Curriculum

Our curriculum gives our pupils access to creative learning opportunities tailored to their individual needs. The children and young people benefit from a Spring Brook offer that is innovative and personalised and our curriculum is emerging as a strength of the school.

Together with our partners, we work to continue to be at the forefront of successful, innovative curriculum design with overall breadth and balance. As a result, the young people benefit from excellent opportunities in all aspects of our curriculum to achieve and improve their skills, knowledge, understanding and well-being.

We provide a broad and balanced curriculum at an appropriate and challenging level. This supports our young people in developing a core foundation of knowledge and skills that will prepare them for further study, training and employment. We support our young people to attain the highest level of recognised qualifications appropriate to them.

As part of the Multi Academy Trust, our young people can access all the Trust’s established and unique curricular pathways. There are a number of dedicated pathways open to pupils for whom they may be relevant, including Activ8 (Sports), Digit4ll (ICT) and Lumenus (Performing Arts). There is also a Horticulture option (Hortus) and a Pre-internship Employment pathway for students in Years 11 to 14.

Our Nurture Groups offer a bespoke learning programme and differentiated curriculum for learners who struggle to reach their potential in the main school setting. The Nurture Groups promote a ‘learning for all’ ethos that focuses on academic achievement, social, emotional and behavioural development and raising aspirations for the future. A balanced curriculum is delivered within the Nurture Group which reflects the subjects studied in the main school; accompanying these are enrichment sessions that focus on social, emotional and behavioural needs. The academic sessions aim to focus on developing literacy and numeracy skills as well as developing and improving knowledge and skills in other subjects across the curriculum. Boxhall Profile is used to assess learners’ progress in relation to their social and emotional well-being. Pupils are encouraged to reflect on their learning and set their own targets throughout their learning journey.

We have a core curriculum offer which is individualised according to need:

Key Stage 3

Pupils have a core offer of English, Maths, ICT, PSHE and PE. These subjects are taught using a variety of approaches to engage learners, for example the Maths Mastery concrete manipulative learning style continues within Key Stage 3.

Other curriculum subjects including History, Geography, RE and Science are taught on a thematic rolling programme. The themes are designed to engage learners, allowing them to research and develop key skills alongside deepening their knowledge and understanding of the world around them.

RE is taught through Super Learning Days which run across the Trust, giving pupils further opportunities. All our young people are encouraged to observe British Values in all areas of the curriculum but particularly within PSHE, SEAL and PSED.

Key Stage 4

Pupils have a core offer of English, Maths, ICT, PSHE and PE. The English and Maths curriculum is designed to ensure pupils achieve their potential accreditation and includes Functional Skills, Entry Level and GCSE qualifications. Alongside this offer, pupils access Open Awards accreditation for a variety of strands which allows them to develop important work and life skills.

There are also opportunities for pupils to access a wide range of community based projects and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme. These enable our young people to further develop vital life long skills based within the Oldham context.

Attainment in academic areas is measured across the key phases in school, from assessing pupils on the Phonics Screening, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 SATs to Key Stage 3 and 4 assessments and external accreditation.

All progress in both academic subjects and ‘learning for life’ areas is recorded, monitored and assessed using our innovative and bespoke ‘Filemaker’ Management Information System. A new system called the ‘Dashboard’ has been developed within the Trust with the support of our Teaching School and key national researchers and academics. Progress in all academic areas is measured by using ‘expected levels’ and/or the National Progression guidance. To enable secure judgements, the academic strand of the Dashboard is written using the P Scales and the National Curriculum end of year expectations. These have then been broken down into ‘I can’ statements (small steps) in order to truly reflect the progress that our young people make.

Our young people are able to access a comprehensive Careers Programme as part of the Multi Academy Trust – more details are available here.

For further information on any aspect of our curriculum, please do not hesitate to contact us.