Our Curriculum Aims

All staff at Impact School are committed to providing a high quality, ambitious and fully inclusive curriculum that enhances the life and prospects of every student. We are passionate about providing opportunities (both inside and outside the classroom) that help to enrich and support students academically, culturally, morally and socially.

Our curriculum aims to engage, inspire and challenge all learners. It builds on two layers. Firstly, a set of overarching principles that describe features important to curriculum in all subjects. Secondly, each and every subject is different, so subject-specific guiding principles reflect the unique nature of subjects.

We aim to provide opportunities for all students to fulfil their potential, setting ambitious goals and developing their capacity to be successful life-long learners, as well as building their cultural capital through a breadth of dynamic curricular, cross-curricular and extracurricular opportunities.

At Impact, every child matters. We pride ourselves on the provision of personalised learning to support every student. Therefore, we provide a variety of curriculum pathways to suit their abilities and needs wherever possible.

Our Curriculum Principles

The curriculum principles at Impact School are:

Knowledge and vocabulary rich

Our Curriculum believes knowledge and vocabulary are powerful levers to help pupils achieve success as they build and link new knowledge with prior knowledge.

Sequenced and coherent

Our curriculum is based upon purposefully sequenced content vital to ensure pupils are building on and making links with existing knowledge.

Evidence-informed

Our Curriculum follows an evidence-informed approach underpinned by the rigorous application of research outcomes, best practice and the science of learning.

Flexible

Our Curriculum offers flexibility by design so that teachers are able to use it in a way that fits our context and meets the varying needs of our individual pupils.

Diverse

Our Curriculum ensures breadth and diversity in content, language, texts and media, giving pupils a broad and rich understanding of the world, of different perspectives, and of thinking critically about sources of knowledge.

Accessible

Our Curriculum helps all pupils to learn. It uses high-quality teaching, including explicitly linking new content to previous content, chunking new content into appropriate sized blocks, giving concise verbal explanations with clear supporting visual models and illustrations, checking understanding regularly and responding accordingly, and providing scaffolding practice.

Our Curriculum Structure

Key Stage 3: Years 7, 8 and 9

• Our KS3 curriculum is designed to teach students the skills that are crucial, not just for positive academic outcomes, but also for their development as learners. Students will be prepared, academically and socially, during this time to enable them to achieve their potential within their Functional Skill or GCSE years. We aim to build knowledge to create learners who are independent and who can approach their studies with confidence, creativity and individuality.
• From Year 7, students follow an ambitious, broad and balanced curriculum which prepares them for both reintegration, into a mainstream setting, and KS4. The curriculum includes: English, Mathematics, Science, PSHE, History and Geography, as well as creative and practical subjects including Food and Nutrition, Computing, PE and Art.
• Students also take part in Career Development opportunities and enjoy off-site enrichment opportunities twice a week.

Key Stage 4: Years 10 and 11 

In Key Stage 4, we provide an ambitious but inclusive curriculum that prepares students for a variety of post-16 pathways. In addition to the core subjects of English, Maths and Science, students have access to a wide range of subjects during Key Stage 4, so that:

• All students can have the opportunity to achieve
• Students can select a curriculum that provides a range of choices and opportunities for post-16 study.
• We can provide a vocational and career-focused pathway, incorporating technical courses and a personalised curriculum.
• There is an opportunity to support some students with extra Mathematics, English and Personal Development lessons.