Literacy and Numeracy

We recognise that ensuring that pupils are literate and numerate is fundamental in enabling them to flourish, thrive and access the next stage of their education, employment or training. The development of pupil language and oracy is a key part of our curriculum as we understand how vital it is for our students to build confidence in communication skills not only for their time in school but also to prepare them for working life and for making a difference in society. Students have opportunities to discuss, challenge and build on other points of view and to develop their formality of language to ensure they have the confidence to speak to different audiences. Tier two and Tier three vocabulary is a key part of the curriculum planning which is undertaken by our Heads of Department and Subject Leaders. Reading age testing of our students suggests that a significant proportion of our students on intake have reading ages below their chronological age and so the Accelerated Reader scheme and Reading session during tutorial time are built into our curriculum.

Numeracy skills are embedded within the curriculum. Pupils who arrive with below expected maths skills are quickly caught up through expert teaching following the Mathematics Mastery Programme and approaches to pedagogy.

Futures

We intend an impact of our curriculum to be that we develop our students for later life including the workplace. Our curriculum is regularly reviewed against reports such as the Nesta/Pearson “The Future of Skills” and the Business in the Community Essential Skills Campaign to ensure that we are

meeting, as far as well as are able to predict, the future needs of our students. Careers Independent Advice and Guidance (CIAG) is received by students in Year 7 through to Year 13. We employ our own in-house Careers Advisor who coordinates a number of programmes and initiatives including careers sessions delivered during tutor time, a careers fair, work experience (Year 10 and Sixth Form) and external speakers. Students in any year can request a careers interview and students in Year 11 and Year 13 are allocated an interview automatically. Our careers programme is regularly assessed against the Gatsby benchmarks.