The ECS Curriculum

The Edmonton County Curriculum provides a broad and balanced education for all pupils in all year groups, and reflects the ethnically, culturally and socially diverse nature of our community. We are ambitious for the young people in our school, whatever their abilities, disabilities and starting points, and we strive to ‘educate our community for success’. Our curriculum is designed to inspire, motivate and enthuse. It ensures students develop the skills, knowledge and understanding that will prepare them for future learning and employment, and to become successful citizens of the 21st century.

The curriculum in each Key Stage, year and subject enables each student to;

• develop knowledge, understand concepts and acquire skills, preparing them for the next Key Stage
• be supported in their personal, spiritual, moral, social and cultural development
• develop resilience and independent learning skills, equipping them for the next stage in their educational journey and future employment
• understand the importance of maintaining safe, healthy and active lifestyles, and personal wellbeing.

In the Secondary Phase (Years 7-11) we have planned 5-year programmes for students. As students choose their GCSE options at the end of Year 8, to start in Year 9, our curriculum documentation is produced so that Key Stage 3 is Years 7 and 8, with Key Stage 4 being Years 9-11. In core subjects, Year 9 is a transition year between Key Stage 3 and GCSE courses. The curriculum is complemented by a programme of four ‘off timetable’ Enrichment Days covering five key themes (PHSCE, RSE & Careers; Arts and Culture; Study Skills; Science and Our Environment; Sport and Wellbeing) and an extra-curricular programme. We strongly believe this model secures the best academic, developmental and cultural outcomes for our students.

At Edmonton County teaching and learning are at the heart of everything we do and based upon current research and best practice; we respect each individual child and believe all of our students have the right to reach their full potential. Consequently, we take a ‘quality first’ approach, where teachers adapt their teaching to meet the learning needs of all members of each class. Whilst teachers have the professional freedom to adapt our unit plans and associated teaching resources, we expect all lessons to have the following features to ensure that students know more, remember more and are able to do more:

• A ‘Do Now’ task: a short, engaging activity that students can attempt immediately, to recap prior learning or introduce new ideas
• The sharing and explanation of the lesson’s learning objectives, including challenge objectives
• Modelling: the introduction of new material, often using an ‘I do, we do, you do’ approach to secure good student understanding, and making cross-curricular links where these opportunities arise
• A ‘Bronze / Silver / Gold’ framework to provide support and challenge for all students
• Questioning and a range of ‘Assessment for Learning’ strategies to develop student responses and check for understanding
• Regular independent practice to consolidate understanding and teach students to be self-managing, self-monitoring, self-regulating
• A focus on literacy skills to contribute to the raising of standards in the four modes of language communication: reading, writing, oracy and listening.
• A concluding plenary task to recap learning and evaluate the progress made, and to clarify homework and revision tasks.

The downloads provide further information about each Key Stage.