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Ambitious Curriculum for All

Part A: Intent for Curriculum

The fundamental goal of learning at Crookhorn is to create young people who are inquisitive about the world around them. We aim to develop their motivation in growing their knowledge and skills so that their future contribution, as ‘the next generation’ of this world, is a positive one.

Our vision is that the students are inspired by learning, so they continually seek to expand their knowledge and experience outside the classroom. We encourage all our students to develop an OPEN MIND philosophy. We use OPEN MIND as a daily reminder of what learning means at Crookhorn:

It is essential to the College that we encourage students to develop a life-long love of learning, through a disciplined, yet enjoyable, approach to their studies. We expect a high level of personal commitment from all students, both inside and outside the classroom. The 6 principles of the Crookhorn curriculum are;

  • We believe it is essential for Crookhorn to have a broad and balanced curriculum encompassing a good range of choice through Foundation subjects whilst also building capacity with the EBACC subjects specifically Languages and triple science. The broadness of our curriculum enables students to develop their cultural capital whilst also find their own specific area of subject knowledge or skill expertise.
     
  • As students come into Crookhorn significantly below national average as a cohort on literacy and numeracy we believe it is essential to have a significant proportion of the curriculum committed to English and Maths. Further to this we have an extensive literacy strategy where students are encouraged to read each day and extend and grow their academic vocabulary.
     
  • ​​​​To help build capacity and resilience with our learners we have an early option in Year 10 where all students take a specific GCSE early. To ensure the success of this early entry curriculum time allows for an immersive learning experience which supports learners at all levels of attainment.
     
  • For those students where the national and GCSE curriculums are not accessible, an alternative curriculum pathway is in place that develops throughout the 5 years. This pathway enables these learners to achieve a broad and balanced education for their future whilst also providing challenge and the opportunity to develop a love of learning.
     
  • Crookhorn promotes fundamental British values and principles across all elements of its curriculum. These values are reflected in the very ethos of the College four cornerstones and are a essential part of the tutor time curriculum too. The Crookhorn PSHRE (personal, social, health, religious education) curriculum supports students to be safe, healthy, and prepared for life’s opportunities whilst delivering core aspects of religious studies to enable all students to engage with the diverse range of beliefs and ideas in the wider community.
     
  • Crookhorn’s commitment to the career’s education programme is extensive and spread across all 5 years in line with the Gatsby benchmarks. It is our absolute belief that all students at any level will progress on to the next stage of education with a pathway mapped out for their future lives. The strength of belief is recognised in our Gold Investors in Careers standard.

Implementation through teachers

The delivery of the curriculum is supported and aided by a sophisticated web based Learning Management System, which enables teachers to promote student learning independence.

‘itslearning’ is our pedagogical digital platform which incorporates a variety of methods for interaction and engagement amongst students and staff. The key principle is to allow students to access the subject knowledge and skills through the components of learning by which the curriculum is delivered. The students can use this access for the purpose of retrieval and consolidation or for the purpose of flipped learning - by pre-preparing some of the fundamentals for the next component.

Teachers plan from the curriculum map, where the learning has been carefully organised into interlinking and sequential topics. Each topic contains a Big Question which is then delivered to the students through a ‘medium-term plan’ (MTP). The MTP is made up of a sequence of components that allows for the knowledge and skills to be built up in a constructive and supportive way leading ultimately to the student being able to provide a robust answer to the ‘Big Question’.

Throughout the delivery of the component’s, teachers assess the students understanding and from this review amend the future planning to ensure that student knowledge is secure. This is an ongoing cycle throughout the year.

Check for understanding (CFU)

‘itslearning’ also plays an integral part in the completion of homework. Homework is set via itslearning and can take a number of forms, from traditional essays to low stakes multiple choice quizzes, online discussions or engaging with a clip to prepare for the next lesson. ‘itslearning’ also provides a platform for other 3rd party digital learning providers such as Maths Watch and SENECA, which teachers can also use to set homework or retrieval-based tasks.

All check for understanding and assessment grades are also kept on ‘itslearning’ for all students so that they can access their progress at all times in the subject. This also provides parental access to this information as well, thereby strengthening the academic partnership between teachers and parents.

Curriculum maps

Careers programme

The careers programme at Crookhorn College is split into two main areas: Education during PSHE and Enrichment Activities and Careers Awareness/Guidance. Both are linked together and are audited against three sets of standards, PHSE Curriculum, Gatsby Benchmarks and the CDI Framework. This is to ensure the students are prepared to take the next steps of their education/training after leaving school.

More information about our Careers education programme can be found on our Careers page:

ENTER Careers page

Impact - What the students achieve

  1. Consistently low levels of NEET every year.
  2. English and maths progress above national average.
  3. Improving student achievement since 2019 despite disruption from pandemic. This is for all groups of students.
  4. Culturally rich and diverse curricular and extra-curricular experiences which inspires student love of learning and engagement (See extra-curricular page).
  5. Behaviour for learning as a result of strong curriculum and medium-term planning resulting in significant drops in suspension rates and internal inclusion rates.
  6. Growth of student independence with learning as a result of the ‘itslearning’ platform and the way it facilitates this (Study Club engagement).
  7. Students confidence in being able to articulate a reasoned response using academic language.
  8. An oversubscribed school with is recognised for its strength of curriculum and quality of teaching and learning as well as its pastoral care and personal development opportunities.

Student Voice 2024:

“There is something for everyone here.”

“We are always told where everything is - in regard to our learning.”

“Our subjects are very supportive especially English- I love the library lessons in particular.”

“Itslearning is great; we can get what we want when we want it.”

“itslearning enables us to catch up on missed work if we are absent for a day or a lesson for what ever reason.”

“The learning environment here is nice - it is a nice place to learn.”

“There is such a variety of subjects here, its amazing - you will definitely find something you love.”
 

Should you require any further information about the curriculum we offer at the College, please contact James Collins, Deputy Headteacher via email: james.collins@crookhorn.hants.sch.uk

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