The National Context:
As of September 2014, a revised National Curriculum for England and Wales was introduced. The schools of the Three Rivers Learning Trust have worked closely together to plan, write and deliver a new curriculum for our students. In 2014/15, the new curriculum was implemented with Years 5 and 7 and in 2015/16 the new curriculum was implemented with Years 6 and 8. From September 2014, the use of National Curriculum levels was also withdrawn and schools were given the autonomy and responsibility to develop and devise an assessment and reporting system which best met the needs of their own cohort of students. Consequently from September 2016, we have started to use a bespoke curriculum, assessment and reporting system in Year 9 at KEVI which follows on from the work in our middle schools.
Whilst these national curriculum changes have been universal and considerable, they have also given schools the opportunity to completely review curriculum, assessment and reporting arrangements and to develop bespoke systems which can be focussed on preparing students fully for the newly reformed GCSEs. As such, this opportunity has allowed for considerable innovation and creativity in designing a curriculum that we believe is right for our students moving forwards. Considerable research has gone into the design of the new curriculum at key stage 3. We have drawn on expert educational advice and practice to ensure that the curriculum we have developed has the breadth and depth required to enable students to make the best progress that they can, whilst being fully engaged with the learning opportunities provided.
How has our curriculum changed at KEVI?
All subject departments at KEVI that are following a key stage 3 curriculum have liaised fully with our 3 partner Middle Schools to create a curriculum in Year 9 to fully prepare students for their upcoming GCSE courses in years 10 and 11. The Year 9 curriculum has been developed to focus on the skills and knowledge needed for students to be ultimately successful in increasingly demanding GCSE subjects. Click here to see the curriculum and assessment frameworks being delivered in each subject at KS3.
The assessment of learning in key strands of the curriculum in each key stage 3 subject will be reported in the same way as they were in Year 8 across our Middle Schools. We will use developing, expected and mastering as an indication of the depth of understanding students gain in each curriculum strand in each learning threshold in all key stage 3 subjects.
Reporting to Parents / Carers:
As we have done previously, we will continue to formally report to parents / carers three times each year through Grade Updates. These reporting points will be in November, January and May. In Year 9 now there will be 2 separate strands to each Grade Update.
Key Stage 4
We will report predicted attainment (1-9) in English, maths and science as students are following a GCSE curriculum in these 3 subjects. In addition, where students have key stage 2 results from Year 6 we have used this data to generate estimates as to potential final GCSE grades in these subjects. These are provisional and will be formalised into personalised and challenging targets for all students at the beginning of Year 10.
Key Stage 3
This section of the Grade Update will be very similar to the reports students received in Year 8. Subjects will report on each curriculum strand at separate points in the year building on the progress made at the end of Year 8. Curriculum strands being reported in each grade update will be indicated by *.Typically subjects will report progress for each student in one of three learning thresholds.
| Learning Threshold | ||
| Intermediate | Higher | Advanced |
| Year 7 expectations | Year 8 expectations | Year 9 expectations |
In addition each subject will report on every curriculum strand by the end of the year, in line with the curriculum plan for that subject. Students from ‘out of catchment’ who did not follow this assessment and reporting system in Year 8 will have their progress reported in the most appropriate learning threshold identified by their subject teachers.
Our key stage 3 curriculum has been designed so students that are reported as reaching ‘expected’ in the advanced strand by the end of Year 9 will be fully prepared for the beginning of their GCSE studies in that subject if they choose it as an option.
Subjects taught at KEVI
Our curriculum is designed to offer a rich academic route as well as more flexibly options beyond Year 9. In addition the school can offer a highly personalised curriculum for a small number of students in Year 10 and Year 11.
Year 9
| Subject | Current Curriculum Time (hours) |
| English | 7 |
| Maths | 7 |
| Science | 6 |
| Art | 2 |
| Modern Foreign Language | 6 |
| Geography | 3 |
| History | 3 |
| Music | 2 |
| Drama | 2 |
| IT | 2 |
| PE | 4 |
| Social & Ethical Studies | 2 |
| Technology | 4 |
