Curriculum

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Herne Bay High School Curriculum Statement

Herne Bay High School is a community comprehensive school located in the coastal town of Herne Bay.  It is the only secondary school in the town and as such serves a diverse intake of students. Opportunities from large and medium industry are limited with the predominant employment landscape being tourism, retail and agriculture.  Our intake stems not just from our 5 main feeder primary schools but also from an additional 16 local primary schools.  To ensure the transition from Key Stage 2 to 3 is as effective as it can be we work closely with our main feeder schools through CACOT (The Coastal Alliance Co-operative Trust)

At Herne Bay High School we aim to offer every possible opportunity for all of our students to learn and reach their full potential in a caring and nurturing environment.  Although our intake is now very much aligned to the national average in prior attainment, we recognise that our students are individuals who do not necessarily learn at the same pace and may have additional educational needs at some time in their school career.  Our curriculum intent and implementation strategy is cognisant of this fact. Our teachers and support staff will plan and deliver curricula and lessons that reflect the school’s principles, for example, in providing materials that give positive images in terms of race, gender and disability in line with our equality policy. We have a full SEND provision for students will special educational needs, including specialist support staff to work with students, full details of this provision can be found on our SEND page.

Our Curriculum

The Lower School

Lower School (Years 7, 8 and 9) curriculum is built on the premiss that all students will have the opportunity to study all subjects, regardless of their start points or circumstance and in accordance with the National Curriculum.  We believe that students in the Lower School should have access to the broadest curriculum possible and we do not believe this should be narrowed until students take their options in year 10.  In this way the curriculum can support our students into becoming well-rounded learners with a breadth of knowledge to prepare them for further study.  The Lower School curriculum aims for students to enjoy learning and develop the attitudes, understanding, skills and confidence to thrive in a changing world. All our students should have the opportunity to experience success and feel empowered and valued regardless of their start points and where their aptitudes, interest or skills lie.  

Further detail of our intent and how this is implemented on a subject-by-subject basis, can be found in our curriculum maps, which are available for each subject and each year.  Every teacher will regularly check students’ understanding by using a range of informal assessment techniques.  We also have 3 formal assessment points in the year; two mid-term assessments and one end of year assessment.  This will provide students, teachers, parents and carers with valuable information about how well students are progressing through the curriculum, in terms of knowing more, remembering more and being able to do more.

Subjects studied in the Lower School (Years 7 to 9)

*In year 9 students focus on one of the performing arts (Dance, Drama, Music) for 3 lessons per fortnight.  This does not prevent any student from studying any of these subjects for GCSE.

Mentor Time

Each student in the Lower School is assigned a mentor to support them pastorally through their learning journey. Students have two mentor sessions each day, that begin and end each day.
The sessions run as follows:

• Morning mentor session: 20 minutes
• Afternoon mentor session: 15 minutes

Options

Students in the Lower School follow a broad and balanced curriculum through to the end of Year 9.  At the start of Year 9 students will have the opportunity to follow a Performing Arts pathway. This will enable them to study their chosen Performing Arts subject in greater depth; this does not, however, narrow their curriculum choice for year 10.  All other options choices are made for the start of Year 10.  In the Spring term of Year 9 students will consider and select their option choices for GCSE study.  Students will choose 3 options from a wide range of 20 different subjects.

The Upper School

Herne Bay High School’s Upper School, Years 10 to 13, is built on the premiss that all students should have opportunity to experience success by following their passion, whether that be developing real expertise in the arts or excelling in the traditional academic subjects. We do, however, recognise the value of a strong academic foundation to keep students’ options open for further study and future careers.  In years 10 and 11 students study the Core curriculum of English Language, English Literature, Maths, Biology Chemistry and Physics. From this academic year, students in Year 10 will study the sciences as individual subjects in preparation for taking GCSEs in the separate sciences at the end of Year 11.  

Further detail of our intent and how this is implemented on a subject-by-subject basis, can be found in our curriculum maps, which are available for each subject and each year.  Every teacher will regularly check students’ understanding by using a range of informal assessment techniques.  In Year 10 students will have 3 formal assessment points in the year; two mid-term assessments and one end of year assessment.  In Year 11, students will sit formal Mock examinations, Pre-Public examinations (PPEs) in preparation for their final GCSEs.  Following each assessment parents will be informed of their student’s progress and attainment.  

The majority (around 60%) of Year 11 students progress and stay with us into a 6^th Form programme of study.  Here students can study from a wide range of A levels and other Level 3 qualifications.  The 6^th Form curriculum is carefully designed so that students can build on the knowledge they have acquired through their GCSE studies to pursue their chosen specialisms.  Students can follow a traditional route of study through a wide range of A levels, follow a more vocational path with BTECs (or equivalent) or join one of our specialist Academy routes in football, rugby and dance. Please click here to visit our 6^th Form area. 

Mentor Time

Each student in years 10 and 11 of the Upper School is assigned a mentor to support them pastorally through their learning journey.  Students have two mentor sessions each day, that begin and end each day.
The sessions run as follows:

• Morning mentor session: 20 minutes
• Afternoon mentor session: 15 minutes

Subjects studied in Upper School (Years 10 and 11)

Subjects studied in Upper School (6th Form)

Work experience is available to all students during Year 12 or 13 who would like to organise this within their private study time.

Enrichment and Learning beyond the classroom

At Herne Bay High we believe that learning takes place everywhere and that a student’s school experience can be enriched by a range of extracurricular activities.  A broad range of performance, sporting and academic activities are offered before school, at lunchtimes and after school.  Each subject works hard to identify learning opportunities beyond the classroom, whether that be external visitors or trips to support the curriculum.  Information about these can be found in each subject’s curriculum map.  Travel and residential trips are also a key part of broadening students’ horizons.  We offer trips to:

• Duke of Edinburgh 
• Pila – Ski trip
• The Ardeche - OAA
• Battlefields trip – History
• New York – 6^th form cultural trip