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 with the vast majority of students living in the CT6 postcode. 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 with 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: Years 7, 8 and 9

Lower School 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 GCSE and vocational options in Year 10.  In this way the curriculum can support our students into becoming inquisitive and 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 plans, 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 and families 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. Further information can be found here

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.
**From 2022 the PSHE curriculum will be delivered by mentors during the morning mentor time (see below). Two mentor sessions each week are timetabled PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic) sessions, additionally supported by the assembly programme. This allows students' mentors to deliver PSHE, which includes Relationships, Sex and Health education in accordance with the statutory guidance.

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. To ensure a string academic core, one of the options students take will be based around the English Baccalaureate subjects (French, Spanish, Geography, History and Computer Science).

The Upper School: Years 10 and 11

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.

The school recognises the value of a strong academic foundation to keep students’ options open for further study and future careers.  In Year 10 and Year 11 students study the Core curriculum of English Language, English Literature and Maths> Biology Chemistry and Physics are studied as individual subjects with all students sitting separate GCSEs in the individual sciences at the end of Year 11. In recognition of the importance of having a strong academic core to their studies, students in Year 10 will study at least one English Baccalaureate subject, chosen from Computer Science, Geography, History, French and Spanish.

Further detail of our intent and how this is implemented on a subject-by-subject basis, can be found in our curriculum plans, 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 (in November and February) and one end of year assessment in June.  In Year 11, students will sit mid-term assessments in November and formal Mock examinations in February and March to support the preparation for their final GCSEs. Following each assessment parents will be informed of their students progress and attainment. Further information can be found here

Subjects studied in Upper School: Year 10

Subjects studied in Upper School: Year 11

**From 2022 the PSHE curriculum will be delivered by mentors during the morning mentor time (see below). Two mentor sessions each week are timetabled PSHE sessions, allowing students' mentors to deliver the programme which includes Relationships, Sex, Health and Religious education in accordance with the statutory guidelines.

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

The Upper School: Sixth Form

The majority (around 60%) of Year 11 students progress and stay with us into a 6th Form programme of study. Here students can study from a wide range of A levels and other Level 3 (A level equivalent) qualifications. The 6th 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 6th Form area.

Subjects studied in Upper School (6th Form)

*These subjects will have additional Twilight Sessions for all students from 3.10-4pm on a Tuesday or a Thursday

Work experience is a key part of the Post 16 student experience and essential to demonstrate employability and transferable skills. Please visit the sixth form area of the website for more information.

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