All areas of our curriculum at Boldon School, is successfully adapted, designed and developed to be ambitious and meet the needs of all students. Each subject area develops their knowledge, skills and abilities to apply what they know and can do this with increasing fluency and independence.
Our teachers check pupils’ understanding systematically, identify misconceptions accurately and provide clear, direct feedback. They respond and adapt their teaching as necessary without unnecessarily elaborate or individualised approaches. This is to get the very best outcomes for our students whether they are SEND, disadvantaged or to challenge our higher ability students. This will ensure that students are ready for their next stage of education, employment or training to gain qualifications that allow them to go on to destinations that meet their interests and aspirations and the intention of their course of study.
How the Child development Curriculum supports our SEND students:
The Department for Education states, ‘Children and young people with SEND all have learning difficulties or disabilities that make it harder for them to learn than most children and young people of the same age. These children and young people may need extra or different help from that given to others.’
Boldon School is an inclusive school where every student is encouraged to develop a thirst for knowledge, to enjoy their curriculum and feel valued as a member of our school community. We are committed to the progress, inclusion and resilience of each student and support the learning journey that they require. Our curriculum is successfully adapted, designed or developed to be ambitious and meet the needs of pupils with SEND, developing their knowledge, skills and abilities to apply what they know and can do with increasing fluency and independence across all subject areas.
Students with SEND are supported in performing arts through a well devised curriculum which considers students of every ability. Many SEND students find the subject to be a release, with a lesser pressure on written work than many other subjects. We encourage students to learn their lines through the process of performing and actively rehearsing, where peers and teachers can act as prompts. This lessens the need to focus on repetitive reading, when the delivery is the key element of assessment. In Year 10 and 11 students will be expected to compliment their performances with written plans and evaluations. The faculty has created a wide range of examples, scaffolds and modelled tasks to support students with educational needs. These have proved to be successful tools when students have attempted coursework tasks.
How the child development Curriculum supports our disadvantaged students:
The Secretary of State for Education set out the government’s national plan to support children and young people to reach their full potential, regardless of their backgrounds. With an overarching goal and aim of improving social mobility through education, and delivering better educational and career outcomes more evenly across England.
At Boldon School we have 50% of our students with high levels of deprivation, but strive to raise the attainment and aspirations of all students regardless of social background. We have a robust allocation system of pupil premium funding to obtain the most successful outcomes for our students and to narrow the gaps in attainment across all subject areas.
In performing arts, we support our disadvantaged students in order for them to improve their cultural capital. This can be achieved by organising funded trips to local theatres where students can watch performances of acclaimed west end shows This supports them in their own delivery of key scripts which form our syllabus. The faculty also provides a wide range of props, costumes and make-up which students can use for any of their performances. There is no requirement for them to provide any contribution towards this.
How the child development Curriculum supports our higher ability students:
HM Chief Inspector stated, If we are going to succeed as an economy and as a society, we have to make more of our most able young people. We need them to become the political, commercial and professional leaders of tomorrow.
At Boldon school we aim to nurture scholastic excellence through a challenging curriculum where the work given to students is demanding and matches the aims of the curriculum in being coherently planned and sequenced towards cumulatively sufficient knowledge. We recognise the need to stretch and challenge all students but especially our MAT and higher ability students to obtain maximum progress.
Higher ability students are supported in performing arts through differentiated planning which allows them to reach their full potential. Teachers will present more able students with complex and challenging scripts, giving them the opportunity to develop their performance skills and flexibility. Students will often be asked to write their own storylines, characters and scripts which encourages higher ability students to push the boundaries with their literacy and creativity. Students with an interest in acting outside of school time will be fully supported in their preparation for auditions. Teachers can work with them to decide on appropriate performances in order for them to be as professional as possible.