Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. Matthew 28:19-20
Mission Statement of the School
Statement of Curriculum Intent
Our curriculum is designed to ensure students have excellent knowledge and understanding of their respective areas of study; that students can apply this subject knowledge with accuracy, consistency and discernment. At Blessed Robert Sutton; we want all of our students to be confident and fluent communicators, who can interpret, analyse and evaluate varied and complex ideas with precision.
Strategic Intent
- To ensure that students develop spiritually and morally, understanding the school’s mission to serve each other through the teachings of Christ.
- To develop a knowledge curriculum, where content and skills are explicitly outlined at every stage of a learner’s journey to ensure students are meeting the domain specific measures of progress.
- To emphasise the importance of knowledge retrieval, embedding a culture of quizzing and assessing prior content so that course content is stored within long term memory.
- To provide opportunities within the timetabled curriculum and through extra-curricular provision to enable students to demonstrate the The Sutton Way including Character skills (Leadership, Organisation, Resilience, Initiative and Communication).
Curriculum Principles
- Clear progress over 5 years accelerating student progress, outlined on each subject departmental statement of curriculum intent.
- Religious Education at Key Stage 3 and 4 is offered through 5 lessons per fortnight with subject specific teachers.
- Additional time is given to English and Mathematics to ensure that students have the essential skills needed for life and to access the full curriculum.
- Targeted support and additional challenge to ensure all students make good progress in relation to their academic starting points.
- A Key Stage Three curriculum which challenges and builds on the progress made at Key Stage Two.
- A curriculum adapted to support those who need different provision to meet their learning needs.
- Use of our Character Curriculum which supports whole school character development through the pastoral system.
- A growing extra-curricular menu through The Sutton Experience which offers sports, arts (visual and performing), and academic intervention.
- A broad and dynamic PHSCE curriculum through our Character programme which encourages student aspiration.
KS3 Curriculum (Year 7, 8 and 9)
The KS3 curriculum is taught over 25 hours per week. It covers the following subjects:
- Religious Education
- English
- Maths
- Science
- Geography
- History
- Modern Foreign Languages (French and Spanish)
- Performing Arts
- Art
- Technology: Food, Textiles and Product Design
- Computer Science
- PE
- Character
For students who are not secondary ready in terms of their English and Maths, group support is offered through our Form Time boost sessions.
Key Stage Four
Students in Year 10 will begin their KS4 course and begin to specialise in a number of subjects in preparation for their GCSEs in Year 11. Many factors influence the school’s decision to assign students to particular courses, including, student preferences, student academic profile; teacher availability; resource availability and the longevity of a qualification.
All students must study the following:
- English – Literature and Language
- Mathematics
- Science –Trilogy Science or Biology, Physics and Chemistry (At the discretion of the school)
- Religious Education
- Geography and/or History
- French and/or Spanish
- Physical Education (3 hours per fortnight) – No external examination
Optional Subjects
- Geography GCSE
- History GCSE
- French GCSE or Spanish GCSE
- Drama GCSE
- Art GCSE
- Textiles GCSE
- Computing GCSE
- Physical Education GCSE
- Design and Technology GCSE
- Food and Nutrition GCSE
EBacc
We offer a range of pathways to GCSE to meet the specific learning needs of our students but to enable them all to be highly successful:
Pathway 1 – Students who will complete Separate sciences, MFL; Humanities and Open subjects.
Pathway 2 – Students who will complete Trilogy science, MFL; Humanities and Open subjects.
Note: Both these two pathways enable Ebacc achievement.
Pathway 3 – Students who will complete Trilogy science; Humanities and Open subjects including additional support in English and Maths and extended Pastoral Programme.
PHSCE Periods
PHSCE periods take place as part of a timetabled lesson known as Character lessons.
- Students are encouraged through the curriculum to develop their self-esteem, self-knowledge, self-confidence and how these relate to the democratic process within our society.
- Students are encouraged to appreciate the range of different faiths and beliefs and why tolerance of these are part of a democratic society.
Pupils have 1 Character lesson per fortnight.