Our Intent

At Manor, we strive to create:

  • Aspirational students who are motivated, self-regulating and successful learners who demonstrate excellent Academic Habits.
  • Caring young people with high moral standards that reflect an ever-changing Britain and who make a positive contribution to local and wider society.
  • Confident, creative and happy young people who enjoy their learning journey in a safe and healthy environment.
  • A curriculum that is inspirational and provides opportunities for the intellectual, personal, social, emotional, cultural and creative development of every student.
  • A curriculum that encourages equality and tolerance.
  • A curriculum that provides students with a valued voice and places students’ needs at its heart.
  • A culture of excellence and high achievement, where all students can achieve in relation to their starting points and where success is celebrated.

Underpinning those aims is our overall strategic intent to develop a curriculum which:

  • Is broad and balanced. Students complete a three-year KS3, studying 15 separate subjects before moving to a two-year KS4.
  • Is rigorous and important at all key stages. Each stage of the curriculum is rich, purposeful and challenging for all.
  • Provides an ambitious and broad Key Stage 5 offer, creating new opportunities and building on previous learning.
  • Creates a culture of high achievement for all students.
  • Allows all students to keep up and make progress, regardless of their starting point or individual needs.
  • Allows all students to achieve and celebrate success.
  • Supports and challenges all students.

Curriculum Principles

  • Provides appropriate continuity and progression between key stages, using assessment intelligently to inform the next steps in learning.
  • Provides clear and relevant pathways for learning, alongside the flexibility to respond to developing needs, interests and contexts.
  • Provides high-quality Careers Education and Guidance, ensuring all students are prepared for their next steps at each stage of transition and for future employability.
  • Maintains the highest standards of literacy and numeracy across the curriculum.

Every student participates in two hours of whole-year-group reading each week. Teachers read aloud to students, exposing them to a rich range of vocabulary, stories and settings. This emphasis on fluency, expression and the correct pronunciation of words maximises the benefits of shared reading for every student.

Each half term, the whole school adopts a shared literacy focus, providing staff and students with a clear emphasis on spelling, punctuation and grammar. A “Check and Change” approach to marking is applied consistently across subjects, embedding accuracy into students’ everyday work and reinforcing high standards beyond English lessons.

Curriculum Overview

KS3 

  • English – (4 hours per week)
  • Maths – (4 hours per week)
  • Science – (4 hours per week)
  • French –  (2 hours per week)
  • Humanities; History and Geography –  (4 hours per week)
  • Drama – (1 hour per week)
  • Music –  (1 hour per week)
  • Art and Design – (1 hour per week)
  • Design & Technology Rotation – (1 hour per week
  • Computing and ICT –  (1 hour per week
  • PE –  (2 hours per week
  • RE –  (1 hour per week)
  • Students also follow the school PSHE, RSE and Citizenship  curriculum, taught in a 1-hour lesson, 1 30-minute session and 5 15min Tutor time sessions with their form tutor per week
  • Students follow a collective reading course for 2 hours per week, split over 4 30-minute sessions

For those students below the expected standard in literacy and numeracy from KS2, we run literacy and numeracy booster sessions to facilitate rapid progress.  Students are removed from some lessons until they have caught up, at which point they are fully reintegrated into the curriculum. 

KS4

All students study the following:

  • English Language and English Literature (5 hours per week)
  • Mathematics (6 hours per week)
  • Science – Double or Triple Award (Biology, Chemistry and Physics) (5 hours per week for Double Award or 8 hours per week for Triple Award)
  • Physical Education (PE) (1 hour per week)
  • Religious Education (RE) (1 hour per week)
  • Option Subjects (3 hours per week per subject)
  • PSHE, Citizenship and RSE (1 × 30-minute lesson and 5 × 15-minute tutor sessions per week)
  • Collective Reading (2 hours per week across four 30-minute sessions

Wider Curriculum

Protected Characteristics

The Equality Act became law in 2010. It covers everyone in Britain and protects people from discrimination, harassment and victimisation. Everyone in Britain is protected. This is because the Equality Act protects people against discrimination because of the protected characteristics that we all have. Under the Equality Act, there are nine Protected Characteristics:

  • Age
  • Disability
  • Gender reassignment
  • Race
  • Religion or belief
  • Marriage or civil partnership
  • Sex
  • Sexual orientation
  • Pregnancy and maternity

Under the Equality Act you are protected from discrimination:

  • When you are in the workplace
  • When you use public services like healthcare (for example, visiting your doctor or local hospital) or education (for example, at your school or college)
  • When you use businesses and other organisations that provide services and goods (like shops, restaurants, and cinemas)
  • When you use transport
  • When you join a club or association (for example, your local tennis club)
  • When you have contact with public bodies like your local council or government departments

The 9 Protected Characteristics are actively promoted in school through:

  • Our school ethos statements, SIP, and SEF
  • Our school core values
  • Our school behaviour policy
  • Conscious role modelling by all adults in the school community
  • Active engagement and communication with parents and carers
  • Assemblies
  • British Values themes for a week and term
  • Discussion within curriculum subjects, taking a cross-curricular approach
  • Promoting articulation by building appropriate language and a coherent vocabulary
  • Personal, Social, Health and Economic education (PSHE) sessions
  • Religious Education (RE) lessons, RSE lessons, LGBT discussions and Protected Characteristic talks
  • Sporting, Art and Cultural Events
  • Pupil Voice and Oracy development for debating
  • Educational visits
  • Real-life learning outside the classroom
  • Guest speakers
  • Developing links with local, national and international communities
  • Extra-curricular activities, after-school clubs, charity work and work within the local community

Embedding Protected Characteristics into the whole ethos of The Manor Academy promotes:

  • Self-esteem, self-knowledge and self-confidence
  • Respect for democracy and support for participation in the democratic process
  • Acceptance of responsibility for their own behaviour
  • Respect for their own and other cultures
  • Understanding of how they can contribute positively to school and home life and to the lives of those living and working in the locality and further afield
  • An understanding of Equality, Human Rights and Protected Characteristics
  • An understanding of how citizens can influence decision-making through the democratic process
  • An appreciation that living under the rule of law protects individual citizens and is essential for their wellbeing and safety
  • An understanding that the freedom to choose and hold other faiths and beliefs is protected in law
  • An acceptance that other people having different faiths or beliefs to oneself (or having none) should be accepted and tolerated, and should not be the cause of prejudicial or discriminatory behaviour
  • An understanding of the importance of identifying and combating discrimination

Fundamental British Values

The Department for Education published strengthened guidance on improving the spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) development of young children and adolescents, including the requirement for schools to promote a set of fundamental British values with the aim of ensuring learners leave school prepared for life in modern Britain.

They have reinforced the need “to create and enforce a clear and rigorous expectation on all schools to promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.”

The Government set out its definition of British values in the 2011 Prevent Strategy, and these values have been reiterated this year (2014). Schools have a duty to ‘actively promote’ the fundamental British values of:

  • Democracy
  • The rule of law
  • Individual liberty
  • Mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.

Why promoting Fundamental British Values literacy is important

When we understand our own values, other people’s values, the values influencing society and the values affecting our environment, we are better able to choose and skilfully and consistently apply appropriate values within different contexts, thereby positively impacting real-life situations.

British values are:

  • things that we ‘value’ i.e. which are important to us and central to our lives both as individuals and collectively
  • deeply held principles that guide our thinking, choices and behaviours and influence how we manage our emotions

In accordance with The Department for Education, at The Manor Academy we aim to actively promote British values in schools to ensure young people leave school prepared for life in modern Britain.

Pupils are encouraged to regard people of all faiths, races and cultures with respect and tolerance and understand that while different people may hold different views about what is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’, all people living in England are subject to its law. British Values is taught through assemblies and the PSHE curriculum.

At The Manor Academy these values are reinforced in the following ways:

Democracy

  • We have Pupil Voice which meets regularly to discuss issues raised in class and Senior Leadership meetings. The Pupil Voice is able to effect change within the school. Pupils are democratically elected to the Pupil Voice by their peers
  • Through our curriculum children are taught about, and encouraged to respect, public institutions and services
  • Children have an annual surveys where they are able to put forward their views about the school
  • Pupils are selected at random for pupil conversations with members of the senior staff to seek their views and opinions on a range of school and community issues
  • All parents and carers are encouraged to make comments on learning at The Manor Academy through open events and surveys

The Rule of Law

  • The importance of laws, whether they be those that govern the class, the school, or the country, are consistently reinforced at The Manor Academy
  • Pupils are taught from an early age the rules of the school. Pupils are taught the value and reasons behind rules and laws, that they govern and protect us, the responsibilities that this involves and the consequences when laws are broken

Individual Liberty

  • At The Manor Academy, pupils are actively encouraged to make choices, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment
  • As a school we educate and provide boundaries for young pupils to make informed choices, through a safe environment and an empowering education
  • Pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and advised how to exercise these safely, for example through our eSafety and PSHE work
  • The Manor Academy has a robust anti bullying culture and behaviour and safety policies in place
  • Mutual Respect and Tolerance of those of Different Faiths and Beliefs
  • Mutual respect is at the heart of our values.
  • Children learn that their behaviours have an effect on their own rights and those of others. All members of the school community treat each other with respect.
  • Differences between people such as differences of faith, ethnicity, disability, gender or sexuality and differences of family situations are discussed through the PSHE curriculum and Drop Down Days.
  • The Manor Academy provides opportunities for the children to visit places of significant cultural interest, places of worship and we actively encourage visitors from a range of communities and organisations into school.

At The Manor Academy Fundamental British Values are actively promoted by:

  • Our school ethos statements /SIP / SEF
  • Our school core values
  • Our school behaviour policy
  • Conscious role modelling by all adults in the school community
  • Active engagement and communication with parents and carers
  • Assemblies
  • British Values themes for a week/term
  • Discussion within curriculum subjects / cross-curricular approach
  • Promoting articulation by building appropriate language and a coherent vocabulary
  • Personal, Social, Health and Economic education (PSHE) sessions
  • Religious Education (RE) lessons / RSE lessons / LGBT / Protected Characteristics
  • Sporting / art / cultural events
  • Pupil Voice / oracy development around debating
  • Educational visits
  • Real-life learning outside the classroom
  • Guest speakers
  • Developing links with local / national / international communities
  • Extra-curricular activities / after-school clubs / charity work / local community

Embedding British values into the whole ethos of The Manor Academy promotes:

  • Self-esteem, self-knowledge and self-confidence
  • Respect for democracy and support for participation in the democratic process
  • Acceptance of responsibility for own behaviour
  • Respect for their own and other cultures
  • Understanding of how they can contribute positively to school and home life and to the lives of those living and working in the locality and further afield
  • An understanding of Equality, Human Rights and Protected Characteristics
  • An understanding of how citizens can influence decision-making through the democratic process
  • An appreciation that living under the rule of law protects individual citizens and is essential for their wellbeing and safety
  • An understanding that the freedom to choose and hold other faiths and beliefs is protected in law
  • An acceptance that other people having different faiths or beliefs to oneself (or having none) should be accepted and tolerated, and should not be the cause of prejudicial or discriminatory Behaviour
  • An understanding of the importance of identifying and combating discrimination

SMSC

SMSC stands for Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development. All schools in England are required to show how well their pupils develop in SMSC and, at The Manor Academy, we work hard to ensure that SMSC development runs through the heart of everything we do. We actively plan this in curriculum LTP’s and MTP’s.

Our pupils are offered a wealth of experiences linked to each of these aspects:

Spiritual

Exploring beliefs and experiences; respecting faiths, feelings and values; enjoying learning about oneself, others and the surrounding world; using imagination and creativity and learning about reflection.

Moral

Recognising right and wrong; respecting the law; understanding consequences; investigating moral and ethical issues and offering reasoned views.

Social

Using a range of social skills; participating in the local community; appreciating diverse viewpoints; participating, volunteering and cooperating; resolving conflict and engaging with the ‘British values’ of democracy, the rule of law, liberty, respect and tolerance.

Cultural

Appreciating cultural influences; appreciating the role of Britain’s parliamentary system; participating in culture opportunities and understanding, accepting, respecting and celebrating diversity.

Citizenship

Key stage 3

Teaching at the Manor Academy develops pupils’ understanding of democracy, government and the rights and responsibilities of citizens. Pupils are able to use and apply their knowledge and understanding while developing skills to research and interrogate evidence, debate and evaluate viewpoints, present reasoned arguments and take informed action.

In our spiralised “Wider World: Politics and Aspirations” unit in Term 2, pupils explore what is involved in starting a country, being a citizen, democracy, political parties, parliament and MPs. Here, in line with national guidance, they are taught about:

  • the development of the political system of democratic government in the United Kingdom, including the roles of citizens, Parliament and the monarch
  • the operation of Parliament, including voting and elections, and the role of political parties
  • the precious liberties enjoyed by the citizens of the United Kingdom
  • the nature of rules and laws and the justice system, including the role of the police and the operation of courts and tribunals
  • the roles played by public institutions and voluntary groups in society, and the ways in which citizens work together to improve their communities, including opportunities to participate in school-based activities

Later in the year, in our Term 5 “Wider World: Digital, Finance and Work”, pupils explore business ethics, financial choices such as budgeting, bank accounts and savings. They also look at fake news, age restrictions and online risk. Here, in line with national guidance, they are taught about:

  • the functions and uses of money, the importance and practice of budgeting, and managing risk

Key stage 4

At key stage 5 teaching builds on the key stage 3 programme of study to deepen pupils’ understanding of democracy, government and the rights and responsibilities of citizens. Pupils develop their skills to be able to use a range of research strategies, weigh up evidence, make persuasive arguments and substantiate their conclusions. They experience and evaluate different ways that citizens can act together to solve problems and contribute to society.

In our spiralised “Wider World: Politics and Aspirations” unit in Term 2, pupils explore what is involved in being a citizen, local, regional and national democracy, elections and systems of government, national and international law, human rights and ethnic identities. Here, in line with national guidance, they are taught about:

Pupils are taught about:

  • parliamentary democracy and the key elements of the constitution of the United Kingdom, including the power of government, the role of citizens and Parliament in holding those in power to account, and the different roles of the executive, legislature and judiciary and a free press
  • the different electoral systems used in and beyond the United Kingdom and actions citizens can take in democratic and electoral processes to influence decisions locally, nationally and beyond
  • other systems and forms of government, both democratic and non-democratic, beyond the United Kingdom
  • local, regional and international governance and the United Kingdom’s relations with the rest of Europe, the Commonwealth, the United Nations and the wider world
  • human rights and international law
  • the legal system in the UK, different sources of law and how the law helps society deal with complex problems
  • diverse national, regional, religious and ethnic identities in the United Kingdom and the need for mutual respect and understanding
  • the different ways in which a citizen can contribute to the improvement of their community, to include the opportunity to participate actively in community volunteering, as well as other forms of responsible activity

Later in the year, in our Term 5 “Wider World: Digital, Finance and Work”, pupils explore budgeting, types of bank account, pay, taxation, deductions, mortgages and gambling . Here, in line with national guidance, they are taught about:

  • income and expenditure, credit and debt, insurance, savings and pensions, financial products and services, and how public money is raised and spent

PSHE Fridays

Throughout the Year pupils have a theme of the week as a pre-recorded assembly format in which they are introduced to a range of adaptable topics including human rights, remembrance, modern day slavery for example. In addition, there are current affair discussions based on that week’s news and quizzes that reference the news and the current affair.