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Striving for

Excellence

Empowering

Achievement

Curriculum Intent

Intent, Implementation and Impact

Responsibilities

It is the responsibility of all students to demonstrate outstanding character in the classroom by engaging with their teachers, subject content and activities provided during a lesson to develop a growth mindset and be exceptional. 

It is the responsibility of all teachers to enable effective delivery of the curriculum continually reviewing, reflecting and improving on teaching practice. 

It is the responsibility of the Heads of Faculty and Faculty Leadership Teams to monitor and improve the quality of the curriculum & teaching and learning within their department, and to offer high quality CPD. 

The Quality of Education Team and the Principal are responsible for monitoring the quality of curriculum & teaching and learning across the academy, recognising and sharing effective practice, and addressing areas of development at both individual and whole school levels. 

Governors have a duty to monitor that the processes are in place and that the school is addressing students’ learning needs. 

Curriculum Intent

To provide all students with a curriculum which develops, enriches and empowers a love of learning through quality first teaching that ensures every child knows more, remembers more and can do more

All learning is underpinned by a positive culture of reading (for understanding, knowledge and pleasure) to ensure equity of access and to deepen students’ knowledge of the wider world.

All learning is systematically checked for understanding through formative and summative assessments, which informs planning and supports students in achieving their potential.


Subject Curricula  

Every subject has an intent statement, which summarises core principles and aims for subject staff and students.  

Subject Teams have identified the golden threads that run through their curriculum. These are a combination of knowledge and skills and allow students and staff to articulate how they are improving and building expertise across Key Stage 3 and 4. Each golden thread reflects an element identified in the subject’s intent.  

At Key Stage 4 and 5, students’ work is assessed against GCSE, A Level or Vocational Qualification criteria.  

At Key Stage 3, subjects each itemise Age Related Expectations, so staff are clear what students should know, and should be able to do, at that point in their school career.  

Content and skills for each subject have been itemised and mapped, in detail, to ensure content is covered to maximise progress and retrieval across all five years.  

Quality assured Schemes of Learning are used in day to day teaching practice to deliver each unit. These include common elements, experiences, assessment and outcomes which enable effective delivery of the curriculum.  

Teaching and Learning

Quality First Teaching: The Non Negotiables  

To support the implementation of consistent quality first teaching at Aston Academy, the following non negotiable are used as a teaching and learning framework:

  • Meet and greet
  • Do Now Task
  • Modelling
  • Questioning (Cold Call and depth)
  • ERIC- Everyone Reading In Class
  • Live marking/ Navigating the room
  • End and Send. 

Each of the non negotiables are adapted by teachers to meet the needs of individuals in each class. This enables all students, in all lessons, each day to reach their full potential.

Students are expected to demonstrate and develop positive Character in the Classroom habits to support them becoming independent learners.

Continuing Professional Development Intent 

CPD for teachers at Aston aims to address areas of development at individual, departmental and whole school level in order to improve the outcomes of our students. 

Key Aspects of CPD 

CPD at Aston is: 

Responsive 

Through regular meeting and inset time devoted to Professional Development that responds to the developmental needs of teachers. 

Evidence-informed 

Teachers have access to up-to-date educational research and an array of CPD opportunities afforded to them to ensure their teaching is as evidence-based as possible. 

Individualised 

Teachers are provided time to focus on the aspects of teaching & learning that they deem to be personal areas of development, in order to drive behavioural change in their classrooms.

Subject-specific 

Through Faculty Time, teaching staff collaborate on improving areas identified in their Faculty Improvement Plans. Within whole-school CPD, staff work together the develop their own teaching and learning based on focus areas and through instructional coaching.

Appropriate

CPD opportunities are designed to support teachers based on their career stage, experience and identified areas of development. For example, early career teachers access a large part of their professional development via the Early Career Framework Programme.

Teachers at Aston are provided with the opportunity to engage in external CPD programmes, such as the range of National Professional Qualifications amid internal programmes such as the ACET Excellence Programmes. 

In addition, teachers continually engage in professional development on a range of essential areas, such as Safeguarding, SEN training, and frequent briefings regarding individual students with specific needs. 

Review and Impact

In order to assess the impact of our Curriculum, Teaching and Learning, the following structures are in place as a means of informing next steps in curriculum design, implementation and CPD opportunities for the school:  

Academy drop-ins 

Led by the Vice Principal and QofE Team, subject leadership teams work alongside members of QofE to discover the student experience of the curriculum through 1-1 conversations with students. Questions are asked around key content, skills and development of students understanding across topics and year groups.

Progress 
Ensure the progress of students is above that of their peers nationally. Progress is analysed at School and Subject level to identify strengths and areas for development in planning and/or implementation of the curriculum. 

Faculty drop-ins 

Focus on the quality of the curriculum and its implementation by teaching staff, offering feedback with reference to the Non Negotiables. 

Work scrutiny 

Focus on the learning journey in books, pride, presentation and implementation of the assessment, feedback and response cycle. 

Faculty curricular review 

Faculty leadership teams regularly review and improve their curricula, including curriculum intent. This ensures curriculum development continues in line with the key principles above. The website is then updated to ensure accuracy of information for parents and stakeholders.  Student voice is also completed at faculty and academy level to inform the implementation and development.

CPD

CPD is responsive to the developmental needs of teachers as identified in the Academy Improvement Plan (AIP), Faculty Improvement Plans (FIPs) and regular lessons drop-ins. Training programmes are evaluated to ensure they are as effective as possible.