Curriculum Aims

Preston Business and Enterprise Academy is located in the heart of Yeovil in Somerset. Yeovil is a small town with a population of 45,000. It is close to Somerset's southern border with Dorset, 40 miles south of Bristol and 30 miles from Taunton. The aircraft and defense industries that developed in the 20th century are still the major employers of the town.

Due to its locality, it has long been a challenge for Yeovil schools to provide a curriculum which motivates and inspires students and one which gives them the aspirations to look beyond the town for their future education and employment.

At Preston we draw upon our knowledge of the local community and through our Business and Enterprise specialism, we engage with local employers to provide experiences for our students which help them to appreciate the wider world and what it has to offer them.

From September 2021, our reformed and improved curriculum will mean that:

Strategic intent

'Learning is defined as an alteration in long term memory. If nothing has altered in long term memory, nothing has been learnt’

Sweller et al (2011)

Our curriculum therefore aims to create:

Successful learners who enjoy learning; make good progress and achieve excellence through our strapline of ‘Bringing Learning to Life and Life to Learning’.
Confident individuals who are able to live safe, healthy and fulfilling lives. Great behaviour underpins great learning and students follow the BASICS to develop themselves as learners and as people.
Responsible citizens who can make a positive contribution to society. Our Business & Enterprise specialism underpins our work, values and behaviours and our links with industry, colleges and universities enriches students’ future opportunities and mind-sets.

We have the highest possible aspirations for & expectations of all students and this is reflected in the challenge across our curriculum, backed up by the high quality teaching.

Our Intent is to develop a curriculum which:

Creates challenge and an aspirational high achievement culture.
Provides a broad range of subjects for students to study at a level appropriate to them.
Takes into account individual needs and styles.
Allows everyone to experience success whatever their level of ability.
Takes account of students’ prior knowledge and builds upon this through a structured sequence of learning across their 5 year experience.
Raises standards of attainment in all subject areas.

The curriculum provides many opportunities for students to develop their cultural capital through:

Our Renaissance Reading scheme
A quality focus on tier 2 and tier 3 language skills using daily Knowledge Builders
Our encouragement in the participation of Art, Music and Drama
Visits to theatres, universities, sporting and cultural events
Our PSHE programme.

We aspire for all our learners to leave Preston with the skills and knowledge needed for them to be successful in the next stage of their education or employment. We want them to be ambitious for their future achievements and for us to have provided them with the tools to achieve these ambitions.

‘careful thought has been given to how the curriculum should be sequenced so pupils build a secure knowledge base and strong understanding of essential content.’

(Ofsted, June 2021)

Curriculum Implementation

Principles:

The curriculum is delivered 98% of the time by specialist teachers and shared resources mean that any lessons taught by non-specialists receive the maximum amount of support from the subject leader.
The curriculum in each subject area is designed to show clear progress over 5 years accelerating student progress. Aspects of the courses are revisited in order to help students retain key knowledge.
There should be depth before breadth. We aim to maximise learning time in all subjects through teaching The Preston Way. This also gives a uniform structure to the learning for students across the school whilst at the same time providing flexibility for teachers different teaching styles.
Formative assessment techniques built into The Preston Way ensure that learning is constantly assessed each lesson as well as the school providing regular formative assessment points throughout the year.
Additional time was added into the timetable three years ago for English and Mathematics to ensure that students have the essential skills needed for life and to access the full curriculum.
The addition of a dedicated lesson for reading has also been introduced for years 7-9 to help accelerate their reading skills in readiness for GCSE.
Targeted support and additional challenge is in place to ensure all students make at least national rates of progress.
Whole school Enterprise Days in addition to timetabled lessons help to address SMSC, PSHE, Careers and aspirations.
Additional time is offered for sports, arts, revision and aspiration through an extended curriculum programme

The Curriculum

We have a very broad KS3 Curriculum covering 14 subjects meeting all the national curriculum requirements. This is taught in 25 hours of contact time each week.

Year 7 - 9

The curriculum includes:

English
Mathematics
Science
Three Modern Foreign Languages (MFL); French, Italian and Spanish
Humanities – History, Geography
Performing Arts – Drama and Music
Creative Arts – Art and Design Technology
Computing
Physical Education
PSHE
Renaissance Reading

Four Enterprise Learning Days, when the normal lesson timetable is suspended, take place during the year. These days allow students to learn in different ways such as off site, with external providers and a range of students. These days cover subjects such as PSHE, RE, British Values, Study Skills, Careers, Pathways and Work-ready Skills.

An additional after-school enrichment programme includes a range of sporting activities, music (including orchestra and choir), drama, Coding Club. There is daily support for homework in one of our IT rooms.

Year 10-11

We have a large uptake for the more academic subjects through this options process but we also allow students to broaden their curriculum experience through the arts subjects; art, DT, Music and Drama. This curriculum is taught in 25 lessons each week, each lesson lasting 60 minutes.

All students must study the following:

English – Literature and Language
Mathematics
Science – Separate Sciences or Trilogy
Humanities and or a Language - History or Geography, French, Spanish or Italian
Physical Education (two hours per week) – No external examination
PSHE – No external examination
Renaissance Reading – In Year 9 only

Optional Subjects (at least two of the following):

Performing Arts – Drama, Music and Dance
Creative Arts – Art
Design Technology
Computing or Computer Science
Business Studies –GCSE or BTEC
Physical Education BTEC

Alternative Pathways to GCSE

For a very small number of students where the full complement of GCSEs is not appropriate we offer the Foundation Learning course, which complements their future pathways to college or apprenticeships.

We also provide the opportunity for students to study a range of vocational and other subjects through our links with our local FE College provider – Yeovil College. These are courses such as:

Screwfix Academy
Dance
Psychology

Enrichment

Enterprise Learning Days, when the normal lesson timetable is suspended, take place during the year. These days allow students to learn in different ways such as off site, with external providers and a range of students. These days’ cover subjects such as PSHE, RE, British Values, Study Skills, Careers, Pathways and Work-ready Skills.

Example programme:

	YEAR 7	YEAR 8	YEAR 9	YEAR 10	YEAR 11
29th September	Paul Stevens A Telling Tale	RE Day	Forensics	Stock Market	Nick Osborne
11th November	Shakespeare	Paul Stevens Time in a Bottle	RE Day	Nick Osborne/Mock Interviews	Strode College
4th February	Paul Stevens Virtual Reality	Dragons Den	Industry Day	RE Day/Mock Interviews	Study Day
27th April	RE Day	WW1

An additional after-school enrichment programme includes a range of sporting activities, music (including orchestra and choir), drama, Coding Club, Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme. There is daily support for homework in one of our IT rooms. These extra-curricular activities are another way for students to enjoy the subjects they may not be studying at GCSE but still enjoy participating in.

Impact

Through delivery of this curriculum the Impact will be:

Students who have detailed knowledge across a broad range of subjects
Students who have developed skills for learning which they can carry through to post 16 education and beyond
Students who achieve at least national expectations in the qualifications they obtain
These qualifications enable students to successfully move on to the next stage of their education or training
Students who have a love of reading and are willing to read a wide variety of genres
Students who have high aspirations for their future and are willing to challenge themselves to reach these aspirations.
Students who have a good knowledge of the careers and opportunities available to them when they leave school, college and/or university.

For each subject we have provided details of the key content, assessment methods, class structure and what is expected in the way of class and homework. This can be found through the year group links at the bottom of this page.

In addition to this each subject has its own Intent, Implementation, Impact statement which can be read from the links below.