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About the case study

This case study shows a curriculum designed on a pathways principle to provide differentiated opportunities, including one-year GCSE courses and vocational qualifications.

The school

Southlands High School is a mixed 11-16 comprehensive school of approximately 1,000 students in Chorley, central Lancashire. Around 20 per cent of students have special educational needs without having statements. It is a specialist technology college and a Leading Edge school.

Rationale for the key stage 4 curriculum

The rationale for the key stage 4 curriculum is to provide:

• a broad and balanced curriculum that meets statutory requirements
• enhanced teaching and learning in all subjects
• access to vocational learning that leads to national qualifications and promotes post-16 progression
• extension and enrichment opportunities for gifted and talented students.

Enhanced teaching and learning will be achieved partly through the school’s commitment to identifying and using the range of learning styles. During the 2003/4 academic year, lessons will end earlier on one day a week to allow time for staff development related to accelerated learning techniques.

In the belief that smaller classes maximise learning opportunities, the school organises seven or eight forms of entry into nine or 10 teaching groups; the average class size at key stage 4 is 18.5

The key stage 4 curriculum

The key stage 4 curriculum for 2003/5 is designed in three pathways, based on the needs of the student cohort. One pathway provides opportunities for fast-track GCSEs in some humanities subjects and another for vocational learning, in collaboration with two local colleges. Around 60 per cent of students follow programmes in the middle pathway (route 2 on the key stage 4 curriculum diagram), with 20 per cent on each of the other pathways.

Pathway 3 is timetabled separately. The objectives are to:

• create a relevant and accessible curriculum that extends students’ experience
• improve motivation and develop self-esteem
• promote effective learning through good attendance
• encourage participation in community activities
• enable successful progression to post-16 learning.

Students on this pathway take:

• courses leading to GCSE or entry level qualifications in English, mathematics and science (single award)
• product design as their design and technology subject, because it enables work in a range of different materials before specialising
• two vocational extension studies courses, the equivalent of three option blocks or 20 per cent of curriculum time.

The key stage 4 curriculum structure

The school operates a weekly timetable of 25 one-hour lessons.

View key stage 4 curriculum diagram

The entitlement areas

Courses in all four entitlement areas are available in routes 1 and 2, which are followed by 80 per cent of the cohort. The emphasis in the first two options is on technology and languages. Students must choose one technology subject from the five available and are advised to choose one of the two languages on offer: French and Spanish. Students have three opportunities to study art and design, with ceramics, painting and drawing, and graphics offered in three different option blocks; music is also available. The humanities are covered by geography and history, with students being able to study both subjects if they wish to do so.

Student guidance

The school’s monitoring system is used to encourage students to choose appropriate programmes of study. The system allocates points for achievement, attendance, behaviour, effort and homework, which means that students’ choices are based on attitude and response, as well as on attainment. Individual points score targets are set, and students who meet or exceed their targets are presented with certificates and other rewards. Every student has a minimum acceptable points score, based on his or her profile of ability and behaviour.

Differentiated progression

• To cater for more able students, 60 students will be taking GCSE French at the end of year 9 in 2004.
• The Humanities faculty offers one-year GCSE courses in archaeology, geography, history, law and RE. Students take one of these subjects in year 10 and another in year 11. In most cohorts there is one history and one geography group taking GCSE in a year. Both history and geography establish the basis for success in these one-year courses in their year 9 schemes of work.
• The approach in history is to provide students with notes, rather than requiring them to take notes themselves, and to focus lesson time on discussion and thinking, making use of visual material and mind maps to engage the range of learning styles.
• The approach in geography is based on case studies, the first term being spent on coursework to provide a good basis for the rest of the course and to motivate students by giving them an indication of the grade they might achieve.
• Lancashire LEA provides schools with individual student targets for GCSE, based on CAT and SAT scores. In history the one-year students largely achieve their target grade and in geography they tend to exceed it.
• AS psychology is available as an extracurricular option. The extensive range of extracurricular activities also includes support for GCSE subjects, for example art, history coursework, design and technology projects, RE and Young Enterprise activities.
• Students on pathway 3 make take GCSEs in English, mathematics or science at the end of year 10, having completed the programmes of study. This is intended to focus their efforts in year 10 and enable them to have an extended work placement of three days a week during year 11. They will have the opportunity to resit the GCSEs if they wish. A group took GCSE English at the end of year 10 in 2003 and all passed. This is regarded as positive because the students, who in some cases are unlikely to have achieved any grade at all in year 11, are motivated by their achievement.

Student experience of faster progression

In 2002, three year 11 students shared their experience of programmes offering differentiated pace. All were studying AS archaeology as an extracurricular course. Two had taken GCSEs in geography and archaeology as one-year options. They had both gained a B grade in geography and one had gained an A and the other a B in archaeology. In addition, one took extracurricular GCSE drama and attained a B grade. The third student had chosen two-year GCSE courses in addition to the AS because he did not want to overextend himself. These able students responded positively to the challenge and to courses they were interested in. The two who had taken GCSEs early acknowledged that they had felt some pressure but thought they would approach their exams at the end of year 11 with more confidence because they knew what to expect.

Also see

> Curriculum planning
> Entitlement areas
> Using GCSEs in vocational subjects within the key stage 4 curriculum

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