- Spearman’s rank coefficient
- Pearson’s product moment correlation
Spring term
- Time series
- Moving averages
- Trends
Summer term
Probability
- Experimental probability
- Probability diagrams
- Mutually exclusive and exhaustive events
- Independent events
- Probability distributions
