Newport High School Curriculum Summary

From September 2022, Newport High School will be moving to the delivery of the New Curriculum for Wales for Year 7.

Curriculum for Wales allows us to make decisions about the curriculum we provide for our students. We have worked closely with our Governors, students and cluster primary schools to design a curriculum to meet the needs of our students.

Four Core Purposes

We have developed our curriculum to meet the needs of our students and enable learners to develop the four core purposes.

Our curriculum is:

broad and balanced
suitable for all students of different ages, abilities and aptitudes
provides appropriate progression using the principles of progression set out in the 'Progression Code'
encompasses the concepts set out in the 'Statement of What Matters Code'

We use purposeful planning working towards student destinations using our 3Ps.

Areas of Learning

Teaching and learning is organised and taught within and across our Areas of Learning. We ensure that students experience a broad and balanced curriculum with access to a wealth of disciplines.

Cross Curricular Responsibilities

We develop our literacy, numeracy and DCF skills using our learning habits. we have habits for -

Reading
Writing
Oracy
Numeracy
DCF

Integrity Curriculum

Our Integrity curriculum is planned uniquely for each year group but has an underpinning directive to prepare our students for life outside of school. The integrity curriculum covers cross-cutting themes including the Relationships and Sexuality Education code, Human Rights and the Rights of the Child, careers, wellbeing, diversity and healthy lifestyles.

Teaching and Learning

It is vital for our students to be exposed to a broad range of teaching approaches and for staff to understand which teaching strategies will best support learning in a given context.

At Newport High School, we define learning as:

The process of building new concepts, knowledge skills and attributes through a variety of challenging experiences
The refinement of existing concepts, knowledge skills, attributes and behaviours through thought, experience and shared communication
The development of essential skills including literacy, numeracy and digital competence
The development of wider skills such as collaboration, leadership, problem solving, resourcefulness and resilience
The development and recognition of pupils’ understanding of themselves as citizens of Wales and the world at large

To ensure all students are making progress we need to have high quality teaching in all lessons. To ensure this all lessons should have the principles of DR ICE -

Deepening Thinking
Role Modelling
Impact of Learning
Challenge Expectations
Engaging in Learning

The 12 pedagogical principles are at the heart of teaching and learning in Newport High School.

Responsive Teaching

We believe that responsive teaching is vital for good teaching and learning. It is the moment-to-moment decisions that teachers make as they observe and analyse students' behaviours and then respond.

Assessment Arrangements

In the new curriculum, the Principles of Progression are paramount and we have used these to ensure that assessment is integral to teaching and learning. We use a range of formative and summative assessment to make decisions about where students are currently and what we need to do to ensure they make further progress.

Each term teachers will report how well students are making progress within their learning. This will be shared with students and parents on their progress report. We will use the following terminology:

Rapid Progress
Progress
Limited Progress

Curriculum Review

As part of our whole school ongoing self-evaluation we will review our curriculum offer, progression plans and assessment arrangements regularly with all stakeholders. This will allow us to make suitable changes to ensure we meet the needs of our students.

Appreciate