Prendergast Vale School

Key Information & Policies

Curriculum, Homework, Remote Learning and Extracurricular Activities

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Secondary Phase

At Prendergast Vale School, we believe that all students, regardless of their starting points, should have access to a broad curriculum that prepares them to become successful learners, who can make a positive contribution to society. Our aim is for every student who leaves this school at age 16 to be on the pathway to university, leading to successful careers with good prospects. Students will be exposed to a range of learning opportunities designed to develop their knowledge, skills and understanding through the subjects they learn inside the classroom and the enrichment opportunities we provide outside the classroom, to cultivate their cultural capital. The curriculum at Prendergast Vale School, will allow them to achieve academic excellence as well as build their characters to ensure they grow into resilient, confident and optimistic individuals that are able to adapt to the challenges of the 21st century. 

All students study the following subjects at Key Stage 3: Maths, English, Science, Computer Science, Music, PE, Art, Design and Technology, Spanish, History, Geography and Religious Education.

At Key stage 4, all students study the following Core Curriculum leading to a GCSE qualification in the following subjects: Maths, English Literature, English Language, Biology, Chemistry, Physics (Combined Science with some students studying Separate Science), Spanish and a Humanities subject (History or Geography).

Students then elect to study a further two subjects from this list: Computer Science, Food Technology, Music, PE, Art, Design and Technology, a second Humanities subject (History or Geography), Drama and RE.

See the Year Group curriculum booklets below for further details.

This is in addition to their statutory participation in studies which support their wider development in sports, ICT and social, moral, spiritual and cultural studies.

 

Primary Phase

In the Primary phase at Prendergast Vale, we aim to provide a memorable and inclusive curriculum which gives children not only a broad understanding of the world they live in but the social skills to interact within it.

We firmly believe that all children deserve the very best opportunities that education has to offer and so we strive to help all children achieve their full potential regardless of any barriers to learning.

We want children to be effective communicators and collaborative learners; taking risks with the resilience to make mistakes and reflect and learn from them. We raise aspirations through lessons which empower our children to be critical thinkers and independent learners. We aim to make links between topics through a spaced curriculum that is carefully designed to revisit and extend previous learning.

We intend that the children leave the Primary phase having developed the skills and knowledge to be reflective and curious thinkers with a passion for life-long learning.

As our school motto says: 

‘in perpetuum discimus’ - we are forever learning.

We develop life-long learners through:

  • Creating an aspirational high achievement culture
  • Skills and knowledge progression builds on previous learning
  • Providing a smooth transition between key stages including secondary transition
  • Carefully planned small step progression within and between lessons
  • Behaviour management that is focussed on restorative justice, dialogue and communication
  • Varied tasks that promote independence, collaboration, reflection and feedback
  • A spaced curriculum that allows knowledge to be reframed in different contexts
  • Retrieval practice that is embedded across subjects
  • Key skills and knowledge focus throughout
  • Gaps are quickly identified and provision is planned and reviewed to ensure efficacy
  • Regular pupil progress review meetings to ensure all children are achieving at their full potential
  • Mapping progress and achievements from entry to exit points

By the end of the Primary phase, all children will have experienced a curriculum that gives them the firm foundations they need for a successful continued education in our secondary phase. They will make excellent progress, achieve at their full potential and will have the skills and knowledge they need to ensure that they have the best possible start to their further education, and the curiosity and independence to pursue their interests.

If you would like more information, please email admin@prendergast-vale.com