1. Whole Curriculum Design: Steve Ridgway, Vice Principal, Homewood School, Kent. Hear about how the school is
approaching curriculum change and changes to accountability measures in innovative ways, by retaining curriculum
flexibility yet allowing specialisation.
Personalisation and individual learning pathways
Reorganisation of school into a College Structure- September 2014 -The school will be re-organised into six Learning
Colleges: KS3 Discovery College, four at KS4 and a Sixth Form College. Each College will have a Head of College.
Colleges have been devised on principles of curriculum and learning. The transition to the College structure has taken
a year in planning and implementation
KS3 College- Two year KS3, which we have had in place for over a decade allows students to personalise their
learning pathways earlier and helps to maintain motivation; there is no Year 8 learning dip as students are preparing
for their GCSE choices. A two year KS3 creates greater flexibility across a resultant three year KS4 and allows a
choices system that will allow students breadth, range and depth.
There will be a small team ofKS3 specificstaff who will mentor the students they teach. This will promote the
importance of KS3 learners, avoid split classes and avoid teachers prioritising their KS4 classes. Our strong
relationship with our local Primary schools will mean that the KS3 Discovery College will be able to foster strong
learning links with KS2.SEN provision will be loaded into KS3 to prioritise helping students in Years 7 and 8 to access
the curriculum, rather than waiting to support students in KS4.
The curriculum emphasis will be twofold: Project Based Learning (PBL) and basic literacy and numeracy. Students will
develop wider skills; flexibility, teamwork, research, independence, resourcefulness and rigour, as well as a robust
foundation in numeracy, reading, writing, speaking and listening.
An independent KS3 will allow us to run a separate timetable from the rest of the school and will enable flexibility of
time for deep learning. PBL will allow a sharp focus on assessment and our five term year will continue to offer a
natural rhythm for assessments that gauge levels of progress. Projects will to help to develop culture of multiple
drafting and student ownership of and engagement in learning. Students in KS3 Discovery College all have an i-pad
and work is provided in termly i-books.
Options Process at KS4- There is an individual personal interview with the student, their parents and a member of the
options team. Choices are made by the end of February in Year 8. Students follow five courses in their core until the
end of Year 11 (English, English Literature, Maths and Double Science) and take four additional option selections over
either two or three years (but they must pick in paired combinations; either four x three year courses, four x two year
courses or two of each. If students take two x two year courses they get a further choice in Year 11, if they take four x
two year courses they get two additional choices in Year 11, meaning a maximum of eleven qualifications and a
minimum of nine. Double courses (Catering, Construction and Hair and Beauty) are all two year courses. There is
some acceleration to AS Level, but only in targeted areas with a track record of success. Students completing two
year Level 2 courses at a suitable level can take Level 3 courses in Year 11. There are some restrictions on numbers
of types of courses for breadth and balance NOT because of accountability measures (students cannot take more
than two Arts or Performing Arts courses for example). There is a wide range of courses available to students
including a number that whilst they are important and valuable to the students, ‘do not count’ towards the
accountability measures
KS4 Colleges – Students will graduate from KS3 to one of the KS4 Colleges: World, Enterprise or Arts based on the
balance of their options choices. They will be taught and mentored by teachers from the departments in each of the
Colleges. They will therefore receive specialist support.
In addition there will be one further KS4 College; the i-College, which is our own study school with high levels of
independent learning, work placements and a powerful emphasis on online study. All i-college students will have i-
pads. Students will request entry to the i-College regardless of their options choices.
KS5 – Pathways continue in all areas from KS4 into the Sixth Form College where there are currently over 500
applications for September 2014
Students have as personalised a set of learning experiences as possible; they are able to specialise from the end of
Year 8 and to retain the breadth and balance to make them competitive and marketable at KS5 and in employment
without compromise. In the same way the flexibility of our learning pathways means that we can offer freedom of
choice without jeopardising our performance outcomes.