Curriculum Overview

Curriculum Intent

The curriculum at Lightcliffe Academy is designed to give all learners the knowledge, skills and cultural capital they need to succeed in life. It is ambitious, with the National Curriculum and EBacc at its core, encouraging students to aspire to achieve their very best.

The curriculum is designed and sequenced to successfully develop the knowledge and skills that students will apply with increasing fluency and independence. Students study a broad range of subjects, exemplified by the national curriculum ,throughout Years 7 to 9. Our SHARED character, alongside a focus on literacy, reading and oracy are integral to our curriculum.

We believe that the promotion of reading is central to the development of informed young adults who have a passion for lifelong learning, a love of discovering new ideas and a desire to experience new worlds. Our Forensic Reading programme in Key Stage 3 is an essential part of ensuring that students have reading as part of their routine educational experience. Forensic Reading will expose students to challenging, complex and academic texts which will not only develop students’ vocabulary but also their ability to appreciate what makes a great writer.

We want students to become more critical, more confident and be in a position in the future where they can participate it debate and discussion in an incisive and articular manner.

Our aim, through our focus on oracy, is that our students learn to talk well and learn through talk; our partnership with Voice 21 supports our staff in focusing on the development of the four strands of oracy: the physical; the linguistic; the cognitive; and the social and emotional. We recognise that exploratory talk is a vehicle to empower our students to make academic, social and emotional progress.

Through high expectations and expert teaching, students from all backgrounds and starting points will be able to achieve. The academic curriculum is enriched by a varied PHSCE programme(which includes the RSE statutory curriculum) and an enrichment programme, thus creating a well-rounded experience for Lightcliffe students, with the development of skills that will help them to succeed in further education and employment. The curriculum is tailored to meet the needs of our students and the needs of our local community.

For additional information regarding our curriculum offer, please contact Mr T Hamill, Vice Principal, thamill@lightcliffeacademy.co.uk