Curriculum

Intent

At Hope View School, we educate and encourage our pupils to value their lives and place in society, whilst offering a unique educational and social experience through a Firm, Fair, Friendly, and Fun approach.  

The Hope View School Curriculum is inclusive, broad, and balanced, and provides pupils with the opportunity to develop academically, practically, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Hope View School pupils should know more and be able to do more by the end of each stage and at the time in which they leave.  

Our aim is to provide pupils with a diverse learning experience, both inside and outside of the classroom, encouraging them to foster concern for their environment and the wider world, and prepare and equip them with the knowledge and skills required for adult life and become valued and positive members in society, and develop Cultural Capital.  

We celebrate our pupils’ achievements, and establish positive relationships through effective communication, understanding, teaching, rewarding, and sanctioning, and establish positive relationships with pupils, parents, carers, and other agencies. We have high expectations of pupil behaviour, and challenge negative behaviour firmly and fairly, tracking pupils’ engagement with the behaviour expectations, and use this information to inform our curriculum and teaching.  

We promote equality, encouraging pupils to recognise and accept their differences, asking them to foster concern for each other, through care and compassion, regardless of gender, religion, and ethnicity. 

At Hope View School we have high expectations for learning, and challenge all to strive for and fulfil their full potential. Reading, literacy, numeracy, and ICT skills are fundamental to ensure that pupils progress through their educational journey and provide them with the necessary skills they require for life, in a fast moving and developing world. 

Implementation 

Our Curriculum is designed to provide pupils with the opportunity to “catch up, progress and succeed”, with most pupils starting from low starting points, and is structured to provide all pupils with the knowledge, skills and understanding to progress fluently through the stages and develop lively, inquisitive minds. The Curriculum is consistently and rigorously evaluated and reviewed to ensure that it meets the needs and abilities of all pupils, whilst encompassing, at least all the statutory requirements of the National Curriculum for core subjects; Maths, English & Science. Given the nature of the school, and to ensure that curriculum is broad and balanced, subjects and curriculums such as History and ICT have been designed for the specific needs of the pupils and school. It provides pupils with a wide range of experiences both inside and outside of the classroom, preparing them for life beyond school and develops Cultural Capital. 

Core Curriculum Plans clearly identify and highlight the key milestones that pupils need to develop and achieve to successfully progress to the next stage, through learning objectives or enquiry questions. They identify/suggest key assessment points and carefully consider the spacing from initial/previous periods of teaching and learning to the point at which topics are revisited; and knowledge, skills and understanding are developed and built upon. Plans state the impact of this learning and identifies the applications of knowledge & skills learnt in everyday life and careers to enhance our pupils understanding.  Knowledge Organisers are used to outline the teaching and learning that will take place for teachers, pupils, parents, and carers. These are used as a support tool to help teachers check whether pupils have learnt the key knowledge/skills, aid pupils in the retention of key information & skills, and act as a simple reference point for teachers, pupils and parents/carers.  

Teachers are given flexibility to adapt and change plans to meet the needs of the class or individual/s and consider cross-curricular links. This enables teachers to focus attention on those areas that may require additional teaching & learning, and forms part of their short-term planning.  Teachers use their knowledge of the pupils they teach, to ensure that all are targeted and challenged to achieve their full potential through differentiation and successful deployment of teaching assistants to support learning. 

The wider curriculum ensures that pupils can develop knowledge, skills and understanding from a broad range of subjects and competencies. In subjects such as ART, Cooking, Robotics, & Woodwork, the curriculum develops this in a schematic way, with increasing complexity and variety in skills taught and learnt. In addition, subjects such as PSHE, Physical Education, Outdoor Education, and Duke of Edinburgh afford our pupils the opportunity to develop broadly, in a wide range of environments and disciplines both inside and outside of school. These pupil experiences include attending Catch 22 to develop skills and qualifications in other disciplines such as construction, catering, and animal care. Additionally, pupils engage in Life Skills to broaden their understanding and prepare them for leaving school with skills that enable them to be independent, valued members of society.  Our SNAP Behaviour tool enables us to implement interventions and strategies to support behaviour, social, emotional well-being and relationships.  

Learning Environment 

  • Classrooms are calm yet stimulating learning environments where pupils feel safe and confident in their surroundings.  
  • Displays are purposeful and informative, and used to celebrate pupil achievement or contribute to effective teaching and learning.  
  • Classrooms are well resourced to support teaching and learning, including ICT resources. 

Quality Teaching 

  • Staff have high expectations of pupil behaviour and learning, and challenge pupils to achieve their full potential. 
  • Teachers impart knowledge with enthusiasm and motivate pupils to fully engage in their learning. 
  • Teacher planning takes into consideration prior knowledge, skills and understanding acquired to ensure challenge and progress.  
  • Teachers provide pupils with clear and accurate learning objectives, supported by success criteria that enables pupils to identify and track their journey towards its achievement.  
  • Teachers use a range of teaching strategies/resources to target varying learning styles.  
  • An expectation that pupils will develop resilience and independence and accept responsibility for their own learning.  
  • Use a variety of questioning techniques, in particular, QPN (Question, Pause, Nominate), to ensure that all pupils are given equal opportunity to process, interpret and respond.  
  • Teachers communicate effectively through careful consideration and application of tone, volume, and language.  

Data Tracking & Assessment 

  • Baseline data for each pupil is collated upon entry.  
  • Rigorous assessment and tracking of individual pupil progress is used to plan effective lessons and ensure that pupils make progress and close attainment gaps.  
  • Data tracking informs pupil progress meetings so that interventions and actions can be taken with urgency to support those not making at least expected progress (EP).  
  • Low, medium, and high-stake forms of assessment.  

Intervention 

  • Pupils/groups not making EP are identified.  
  • Provision for intervention is implemented according to need.  
  • The impact and effectiveness of interventions are evaluated and reviewed. 
  • Speech and language therapists.  
  • Occupational therapists provide strategies for intervention.  
  • Sensory Circuits.  
  • Sounds Write.  

Behaviour Management 

  • Staff have high expectations of pupil behaviour and challenge negative behaviour consistently, firmly, and fairly.  
  • Pupil behaviour is tracked and analysed to identify patterns, concerns, and improvements, informing interventions and decision making.  
  • Effectiveness of intervention and support is evaluated. 
  • Behaviour Expectations are consistently displayed in each learning environment to provide clarity and continuity for pupils and staff throughout the school.  

Marking & Feedback 

  • Teachers mark pupil work for Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar with a high focus on literacy throughout the curriculum.  
  • Subject specific feedback is provided.  

Pupils are encouraged to engage with this feedback and amend their work to make improvement.  

Impact 

At Hope View School, pupils are assessed both formally and discreetly through low, medium, and high stakes assessment. Teachers consistently use this information to track progress and plan lessons to ensure challenge for all and assess pupils against the Key Milestones identified at each stage. Key Milestones range between knowledge, skills and understanding, and pupils are challenged to ensure that they achieve at least expected progress over the course of the academic year and challenged to progress beyond this. Pupils make good progress, and many exceed the expected level of progress. Pupils know more and are able to do more by the end of each stage and when they leave. Pupil progress is consistently tracked and reported to parents, carers and other agencies through parents’ evenings, end of term reports and annual reports.  

Hope View School uses a rigorous and robust tracking system (Sonar), which is used to determine the impact of the curriculum in terms of pupil progress on a termly and annual basis. We measure the progress of individuals and groups.  

Our SNAP Behaviour tool is used to identify further interventions in terms of behaviour, and social, emotional well-being and relationships. School leaders monitor the effectiveness and impact of the curriculum, which is triangulated through pupil voice, parent/carer views and staff feedback and use this to develop the curriculum further.  

Pupils achieve well and communicate with confidence, demonstrating positive behaviours, tolerance, and resilience. Pupils feel safe in their environment and are confident to move onto the next stage in their lives and understand the importance of being a good citizen within the wider world and society. Pupils achieve well across a broad range of subjects, and leave with a variety qualifications, both academic and vocational.  

At Hope View School we measure the impact of the curriculum through:  

  • Pupil Progress Data 
  • Behaviour Data 
  • SNAP Data 
  • Pupil Questionnaires 
  • Pupil Council  
  • Parent & Carer Questionnaires 
  • Staff Questionnaires 
  • Pupil work 
  • Work Scrutiny 
  • Evaluation of the effectiveness of interventions 

 

Key Stage 2 & 3

Key Stage 4 & 5

  • English
  • Mathematics
  • Science GCSE Curriculum
  • History
  • ICT
  • Outdoor Education
  • Art
  • Woodwork
  • Drama
  • Physical Education
  • PSHE – relationships & sex education, citizenship, careers education
  • Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award
  • Level 1 & 2 Diplomas in Catering, Construction and Land Based Studies in conjunction with Catch 22 Maidstone

© Hope View School 2024

Station Approach, Chilham, Canterbury, Kent CT4 8EG
DFE Number: 886/6123 | Registered No: 5446414

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