Curriculum

Our intent

We require an effective curriculum to enable young people to flourish as adults, fulfilling their potential and contributing significantly to their families and society. We want students to leave Skinners’ with deep academic knowledge, and with skills to succeed in a range of careers. We want to equip them to face global challenges and to make their communities a better place.

Therefore, our curriculum must lead students to learn to read with meaning in order to access the vast body of collected knowledge and literature, to communicate in a range of languages, to develop their understanding of the language of the universe, and to learn how the universe and the world work. We also need them to develop themselves culturally, physically and spiritually and to understand the role they can play in a sustainable world. We also need them to develop interests that will empower them to continue learning for the rest of their lives (a growth mindset) and to develop skills in debating, problem-solving and group work. It is our intent that they learn skills that are transferable from subject to subject, and to the outside world.

At Key Stage 3, we aim to develop broad, powerful knowledge through the widest range of subjects: a knowledge-rich, but also skills-based, curriculum. Each subject needs to develop specific knowledge, subject specific terminology and a mastery of increasingly complex skills. The curriculum will require a degree of integration so that what is taught in one subject can be complemented by what is taught in another. Meanwhile, healthy living and mental resilience will be reinforced through PE, Games, PSHE and Drama.

That deep understanding of a broad range of subjects continues in Key Stage 4, where we remain committed to 11 subjects at GCSE. Depth is achieved through three separate sciences, at least one foreign language and compulsory Religious Studies, alongside the core of English and Maths and three optional subjects. Healthy living is sustained through the continuation of core PE and Games, and PSHE, as integral parts of the school week. We adapt our curriculum to meet individual needs, particularly (but not exclusively) when those needs are related to SEND: the number of GCSEs is therefore reduced in exceptional circumstances.

It is only at Key Stage 5 that we permit the indulgence of academic specialism, empowering students to pursue their academic passions and to access the best universities. At A level our intent is to retain a broad choice but to allow students to pursue individual routes to academic success: there are no prescribed courses in the Sixth Form. Students can be differentiated in order to accommodate individual need or ambition by taking three, four or even five A levels, with the EPQ available to nurture research and specialist knowledge. It is our aim that the richness of learning at A level will develop lifelong academic passion.

Curriculum Statements by Subject