Curriculum Policy

Legal Status:

• This is a Statutory Policy
• Regulatory Requirements, Part 1 Quality of Education Provided (curriculum) (teaching) of the Education (Independent College Standards) (England) Regulations 2010

Applies to:

• Whole College

To be read with:

• Differentiation Policy
• Assessment and Reporting for Learning Policy
• Teaching and Learning Policy
• Special Educational Needs Policy
• Policy for Raising Achievement

Available from:

• College Office and website

Monitoring and Review:

• To be continuously monitored and reviewed by no later than two years from the date shown below.

Signed: Date:July 14th 2011

Proprietor and Principal

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Curriculum Policy

This policy should be read in conjunction with the Albion College Prospectus

Policy Statement

It is the aim of the College to provide a broadly based academic curriculum which will be delivered within the context of the College Mission statement. The curriculum underpins the fundamental aims of the College. Within constraints on staffing and resources the curriculum will continue to:

• meet the requirements of the National Curriculum;
• be as broad and balanced as possible;
• provide a range of options for GCSE, AS and A-level courses to match the needs and aspirations of the students in those parts of the college.
• acknowledge our strengths in certain subject areas;
• be updated to meet changing national requirements.

The curriculum must be seen as the major component of a pupil’s education which, together with the pastoral care and the extra-curricular activities offered, help pupils to develop a wide range of key and transferable skills so that they leave the college equipped to become a valuable member of society. Our planned curriculum activities are organised in order to promote learning and personal growth and development. We aim to provide a challenging and stimulating curriculum which encourages an enthusiasm for learning, intellectual curiosity, creativity, personal growth and development.

It includes not only the formal requirements of the National Curriculum, but also the range of extra-curricular activities that the college organises in order to enrich the experience of pupils. It also includes the ‘hidden curriculum’, or what the pupils learn from the way they are treated and expected to behave.

We aim to enable our pupils to grow into positive, responsible people, who can work and co-operate with others while developing knowledge and skills, becoming as personally adequate, socially competent and independent as their potential will allow.

Above all, we believe in engendering in young people a love of lifelong learning. Albion College ensures that the curriculum gives all pupils experience in linguistic, mathematical, scientific, technological, human and social, physical, and aesthetic and creative education.

Linguistic This area is concerned with developing pupils’ communication skills and increasing their command of language through listening, speaking, reading and writing.

Mathematical This area helps pupils to make calculations, to understand and appreciate relationships and patterns in number and space and to develop their capacity to think logically and express themselves clearly. Their knowledge and understanding of mathematics should be developed in a variety of ways, including practical activity, exploration and discussion.

Scientific This area is concerned with increasing pupils’ knowledge and understanding of nature, materials and forces and with developing the skills associated with science as a process of enquiry: for example, observing, forming hypotheses, conducting experiments and recording their findings.

Technological  skills can include information and communication technology (ICT); developing, planning and communicating ideas; working with tools, equipment, materials and components to produce good quality products; and evaluating processes and products.

Human and Social This area is concerned with people and with their environment, and how human action, now and in the past, has influenced events and conditions.

Physical This area aims to develop the pupils; physical control and co-ordination as well as their tactical skills and imaginative responses, and to help them to evaluate and improve their performance. Pupils should also acquire knowledge and understanding of the basic principles of fitness and health.

Aesthetic and creative This area is concerned with the processes of making, composing and inventing. There are aesthetic and creating aspects of all subjects, but some make a particularly strong contribution, including ICT and the study of literature, because they call for personal, imaginative, and often practical, responses.

Values

Our college curriculum is underpinned by the values that we hold dear in our college. The curriculum is the means by which the college achieves its objective of educating pupils in the knowledge, skills and understanding that they need in order to lead fulfilling lives.

The curriculum seeks to promote the reputation of Albion College as a college with excellent standards of study, which prepares pupils for university and life-long involvement in learning. Its curriculum prepares pupils to contribute confidently to an ethnically pluralistic society.

• We value the way in which all pupils are unique, and our curriculum promotes respect for the views of each individual pupil, as well as for people of all cultures. We value the spiritual and moral development of each person, as well as their intellectual and physical growth.
• We value the importance of each person in our community. We organise our curriculum so that we promote co-operation and understanding between all members of our community.
• We value the rights enjoyed by each person in our society. We respect each pupil in our college for who they are, and we treat them with fairness and honesty. We aim to enable each person to be successful, and we provide equal opportunities for all the pupils in our college.
• We value our environment, and we aim, through our curriculum, to teach respect for our world, and how we should care for it for future generations, as well as our own.

In order to achieve these values, the curriculum will seek to reinforce the following features of Albion College:

• The confidence, talent and high aspirations of its pupils.
• The enquiring atmosphere and enjoyment of discourse which are a prominent feature of the College.
• The support given to pupils in and outside the classroom by well-qualified, enthusiastic and knowledgeable staff.

Pupils with Special Educational Needs (SEN): The curriculum and the work of the Teaching and Learning Department

If a pupil has a special need, our college complies with all legislative and best practice requirements to meet these individual needs. If a pupil displays signs of having special needs, the teacher makes an assessment of this need and in most instances is able to provide resources and educational opportunities which meets the pupil’s needs within the teaching group. If a pupil’s need is more severe, consideration is given to involving appropriate external agencies. We always provide additional resources and support for pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. This includes providing an individual learning programme (IEP) which is reviewed on a regular basis. The provision in this respect is coordinated by the Principal.

The college provides an Individual Educational Plan (IEP) for each of the pupils who are on the special needs register. This sets out the nature of the special need, and outlines how the college will aim to address the need. It also sets out targets for improvement, so that we can review and monitor the progress of each pupil at regular intervals. Where a pupil has a statement, the SENCO liaises with the pupil’s teachers to ensure that the education received fulfils its requirements and participates fully in the annual review the LA undertakes annually.

The curriculum and members of teaching staff

Members of staff ensure that the learning outcomes required to achieve the goals in the foregoing paragraphs are embodied in the teaching that implements the curriculum. Teachers ensure that an appropriate level and standard of homework is regularly set and marked so that learning outcomes may be consolidated and the needs of individual pupils identified and met

The curriculum, academic excellence and public examinations

GCSE Programmes

GCSE studies are undertaken over one academic year rather than the normal two years. Students typically enrol with us after Year 10 in their previous college and it is therefore felt that they can cope with the demands of completing the programme within one year. In some cases, students do not have sufficient English language skills to begin the programme, and, in this case, they study a pre-sessional English language programme before commencing with their GCSE studies. The maximum length of time for this pre-sessional programme is six months.

In exceptional cases, students will come to us having only completed Year 9 at their previous college. In these cases, students take the GCSE programme over two years.

As our GCSE cohort is relatively small, the number of subjects offered is smaller than in colleges with more GCSE students. However, the curriculum is designed to ensure that all students benefit from experience in different areas including linguistic, mathematical, scientific, technological, human and social, physical, and aesthetic and creative. In addition, we appreciate the need for the curriculum to contribute to the spiritual, moral, and cultural development of all students.

As the programme is delivered over one year, students take a minimum of five subjects. The following subjects are offered:

• English Language;
• English Literature;
• Mathematics;
• Statistics;
• Humanities;
• Science;
• Additional Science;
• ICT;
• French;
• History;
• Economics;
• Business Studies.

Mathematics, Science, and Humanities are compulsory subjects for all students. English Language is also compulsory for students whose first language is English. For students whose first language is not English, a linguistic element is provided through Academic English/IELTS preparation classes (five hours per week).

In addition to these assessed subjects, the timetable for GCSE students also includes:

• 2 hours physical activities;
• 2 hours creative and academic writing skills.

In addition, there are arrangements to allow students to study music and art/design. However, these subjects are not offered at the college.

A/S and A2 Programme

Our A level programme is delivered over two years. Typically students take four subjects to A/S level continuing with three of these subjects at A2 level. The study plan of Mathematics is different from that of other subjects as the complete A level is delivered over one year. Many of our students have a particularly strong background in Mathematics and it is therefore possible to advance at a more rapid speed in the delivery of the programme. This plan gives the opportunity of delivering Further Mathematics in the second year of study.

A strong emphasis is placed on helping students to choose the correct course and university for their degree level studies, and individual assistance is given to each student throughout the application process. In the last two years, we have been pleased to see students progress to high ranked universities including London College of Economics, UCL, King’s College, London, Manchester, Bath, and Durham.

University representatives come to Albion on a regular basis and students are also encouraged to attend open days at different universities before making their choice.

We offer the following subjects at A/S and A2 level:

• Mathematics;
• Further Mathematics;
• Physics;
• Chemistry;
• Biology;
• History;
• Government & Politics;
• Economics;
• French;
• Business Studies;
• Accounting;
• Psychology.

There are no compulsory subjects, although students receive individual counselling on required and appropriate subjects depending on their choice of degree course.

In addition to subject lessons, all students attend a Study Skills course with particular focus on essay construction and research methods. Students whose first language is not English also attend Academic English/IELTS preparation classes.

A/L students have the same options for additional activities as our GCSE students.

University Foundation Programme

This is a one year programme providing overseas students with an alternative to A/Levels as a progression route to UK universities. It is an appropriate route for all university degree programmes except Medicine, Dentistry, Veterinary Science, and Art/Design related programmes.

It is our own programme and is internally assessed. It has articulated progression routes to a number of universities and is accepted by the majority of UK universities. Over the last two years, students on our Foundation programme have progressed to many different universities including:

• Queen Mary, University of London
• Royal Holloway, University of London
• London Metropolitan University
• Middlesex University
• Westminster University
• Kingston University
• Aston University
• Loughborough University
• Brighton University.

The programme is delivered over three terms. In the first term, all students take the following core modules:

• Mathematics;
• ICT;
• Communication Skills;
• Study Skills;
• Academic English.

In the second and third terms, students take three depth subjects appropriate to their chosen subjects at degree level. The following subjects are offered:

• Further Mathematics;
• Further ICT;
• Chemistry;
• Biology;
• Physics;
• Economics;
• Business Studies;
• Quantitative Methods;
• Accounting;
• Government & Politics;
• Law.

In addition, students whose first language is not English attend Academic English/IELTS preparation classes throughout the three term programme.

Foundation students have the same options for additional activities as our GCSE students.

Medical Foundation Programme

This is a one academic year programme delivered over three terms. It is internally assessed. It provides progression routes to the Pre-Med Programme of M&D Europe (accredited as a Higher Education Diploma in Medical Sciences by the University of Buckingham), medical colleges in the EU including Gdansk Medical University and Cormenius University, and to the Biomedical Sciences degree programme (medical route) at London Metropolitan University.

Students on this programme are also accepted on to Pharmacy degree programmes at Kingston University, De Montfort University, and Brighton University as well as other medically related degree programmes in the UK.

From the Pre-Med programme, students can apply to UK Medical and Dental Colleges. There are also progression routes to a number of EU Medical and Dental Colleges including Cardinal Herrera University in Valencia, Spain. In addition there are progression routes to medical colleges in the Caribbean.

The curriculum comprises of the following modules:

• Organic and Inorganic Chemistry;
• Biochemistry;
• Human Biology;
• Mathematics;
• Physics;
• Biostatistics.

In addition, students whose first language is not English attend Academic English/IELTS preparation classes in the first term.

Foundation students have the same options for additional activities as our GCSE students.

Monitoring and Review

• The Principal is responsible for monitoring the way the college curriculum is implemented. This includes reviews of each subject area in its bi-annual cycle of review and development.
• The Principal is responsible for the day to day organisation of the curriculum. The Director of Studies monitors the weekly lesson plans for all teachers, ensures that all classes are taught the requirements of the courses and ensures that all lessons have appropriate learning objectives.
• Heads of Department monitor the way their subject is taught throughout the college. They examine long-term and medium-term planning, and ensure that appropriate teaching strategies are used.
• It is intended that the review and development of the curriculum will support enthusiastic and inspirational teaching. The process of review plays a key role in the continuing professional development of the teaching staff at Albion College.

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