CURRICULUM
We deliver the highly successful Literacy for Life programme developed at our sister school over the past 10 years.
WHAT IS LITERACY FOR LIFE (L4L)?
Literacy for Life is a thematic curriculum that fully covers the National Curriculum. It has been judged outstanding twice by Ofsted and students following the scheme have consistently shown more progress than any other school in Sandwell.
At its heart, Literacy for Life has 17 hours with the same teacher in Year 7, 13 hours with the same teacher in Year 8 and 5 hours with the same teacher in Year 9.
WHY DO WE DO THIS?
It has been nationally recognised that most students who come into secondary education experience a drop in their progress. This is because in most schools the strongest staff are put with Year 11 and Year 7 is no one’s priority. Starting a new school can be difficult for some students and if they are seeing 14 or 15 teachers it can be hard to settle.
This is not the case at Shireland CBSO Academy where we have a dedicated team of Literacy for Life teachers. Each teacher is focussed on the 25 students in their class, not just from an academic perspective but also getting to know the students and their families really well and forming a partnership which will really help students to progress.
Students have a dedicated classroom where they can store their work and feel comfortable as well as someone they can go to with any issues and who knows how they are performing across their subjects.
WHAT ARE THE THEMES?
Our Literacy for Life programme consists of the following subjects taught through themes.
- English
- Maths
- Science
- History
- Geography
- RE
- Drama
- ICT/Computing
- PSHE
A theme runs for between three and four weeks and has elements of all the subjects taught through it. Not every theme has the same amount of every subject as some may be more history or science focussed, but we cover the Key Stage 3 National Curriculum during years 7-9. You can discover more about the themes delivered in each year at the bottom of this page.
In Year 7 Maths is taught via discreet Mathematics lessons but numeracy and problem solving skills are also embedded within the themes where appropriate.
Literacy for Life is taught in mixed ability classes with different levels of support within the classroom for students who need to be stretched or who need more help. We look to produce work of real quality with opportunities for parents to see the work produced.
The curriculum is technology-rich with each student having their own device and ICT skills are taught throughout all of the themes. We have a balance of written work and work on the devices as we are aware that students still need to be able to write fluently and accurately.
how is the key stage 3 national curriculum covered within our Literacy for Life curriculum?
Assessment
We assess students in several ways:
The Basics
- A series of online baseline assessments in English, Maths, Science, Reading and Spelling (GL Assessments)
- Handwriting, times tables and Geographical/Historical skills
Skills Development
- Through a series of L4L Competencies that cover knowledge and skills, looking at both their academic progress and their development as people; equally important tracks to ensuring a well rounded education
- Regular pre- and post-topic knowledge retrieval quizzes that assess what students have learned within a theme
- Regular assessment of classwork evidenced in student books
- A written piece or short video where students articulate their learning
- Formal written examinations twice per year
WHAT ARE THE COMPETENCIES?
Competencies are the way we assess students in Literacy for Life.
We assess various areas of student development, some relating to academic development and others relating to how students are growing as people. Each lesson has a competency as part of it and students work to move themselves from Emerging to Advanced. There are Entry Level, Level 1, 2 and 3 competencies which become more challenging as students progress through the Academy.
These competencies are about improving students’ academic ability and ensuring they are learning both the knowledge and skills they need to succeed. For example, Social and Environmental competencies cover all of the Humanities subjects. Every lesson has an academic competency attached to it and every theme has a spread of academic competencies that students will study. Many of these are then revisited to assess students’ progress as we move through the years.
In addition to the Academic competencies, the Academy has developed a series of competencies about developing students as people. Through this we want to create students who:
- are happy, feel their school and peers support them and are enthusiastic about school.
- are healthy, both mentally and physically.
- are successful, ambitious for themselves and others.
- have strong aspirations and feel that they are capable of achieving them.
- have a sense of decency, are respectful of others both within and outside the Academy.
- have a sense of pride in their Academy, who want to be involved in all aspects of Academy life.
- are self-motivated, inquisitive and capable of independent study.
- have a joy of learning and a wish to learn.
- believe they can improve their skills and abilities through practise and hard work.
- have strong and resilient coping mechanisms to deal with change.
- are willing to take risks.
- know how to stay safe outside of the Academy.
To facilitate this, we have three competency strands:
- Personal Learning competencies assess how well students are able to learn, set goals, revise, concentrate and understand the skills that it takes to be a great learner.
- Personal and Social competencies are about learning about yourself, staying safe and healthy eating but also the ability to be respectful and to work well with others.
- Professional Development is all about considering careers for the future and looks at the world of work, how to write a CV and be a confident interviewee.
How are staff prepared to deliver the course?
Key to subject icons used in theme information below
Click on the icons for more subject information.| Subject | |
| English |  |
| Science |  |
| Geography |  |
| History |  |
| RE |  |
| Technology |  |
| Computer Science |  |
| Autumn Term | Subjects |
| Citizen Me | |
| Journey to the Centre of the Earth | |
| In Days of Old | |
| Fairy Tales | |
| Spring Term | Subjects |
| Journeys | |
| i-Robot | |
| Growing | |
| Water | |
| Summer Term | Subjects |
| Off With Your Head | |
| Silent Movies | |
| Autumn Term | Subjects |
| Pudding Lane | |
| Grand Designs | |
| Coming and Going | |
| India | |
| Spring Term | Subjects |
| Da Vinci | |
| Freedom | |
| Apps for Good | |
| Coast | |
| Summer Term | Subjects |
| Please Sir | |
| Over the top | |
| Autumn Term | Subjects |
| Whose Earth is it Anyway | |
| Tragedy | |
| Spring Term | Subjects |
| World Study: Made in China | |
| Careers | |
| World Study: America: Land of the Free | |
| Summer Term | Subjects |
| Study Skills | |
| World Study: Britain: A Living History | |
| Psychology of Learning | |
| Extended Project |
