The David Ross Education Trust

David Ross Education Trust schools create a rich and exciting learning environment that inspires students to become their confident, academic best.

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Skegness Grammar School

We produce well-rounded individuals, and take pride in their personal achievements. Our students aspire to high academic success, whilst enjoying a variety of extra curricular opportunities.

Curriculum

The vision for our curriculum

At Skegness Grammar School we are unashamedly ambitious and make no apology for the level of academic challenge provided by our curriculum offer. We value the acquisition of powerful knowledge as a core aim of our curriculum and believe that this is an entitlement for all children irrespective of their personal circumstance or our local context.

As well as striving for academic excellence, Skegness Grammar School is also committed to cultivating responsible and compassionate citizens. We should strive for the highest academic standards, but our education is also focussed on students learning about themselves and the rest of society. We aim to foster confident, responsible and emotionally intelligent students and prepare them to be the leaders of tomorrow.

The Enrichment and sporting offer at Skegness Grammar School is world class. Academic rigour within a curriculum plays a fundamental part in ensuring pupils build up the knowledge needed to have wider, higher level debate and conversation. Alongside this, our personal development program for enrichment, PSHE and social studies aims to expose pupils to the places, language and culture required to confidently participate and access those institutions and establishments.

Curriculum Aims

Our curriculum aims are based around our 4 key principles of the David Ross Education Trust to broaden horizons. These are Aspiration (always aiming high), Ambition (being the best you can be), Courage (nothing holds us back) and Respect (always leading by example).

To create:

  • Scholars who are ambitions and aspire to high academic achievement.
  • Polite, well-mannered individuals who are articulate in conversation and debates.
  • Highly successful adults that make a positive contribution to wider society.
  • Adults that are confident to participate and attend culturally rich events and establishments.

Underpinning principles of our curriculum

The curriculum is the progression model. This means that:

1. Knowledge is cumulative so builds throughout the curriculum design
2 For knowledge to build, new knowledge must be linked to previously taught content
3. Memorisation and fluency of core knowledge is fundamental

Powerful knowledge must be attached to subject specific concepts, themes and threads
Each subject curriculum is fully mapped out from Year 7 to Post-16 to enable the successful transitions between Key Stages and further study

Personal Development

Skegness Grammar School offers a Social Studies to all pupils, from Key Stage 3 to Key Stage 5. This program of study delivers a comprehensive PSHME provision across the school that also embeds British Values and Citizenship within its design. Furthermore, pupils will receive career education, information & guidance, which aims to support them in achieving their long-term high aspirations and ambitions. The school also holds an enrichment week in the summer term to enable all pupils to develop key life skills and build experiences outside of the classroom.

In Year 7 and Year 8, there is an additional enrichment curriculum offer which adds further cultural capital and focusses on more broader abilities, such as debating and speaking in public. Although we believe that generic skills don’t exist, pupils need to have opportunities to build up their confidence in articulating an argument and then speaking in front of an audience.

As pupils progress into sixth form, they receive an impartial CAIG curriculum offer. This ensures that pupils are knowledgeable on the different routes they can take once they leave Skegness Grammar School. We are unashamedly aspirational for our pupils, and there is a renewed drive to ensure our pupils are well equipped to attend the top educational establishments if they so wish. Therefore, we offer an OXBRIDGE class once a week to pupils who aspire to become OXBRIDGE undergraduates.   

Curriculum Organising

At Skegness Grammar School we want to ensure pupils have a knowledge base that is five miles wide and 2 inches thick. This means that our curriculum offer needs to remain as broad as possible, for as long as possible. In practice, this means GCSEs being delivered after a 3-year Key Stage 3. We are currently in a transition period, where many subjects converted to a 3-year Key Stage 3 last year, with the remaining subjects converting to this model from September 2020.   

Key Stage 3 

The acquisition of powerful knowledge is a fundamental part of our vision; therefore, all students study the English baccalaureate. In year 7, the curriculum has been designed so that students have 1 hour a week extra of English contact time. We emphasise the importance of reading through the Accelerated Reader programme, which is further supported through Reading time in the Library and in Tutor time. All students are taught separate sciences from the outset, they have Biology, Chemistry and Physics teachers that are subject specialists. Setting takes place from Year 8 in Science with Mathematics also being taught in sets from Year 7 to ensure suitable pace of learning. All students start with French in Year 7 in order to develop competence in one language; we then offer Spanish and French in Year 8. We intend to also offer Latin as a full GCSE by 2022.

Subjects delivered at KS3:

  • English
  • Mathematics
  • Sciences
  • Geography
  • History
  • Religious Studies
  • French
  • Spanish (Y8 only)
  • Computing
  • Drama
  • Music
  • Art and Design
  • Design and Technology
  • Physical Education
  • Enrichment
  • Social Studies 

Key Stage 4

At Skegness Grammar School we will offer a comprehensive two-year Key Stage 4 starting in Year 10 from September 2020 with many subjects already having transitioned away from the three-year Key Stage 4. A three-year Key Stage 3 This will ensure that pupils continue to study a broad curriculum. All our subjects follow the AQA specification.

Subjects offered at KS4:

  • English
  • Mathematics
  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Physics
  • Geography
  • History
  • French
  • German
  • Drama
  • Music
  • Design and Technology
  • Art and Design
  • PE Core
  • PE GCSE
  • Religious Studies
  • Business Studies

Key Stage 5 

At Key Stage 5 we offer a wide range of A-level courses. At present, all students in Year 12 study three subjects at GCE level. Some students, upon receipt of their GCSE grades, may decide to study four subjects. Students in Year 12 have the option of following an accredited enrichment course including the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ). This has grown in popularity in recent years with many students opting to complete the 5000 word dissertation.

SMSC, Religious Education and Fundamental British Values

Skegness Grammar School offers a curriculum, which promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of students at the school and of society, and prepares students at the school for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life.

The school curriculum comprises all learning in and outside the classroom and includes school visits, curriculum enhancement days, extra-curricular activities, house competitions and work experience to name a few.

Regular year group, key stage and whole school assemblies are used to cover topical issues and also emphasise our school values. This is also done through the tutorial programme. Religious education is covered through a discrete subject for Key Stage 3 and as part of the broader Social Studies programme for Key Stage 4 and 5. Also, Religious Studies does remain an optional subject for all students in Key Stage 4 and 5. Relationships, Sex and Health education is also covered throughout tutorial time and the Social Studies curriculum. This curriculum covers all recommended content for personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE).

The school curriculum provides students with an introduction to the essential knowledge that they need to be educated citizens. It introduces students to the best that has been thought and said; and helps engender an appreciation of human creativity and achievement.

The Trust is supportive of the ethos of promoting British Values, and preparing our students for success in a modern Britain. A heavy reliance is placed upon broadening horizons for each child and this includes developing the core skills of tolerance, respect, teamwork, and resilience and building self-esteem. These are all values and qualities that we feel are relevant in order to play a full and meaningful role in society, and are promoted via our extensive house system that lends itself to cultural and sporting competition, democratic principles, social mixing, the development of greater pastoral care and enhanced PSHE.

British Values are also emphasised within the school curriculum and the wider school environment. For example, mock student elections held in the past have taught students about the importance of democracy. The Social Studies curriculum and the broader PSHE programme teaches the need and importance of mutual respect and tolerance for all. Workshops have ensured students understand the concept of individual liberty and rule of law.

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