Curriculum
Carlton le Willows Academy offers a broad and balanced curriculum which concentrates on the development of a wide variety of skills.
In Key Stage 3 (Years 7, 8 and 9) all students study English, Mathematics, Science, PE, Geography, History, French or German, Music, Design & Technology, Religion & Philosophy, Character Resilience & Wellbeing, Art, Drama and ICT.
At Key Stage 4 (Years 10 and 11), all students study GCSE English Language, English Literature, Mathematics and Combined Science. All students also take PE.
Students have the opportunity to take four further GCSE (or equivalent) option courses from our options package, which they start in Year 10. At least one humanity, History or Geography, is compulsory and most students are expected to study a foreign language. All qualifications will be completed in Year 11. See our Options booklet below for a full list of courses available.
At Key Stage 5, students can access our Sixth Form. As one of the largest in the county, we are able to offer a range of courses to suit varying abilities. Current A Level (or equivalent) subjects which are offered include English, Mathematics, History, Geography, Economics, Law, Business Studies, Travel and Tourism, Art, Chemistry Biology and Physics.
Each department has created an overview per year of pupils learning. These are designed for pupils and parents, to share key information regarding your pupils learning journey at Carlton le Willows.
For more information about any subject, contact the head of department.
Curriculum Intent
| Character | Resilient and confident individuals well equipped to lead safe, happy and healthy lives |
| Ambition | Aspirational for the future, with the skills and knowledge to reach your full academic potential |
| Respect | Ready for responsibility, respectful of others' beliefs, cultures and values with the ability to work together in all situations |
| Enrichment | Effective lifelong learners who take all the opportunities that life at CLW offers and are confident to discover new talents and passions |
| Success | Well prepared for the next steps in your journeys and ready for success in the world of work or further education |
Curriculum Delivery
At Carlton le Willows we aim to provide a curriculum with breadth and depth of domain specific knowledge and skills that enable students to progress to the achievement of a balanced range of qualifications. Subject leaders ensure that content is sequenced so that learning progresses and builds upon skills and knowledge from Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 5.
At Carlton le Willows teaching strategies that maximise learning by optimising the load on students’ working memories are used. When pupils are given new information it is passed into their working memory, our aim is that this information is passed into their long term memory. To achieve this we encourage practice.
Deliberate Practice takes place every lesson. Through practice pupils are able to move new learning from their working memory to their long term memory. Pupils are provided with feedback on their work within class and teachers make assessments which drive their planning. Teachers are responsive to the needs of pupils, the deliberate practice cycle is implemented, teachers provide opportunities to practice, formatively assess and plan accordingly.
Retrieval Practice is embedded. Pupils have opportunities to periodically revisit content covered. Retrieval practice enables pupils to further embed skills and knowledge into their long term memory, enabling greater depth when these skills are built upon in future years.
Curriculum Essentials are in place for each subject area. These are the essential skills and knowledge that run through the curriculum and prioritised for retrieval. When pupils are able to link new learning to prior learning the cognitive load is reduced and content is moved to the long term memory.
Read more about our Post 16 curriculum here.