Curriculum Intent and Implementation

Longfield Academy believes in providing a curriculum for its students that will equip them with the skills, knowledge and attitude to transform their community and achieve beyond expectations.

We have taken the content of the National Curriculum and blended it with the skills and ethos of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Programme (MYP) to provide a foundation in Key Stage 3 (KS3) in readiness for the rigours of KS4 qualifications. This will ‘develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect’ (IB Mission Statement) and provide ‘pupils with an introduction to the essential knowledge that they need to be educated citizens. It introduces pupils to the best that has been thought and said; and helps engender an appreciation of human creativity and achievement’ (National Curriculum Aim).

In Year 7, the curriculum is taught in College groups. This ‘schools within a school’ model makes for a smooth transition from Primary by enabling the students to work with the same peers, much like at Primary.

The embedding of the MYP allows for GCSE options to be started in Year 10. The curriculum offer is designed to provide a wide range of choices for students including the EBacc suite of subjects. The co-curriculum provides further opportunities for breadth of experience e.g. performance events are not restricted to those choosing performing arts subjects. Our students study either History or Geography and a language alongside 2 further options which ensures our students study a broad and balanced curriculum.

The taught curriculum is organised and structured into 24 lessons per week. Each lesson is 60 minutes long as we believe this provides adequate time to sequence learning within the lessons and across lessons. It allows teachers to encourage deeper thinking and understanding as a result without being rushed to a conclusion and simply learning factual information.

The co-curriculum provides opportunities for students to explore themselves, their attitudes and the world in which they live.

Through regular diagnostic assessment teachers are able to identify student strengths and weaknesses and carefully plan to fill those gaps. Data collection points (AGOS (All Grades On System)) are used by leaders to evaluate progress and provide focus for interventions where necessary.

Through regular Trust wide collaboration, best practice from across the Trust can be brought into Longfield’s practice. Having sister schools sharing the same MYP ethos enables this to take place more readily.