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About the case study

This case study shows a curriculum that includes collaborative vocational provision as part of a range of key stage 4 options.

The school

Comberton Village College is an 11-16 mixed comprehensive school situated in a rural area to the west of Cambridge. There are approximately 1,100 students on roll, 11 per cent of whom have special educational needs without statements.

The school is a Leading Edge school, a training school, and has specialist sports status.

Rationale for the new key stage 4 curriculum

• to provide a curriculum that is broad, balanced and relevant
• to meet the individual needs abilities and aspirations of students
• to develop students as individual learners
• to provide for smooth progression post-16 to further education or employment.

The key stage 4 curriculum

All students follow a core programme that includes English, mathematics, science (double award), ICT (award in Digital applications), PE (GCSE short course or GCSE full course dance) and RE. Students choose from an array of single and double option subjects. A core skills option provides support for students who benefit from doing fewer examination subjects. Students may also opt for a young award scheme.
The school uses whole year group conference days to focus on PSHE and citizenship on five occasions during the year. A further three conference days, one each term, are used to focus on religious education.
Extracurricular classes at the end of the school day and in the evenings are available for students wishing to take an additional subject. These lead to GCSE art or dance, and AS economics.

The key stage 4 curriculum structure

A fortnightly timetable operates with sixty 50-minute lessons. Each option has one double and one single lesson in each week.

View key stage 4 curriculum diagram

Curriculum Review

The school’s 2003-2005 curriculum model had modern foreign languages and design & technology as compulsory at key stage 4, offering students a choice of language options and design & technology options. Students chose a further two subjects from a single option block, which included the humanities and arts subjects.

For 2004-2006 the greater flexibility offered by the new key stage 4 prompted the school to carry out a key stage 4 curriculum review. This review involved staff, students, parents and governors. The key stage 4 manager gave presentations to senior and middle managers at the school, illustrated a range of key stage 4 curriculum models and promoted discussion about further developments.

The aim of the review was to develop a flexible curriculum model to best meet the needs of each student.
Among the considerations were:

• a curriculum model structured round the four entitlement areas, with each area compulsory
• the introduction of pathways or routes
• a curriculum built around a free choice of single and double option subjects
• the development of new courses or areas of study.

A free choice of option subjects, outside the core, was the model adopted by the school (see curriculum diagram). Applied art and design and Spanish at GCSE were introduced, and a series of five whole year group personal development days was expanded to eight days in order to provide religious education as well as PSHE and citizenship.

Vocational programmes

The school provides GCSEs in vocational subjects in applied art and design, IDA, CIDA, DIDA and leisure and tourism. These are offered as double options, except for IDA and CIDA.

Approximately 40 per cent of students opt for a vocational subject at key stage 4.

As part of GCSE leisure and tourism, students have visited Stansted Airport including a behind-the-scenes tour. Students also arrange a two-day visit to Scotland to survey a range of tourist centres. The students are involved in the planning of the visit; arranging flights, and rail travel between centres.

Collaboration

The school is part of an Increased Flexibility Programme partnership with Cambridge Regional College. Engineering students travel to Cambridge to use the college facilities. Timetable arrangements are negotiated between the school's key stage 4 manager and the college's 14-16 coordinator, with the college providing teaching to fit the school's timetable.

Teaching for GCSE engineering takes place both at school and college. Group sizes are limited by practical workshop guidelines and transport arrangements. A three-hour practical workshop session at the college is made possible by the school's timetabling of two consecutive double lessons of engineering on a Monday morning; this results in two-thirds of the provision taking place at the college and one-third in school. The college session reduces to two hours per week in year 11, allowing for additional time in school to focus on preparation for the externally assessed unit.

The engineering teacher at the school accompanies the students and the sessions at the college are co-taught by the lecturer and the teacher. Students and staff benefit from the resources and expertise available at the college, and the teacher is able to support students’ work on college assignments during school lesson time. At the college the teacher’s presence ensures that work is followed up and completed, and staff from both institutions have benefited from being able to share expertise.

Year 9 students are introduced to the engineering option during design technology lessons and a presentation for students and parents is made as part of the options process. Students are attracted to the practical element of the course and the opportunity to use of off-site practical resources in addition to school-based resources.

The school is also involved in a consortium of schools and a local business that provides staff development activities and courses at a local conference centre.

Evaluation and future developments

The school has considered a range of alternatives to the Intermediate GNVQ in ICT that has proved a successful option for some students. From September 2005, the school will be offering IDA, CIDA and DIDA. From 2004, GCSE engineering students will continue to benefit from facilities at the local college and will spend additional time in school working towards the examined components of the course but this will not be continued from Sept 2005. The recent curriculum, review, and the use of Conference Days to provide PHSE, citizenship and religious education will be evaluated during the year.

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Also see

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

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Page updated: 12 June 2008
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