Curriculum Intent

At Chiltern Academy we have an ambitious and aspirational curriculum which is rooted in our mission to inspire minds and build futures for all of our young people:

INSPIRE MINDS

and

BUILD FUTURES.

We aim to inspire minds with a knowledge rich curriculum that is progressive and stimulating. We aim to build futures by teaching pupils the skills, qualities and knowledge they need to have a prosperous future in the modern world.

How Do We Implement This?

Our curriculum is designed to develop our young people into Chiltern Champions that embody our values of determination, resilience, aspiration, respect and independence centred around 4 guiding principles:

• Academic rigour and success
• Well-being and character development
• Quality of delivery
• Our specialism

Academic Rigour and Success

At Chiltern Academy we teach an academically rigorous curriculum, with the EBacc subjects at its heart. This is supported by the subjects which we believe foster creativity, resilience and will prepare the children for the modern world of work. Our aim is to prepare every child with the knowledge and skills they need to go onto further study and university.

In each subject area the curriculum has been carefully planned to ensure that we are teaching the fundamental key concepts in that subject. We aim to give pupils the core foundational knowledge needed to progress.

As well as academic rigour, we believe it is of utmost importance to give pupils every chance of being successful. This is reflected in the time allocated each week to the academically rigorous subjects and will be reflected in our structure of Key Stage 4. This also means we will support all students to be successful. Pupils that require reasonable adjustments are supported to ensure they are successful. Bespoke and tailored curricula ensure that all pupils can access an academically rigorous curriculum.

Well-being and Character Development

From the moment children arrive at Chiltern Academy we begin instilling the ethos of a Chiltern Champion underpinned by our core values to start  building their resilience and character.  This is epitomised by the Chiltern Challenge: A 10 mile hike around the Chiltern Hills.  Our ‘Steps to Success’ rewards and recognition chart also places huge emphasis on our values, high effort and resilience.

We have extensive extra-curricular and enrichment programmes which are designed to give Chiltern Academy pupils experiences to develop their character and cultural capital.  We aim to develop confidence through our personal development lessons, activities and events and we promote well-being across the curriculum.

Quality of Delivery

Our biggest priority at Chiltern Academy is high quality teaching and learning.  We aim for pupils to have 25 excellent lessons every week and for the quality of education across all subjects to be consistently high.  We offer a range of subjects and strive to deliver content highly effectively.  This is non-negotiable and shapes our curriculum.

There is a huge emphasis on long-term learning and retention of knowledge.  Our curriculum is designed to continually revisit previous learning and ensure that it is embedded and retained.

Our curriculum in each subject area is sequenced in a way that enables students to continually progress and develop.  Each curriculum has been created and designed by subject experts, using the best resources and informed by up to date research around the science of learning.

Specialism

The school was set up and approved in large part due to the bespoke offer of our specialism: Engineering.

The South East area of Luton where the school is situated is synonymous with the airline and motor industries. Our curriculum is designed to prepare the pupils for future study at college and university, and tailored to the local labour market and to create the labour force Luton will need in the future with its planned developments.

We begin teaching engineering in year 7. Local labour market information reflects a shortage of engineers, and this is predicted to grow in light of planned developments in this area of the town. The school has links with local engineering companies who we work alongside. Our engineering curriculum is designed to give pupils the skills and knowledge to prepare for future study at the highest institutions, and the world of work in this field.

KS3

At Key Stage 3 we aim to give the pupils a wide and varied curriculum whilst retaining an academically rigorous focus. We have a three-year Key Stage 3. This allows all pupils to study subjects like art, engineering, performing arts, food and music for as long as possible.

KS3 Curriculum Plan

 Details of our subject specific curricular can be found in the ‘subjects’ area of the website.

KS4 Curriculum Plan

At Key Stage 4 we offer a range of subjects which build upon the learning from the KS3 curriculum and create further opportunities to inspire pupils’ minds and build their futures. All pupils will study English, Maths, Science, Geography or History. Selected pupils will study Biology, Chemistry and Physics as Separate Science awarding them 3 GCSEs. The majority of our pupils study the English Baccalaureate and are entered for GCSE French. We enter most of our pupils into this as we believe it builds their future by giving them academically rigorous qualifications. Pupils who do not enter the English Baccalaureate have more time in other subjects to try to ensure they can be as successful as possible in the subjects they study. We
believe this is paramount in order to build their future.

 Options to choose from include;

-GCSE Computer Science
-GCSE Psychology
-GCSE Business
-GCSE Engineering
- GCSE Citizenship (Law and Politics)
-GCSE RE
-GCSE PE
-GCSE Art
-CNAT Engineering
-BTEC Business
-BTEC Music
-BTEC Performing Arts
-CNAT Health and Social Care
-CNAT Basketball Academy

Details of our subject specific curricular can be found in the ‘subjects’ area of the site.    

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SEND Curriculum

In Support for Learning, our curriculum is designed to:

Inspire minds by…

● Empowering every teacher as a teacher of SEND. Inclusion and equity is a thread that runs through every area of the school enhanced by collaboration between senior leaders, teachers, support staff, external agencies, parents and most importantly, the child.
● Staff collaborating and striving to ensure that all children receive a high-quality and ambitious education regardless of need or disability.
● Placing the pupils at the centre of every decision.
● Enabling pupils’ voice to be captured and shared with the wider school community.
● Giving pupils rich personal development experiences that are accessible and personalised
● Celebrating success, using immediate feedback and praise to develop pupils’ resilience and thirst for knowledge.

Build futures by…

● Improving SEND pupils’ life skills and preparing SEND pupils for adulthood.
● Providing bespoke career advice and support to SEND pupils.
● Ensuring that our pupils are equipped with the tools needed to become independent, resilient and inquisitive learners in and out of the classroom.
● SEND pupils are treated with respect and their contributions are valued and acknowledged allowing them to become confident and ambitious.
● Supporting SEND pupils to make good progress from their starting points across all subjects.
● Staff deliberately and strategically developing pupils’ speaking, listening and social skills.

Meeting the Needs of Pupils

At Chiltern Academy we adopt a broad and balanced curriculum that meets the needs and interests of all pupils and promotes high levels of progress, attainment, increased cultural capital and enhanced personal development leading to successful progression to the next stages of learning.

Meeting the needs of pupils with special educational needs are the responsibility of all teachers and teaching staff and their needs are usually met through an adapted curriculum. The SENCO will support staff to meet these needs. We operate a graduated response to supporting all pupils including those with additional learning needs, the initial response being through Quality First Teaching. Further detail is included in our SEND Policy.

We implement a personalised curriculum to bridge the gaps in knowledge and skills and tailor it to the individual needs of our learners.

Key features of our SEND curriculum include targeted support sessions to meet pupils’ individual needs. Some of the targeted support sessions we run are;

● Phonics
● Language development
● Handwriting sessions
● One to one reading sessions
● Touch typing skills
● Lego therapy
● Music therapy
● Art therapy

● Mindfulness colouring
● Numeracy sessions
● Emotional support
● Speech & language support
● Life skills sessions

Alongside the rigorous support sessions, the following are also implemented to enrich the SEND provision at Chiltern Academy;

● Tailored Schemes of work for English and Maths
● Bespoke curricula for targeted groups
● Scaffolding and deliberate development of fundamental skills
● An emphasis on life skills and support with transition between phases and
preparation for adulthood
● Phonics curriculum (Luton Literacy Improvement Programme).
● Enrichment activities and visits
At KS4, some pupils are provided the opportunity to gain essential skills by
completing a selection of the following courses;
● ASDAN Employability Skills
● ASDAN Life Skills
● BTEC IT Skills Level 1
● BTEC Art and Design Level 1
● BTEC Home Cooking Skills
We are proud of the support that we provide to our learners and are committed to facilitating rapid progress in learning whatever the starting point.