Curriculum Intent

At St Benedict’s, our curriculum is centred around the Gospel values of Compassion, Wisdom and Resilience. Each lesson in school is designed to stretch and challenge our students and develop within them a deep possession of each of these values.

All students receive an ambitious curriculum that gives them possession of powerful knowledge, designed to improve their life chances and maximise their God-given potential. This powerful knowledge gives students access to the best that has been thought and said in each subject area, pushing them beyond the everyday knowledge and allowing them to succeed in life, regardless of their starting point.

These ambitious values ensure that young people achieve the full potential God has for them, irrespective of ability, background or personal circumstances.

"Leaders provide an ambitious curriculum. They think carefully about the knowledge they want pupils to gain in each area of the curriculum.

Teachers have strong subject knowledge and understand how pupils learn"

Ofsted, 2022

 

Wisdom

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practise is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” Matthew 7:24

Through our curriculum we seek to provide young people with the relevant knowledge, understanding and Cultural Capital to inspire their future learning and careers and which enables them to play an active part in society, whatever their background. Our curriculum enables young people to seek truth and wisdom in their own lives and look beyond the superficial and misleading.

 

Compassion

"If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?” John 3:17

Our curriculum provides opportunities for young people to learn about the society (both local and global) in which they live their lives and to connect with others with kindness. We ensure that our curriculum is broad and balanced to enable all young people to learn about the diversity of human achievement and endeavour and the importance of mutual respect and compassion for others.

 

Resilience

"Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh" Luke 24:52

Our curriculum encourages students to learn from their mistakes, make progress and see success as an ongoing process. Our curriculum helps students to approach their futures with hope and optimism and through personalised approaches to learning, see that their own future can be a bright one.

 

Curriculum Implementation

At St Benedict's we believe that an ambitious and carefully planned and sequenced curriculum is the foundation to an outstanding education for all our students and that this will enable them to go on and succeed in life.  The curriculum is incredibly ambitious in what we want students to know and be able to do and is designed in such a way as to build on students' prior knowledge, creating links across topics and between different subject areas.

Each subject's Head of Department uses their expertise to carefully construct a curriculum promoting a deep understanding of a wide range of powerful knowledge.  Teachers plan lessons using the latest research in cognitive science and pedagogy, using strategies such as interleaving and spaced practise which encourages students to remember and be able to recall knowledge over the long term.  Teaching and learning across the curriculum builds firm foundations for students to maximise their potential and progression, making them ready for exam success and the next stage of their lives to come. 

 

Curriculum Principles

 - St Benedict’s offers a 3 Year Key Stage 3 with a focus on preparing students for a successful Key Stage 4.

 - Students have access to all traditional subjects at Key Stage 3, but there is a great emphasis on Religious Education, English, Maths, Science, Modern Foreign Languages, History, and Geography.

 - All students study a single language in Year 7 and have the opportunity to study multiple languages in Year 8 and 9. The majority of students study both French and Spanish during this time with those continuing with 1 language given extra time in this and their English studies.

 - St Benedict’s students progress towards studying the EBacc* selection of subjects at Key Stage 4 during Key Stage 3.

 - All students progress towards studying both English Literature and English Language at GCSE.

 - The majority of students at Key Stage 5 study 3 Level 3 qualifications (or equivalent sized qualifications).

* EBacc selection of qualifications – Students have to study Maths, an English GCSE, a Science GCSE, a Humanities GCSE and a MFL GCSE.