The Rationale fo

1. Curriculum
Rationale for S4 – 6
The six years of education have been considered together to give a coherent and
progressive experience for all young people from 11 to 18. Transition to secondary
school from primary schools, and from secondary school to other destinations,
college, apprenticeship, employment, university, volunteer internships etc must also
be considered to provide a continuity of learning experience for all.
To provide a specialist curriculum for the senior phase which allows all to achieve
the qualifications and experiences, skills and capacities necessary to move to a
positive destination at the end of the fourth, fifth or sixth year of a young person’s
secondary schooling or at the end of the second term in the sixth year.
The fourth to the sixth year is the Senior Phase where there is specialisation. The
cohort in Senior 1 will be almost all from the fourth year but there may be some from
the fifth year. Some at the end of fourth year may choose to move from school to
college; apprenticeship, work etc and their needs must also be catered for in this
phase.
The cohort in Senior 2 will be mainly young people from fifth year with some from
sixth year.
Senior 3 and 4 are designed to meet the needs of the sixth year cohort and other
young people who have fast-tracked through the previous two years, who are
planning to study Advanced Highers and move on to Higher Education at the end of
the year. From past experience, there are likely to be very few young people in this
category.
All within the senior phase are entitled to
A curriculum which is coherent
The opportunity to obtain qualifications as well as to continue to develop the
attitudes and capabilities of the four capacities
Opportunities to develop skills for learning, skills for life and skills for work with
a continuous focus on literacy, numeracy and health and well being
Personal support to enable them to gain as much as possible from the
opportunities that Curriculum for Excellence can provide
Support in moving to a positive and sustained destination beyond school

2. Proposal for the Senior Phase
• Learners in S4, S5 and S6 will be considered together as a single cohort for
timetabling to classes of particular subjects and levels. Learners needs and
levels must be appropriate and secure.
• Selection of subjects in the Senior Phase will follow a process of subject
choice at the end of the third year. At present the proposal is the choice of
five subjects for almost all young people. Young people will have access to
any course on offer in the Senior Phase to construct their own programme of
study according to their needs and abilities. (This ‘free choice’ will then be
used to construct a timetable.)
• The balance of S4, S5 and S6 in a class will depend on the level. The level
advised for a pupil will be dependent on progress made up to the end of the
General+ phase.
• All should be able to move into the new qualifications framework at a level
that is appropriate to their needs. The range of provision could be from a mix
of Access courses, discrete literacy units and numeracy units, life skills,
supported work experience college input, intensive careers input, wider
achievement opportunities e.g. Duke of Edinburgh Award, skills for work
units, ASDAN, John Muir Award etc. Through to learners studying for Higher
in the fourth year. The expectation is in Northfield Academy that the majority
in fourth year will move into the new National 4 qualification leading to
National 5 in the fifth year, there will be a minority who will achieve National 5
in S4 so therefore go on to Higher in S5. There is an expectation that most will
sit an examination at the end of S4 but some will NOT sit the exam and will
then move seamlessly through to Higher in S5. There is an assumption that
the articulation between National 5 and Higher will allow this to happen.
• Most will progress through their course for two years. There will be the
opportunity to change course at the end of fourth year, taking the appropriate
qualification then. However it is expected that with the preparation for the
Senior Phase provided up to the end of the third year, this will be rare. There
will be some young people who have expressed a desire to leave at the end
of fourth year and their programme will have been tailored to meet this desire.
• In Senior 1, 2, and 3 literacy, numeracy, IT and health and wellbeing will
continue to be embedded in the curriculum. There is built in to the school
week, dedicated time for Physical Education, PSE/RME, Enterprise and study
time. The study time will allow time with the register teacher and Principal
Teachers to monitor progress in all aspects of the curriculum, support, and
advice.

3. • Learners returning for a sixth year of school could be following a full
programme of formal challenging course or studying for four/five subjects with
an additional limited amount of study time and compulsory leadership team
involvement/ leading learners (or should it be learning leaders!) offering
support for younger learners. (Good example Torry Academy)
• An evaluation of sixth year progress would be made just after the New Year.
This could lead to several options. Some might continue on their chosen
course of study i.e. remaining in Senior 3. Others might complete units and
have these assessed and then leave school. Others might choose to move
into Senior 4 and have the opportunity to opt for a reduced number of formal
subjects using the remaining time to follow a personalised planned
programme. This could involve increased leadership team /learning leader
involvement; wider achievement opportunities e.g. CSLA, D of E, work
experience or internships with employers to match a young person’s career
path; volunteering or a more formal volunteer internship working with local
volunteering organizations; vocational qualifications; HNC units at college;
other wider achievement courses at college; open university units
Next steps
Curriculum
External partnerships and their place in the curriculum and its development
Detail of the co-curricular programme which is part of the ‘curriculum’ and
which meets all the principles of CfE
Reference to be made to achievement and how this is recorded, measured
and recognised
What will be the model for work experience in the future?
Should ‘masterclasses’ be built in to the Senior Phase? This could be exciting
at this stage – bringing in staff from universities.
Learning and teaching
Learning and teaching through the ‘classroom without walls’ – virtual learning
supported by workshops, seminars and tutorials, learning in places other than
the school, consortia arrangements with other schools and GLOW.
Personal Support
Link to the new personal support operating from 2011/12 in Northfield
Academy which is in line with Curriculum for Excellence
Arrangements to support the purposes of learning
Assessment and how this fits with the curriculum, BtC5
What ‘qualification’ or recognition for completing the phase of broad, general
education should there be? Could there be a Scottish Certificate of
Achievement which recognises a broad range of achievements, skills and

4. attributes? This could be the foundation for the certificated curriculum post-
General+. It should also give an indication of progress in skills for learning,
life and work.
Assessment of numeracy and literacy
What will courses in the Senior Phase look like? How will they be assessed?
Professional development
Resourcing – restrictions because of financial constraints – how do we ensure
no reduction in the quality of the core provision?
Staffing to cope with choices in the General+ sessions
This is Northfield Academy’s vision for the future and we as a group acknowledge
that staff are being asked to think outside the box. This implemented well would
continue to meet the needs of our learners.