An inspiring curriculum for all
We believe that our curriculum is not just a list of subjects on the timetable but your whole experience throughout your time at KLB. Our curriculum aspires to be an enabling curriculum; one that ensures you’ll acquire the knowledge, skills, experiences and wider cultural capital to be successful in your adult life. Your teachers will be committed to developing their teaching so that this aspiration can be met daily in the classrooms, laboratories, workshops, art rooms and sports facilities across the school.
We very much believe in a rich and varied curriculum where you will have the opportunity to study and prosper in many very different subjects: not only English, mathematics and science, but geography and history; two foreign languages; design technology; art, drama and music; physical and religious education; computer studies: and personal, social, citizenship and health education. The range of subjects becomes even wider as you move through the school into GCSEs and A levels.
You’ll be starting your time at KLB at an exciting phase in the development of our curriculum for Years 7, 8 & 9. We have reviewed what we consider to be the important subject knowledge, skills and wider values to be taught to ensure what you learn is relevant, engaging, challenging and enjoyable. We have also put in place a new approach to assessing your progress which will not only be based on formal tests but which will give you a chance to show what you have learned in a much wider range of assessments.
Regardless of your interests and abilities, I am certain your journey though KLB will bring much enjoyment, challenge and ultimately success.
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, 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.
At Key stage 3, We have developed a new approach to assessing your progress which will not only be based on formal tests but which will give you a chance to show what you have learned in a much wider range of assessments.
Homework
Homework is an integral part of the school curriculum and an essential component of all students’ education. It helps children to become confident and independent learners and it supports their preparation for further and higher education and lifelong learning. Our aim is that children take responsibility for their own learning, that they develop into confident and committed students and that they regard homework positively as contributing to that learning. Homework enhances the work carried out in school in a range of ways including the following. It provides:
- opportunities for students to gain further practice in the work carried out in the classroom which will consolidate and reinforce skills and understanding;
- opportunities for students to develop into resilient and independent learners by attempting work without the direct support of a teacher or other students;
- opportunities for students to learn facts, vocabulary and other information more efficiently than can be achieved in timetabled lessons;
- opportunities for more general research which may not be possible within the time constraints of timetabled lessons;
- a mechanism for promoting the home – school partnership, enabling parents to appreciate what their children are learning;