KLB School Curriculum Intent

An inspiring curriculum for all

At KLB we have a curriculum that is broad and balanced. Our subject curricula are designed to make clear the most important knowledge for each subject, including subject specific skills.

From Year 7 to Year 9 our curriculum follows the National Curriculum, enhanced by most students studying two languages through Key Stage 3. Our options process for Key Stage 4 is designed to allow a wide combination of choices, whilst encouraging students to maintain their broad and balanced curriculum through continuing their study of both a language and a humanity at GCSE.

The location of KLB means that we put significant emphasis on diversity as part of the cultural capital that we want our pupils to experience. Opportunities for diversity are embedded within the planned curriculum with focus on the variety and cultural richness of both our world and our country.

As we believe that curriculum goes beyond the timetable, we offer an exciting range of sports, arts, trips and enrichment activities to all of our students. This is underpinned by our strong sense of community at KLB.

Subjects

This section of the website introduces the subjects that make up our curriculum. Across these pages you can read about how we consider the sequencing of skills and knowledge within each subject area, at each stage of education, and how these build toward agreed end points. You can read about how each subject department plays their part in promoting the key skills of numeracy and literacy, and ensures that opportunities for character development are not missed. You can access these pages by clicking on the subject links below.

Assessment

The purpose of assessment is to provide everyone involved, students, parents, and teachers, a clear indication of real strengths and areas to be developed. We work hard to ensure assessments are relevant and appropriate but also not excessive and disproportionate. Various forms of assessment are used, from formal end of year exams, practical work, unit tests to in-class quizzes. They are all designed to provide feedback that enable the learner to understand how to make the best possible progress.

Reports

Information of how progress is reported for each year group is given below:

Homework

Homework for secondary students can have an excellent effect on progress. The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) states: “The evidence shows that the impact of homework, on average, is five months’ additional progress”. Homework tasks are integral to departments’ schemes of work and relate directly to the units of study within them. Our guiding principles are focused on:

  • Purpose: All homework assignments are meaningful and students must also understand the purpose of the assignment and why it is important in the context of their learning.
  • Efficiency: Homework should not take a disproportionate amount of time and needs to involve some hard thinking.
  • Ownership: Students who feel connected to the content learn more and are more motivated. Providing students with choice in their assignments can help to create ownership.
  • Competence: Students should feel competent in completing homework and should not need help to do so. Parents should contact the relevant HOD if they feel their child is struggling to access homework for any reason.
  • Feedback: pupils should receive specific and timely feedback on homework. There should also be recognition or reward for work done.

Feedback

Feedback is a central part of a teacher’s role and can be integral to pupil progress and attainment. Research suggests that providing feedback is one of the most effective ways of improving students’ learning (studies of feedback reviewed by the Education Endowment Foundation EEF review). Subject leaders and teachers at KLB work carefully to develop effective feedback in their classrooms. They use these common key principles:

  • Set learning intentions (which feedback will aim towards) and assess learning gaps (which feedback will aim to fill)
  • Feedback should be timely and respond to the needs of the individual student so that they can actively engage with the feedback and use green pen to improve their work
  • A dialogue, both verbal and written, should be created between teacher and student. When marked books are returned to students it is essential to allow time for pupils to read the comments and engage with the feedback, using green pen to improve their work
  • Where appropriate, students should be encouraged to assess their own work, and improve their work using green pen
  • Peer and self-assessment is a valuable tool for learning that should occur regularly
  • To ensure consistency, schemes of work will be annotated to show which work pupils produce will receive detailed feedback on a blue sticker

Feedback takes different forms in our classrooms: peer, self, group, teacher marking, or verbal. Teachers use a combination of these, choosing the best form that is appropriate to the learning. We agree with these three key principles from the DfE’s Marking Policy Review Group (report) which asserts that feedback should be meaningful, manageable and motivating.

Please take the time to download and read the documents below which give more detail on feedback in KLB School:

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