Curriculum Organisation

The school uses a number of different ways in which to group pupils, aimed at catering for their abilities and aptitudes to further personalise learning. Most subjects place pupils in ability sets which enable us to extend and challenge our most able students whilst supporting our pupils with additional needs.

Staff use different teaching and learning strategies which include whole class teaching, individual and group classroom activities and practical work. In-class teacher support and small extraction groups as well as intervention are used to help pupils with specific learning difficulties and to extend the most able.

The Curriculum and Remote Education

As a school we offer all our pupils a broad balanced, relevant and realistic curriculum. To ensure all students are able to access this curriculum we use a variety of strategies. There is a mixture of setting and mixed ability teaching, with pupils who have additional needs being taught in small groups for Maths, English and Science.

The school works closely with our Primary colleagues. We are thankful that these close relationships ensure the transition from Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 3 is as smooth and stress free as possible. Similarly, we work closely with post 16 institutions and Training providers and encourage all our pupils to see education as a life long learning process. Our intention is to provide all our pupils with the integrity, necessary skills and knowledge they will need to take their place as responsible caring adults in the world of work. An essential part of this process is the need to regularly set appropriate homework as an integral part of the courses on offer.

• “Remote Education” is a broad term encompassing any learning that happens outside of the classroom, with the teacher not present in the same location as the pupils.
• “Digital Remote Education” is often known as online learning, this is remote learning delivered through digital technologies.
• “Blended Learning” is a term given to learning through a mix of face-to-face and remote methods.

At Woodchurch, we provide high-quality remote education when it is not possible, or is contrary to government guidance, for some or all pupils to attend school.
Attendance is essential for pupils to get the most out of their school experience, including for their attainment, wellbeing, and wider life chances.

Remote education is therefore never viewed as an equal alternative to attendance in school and only ever considered as a last resort, where a decision has already been made that attendance at school is not possible, but pupils are able to continue learning.

Remote Education at Woodchurch is almost always digital and takes two forms:

1. Synchronous Learning – this involves material prepared and delivered by teacher/s in real time. We often refer to this as ‘Live Learning’.

2. Asynchronous Learning – this involves material prepared and delivered by the teacher but accessed by the pupil at a later date; recorded learning which does not need scheduling.

Asynchronous learning is a key part of who we are and how we do things at Woodchurch. It is part of our drive to challenge and support our pupils to develop into motivated, ambitious, responsible, independent learners.

Woodchurch High School Subject Sites

Our suite of subject specific websites reflect the importance we place on, and our commitment to, independent learning. Each site houses vital asynchronous content and is designed to meet pupils at their own place in the curriculum. They can be accessed by all pupils – anywhere, at any time, and in accordance with their Personalised Learning Criteria for each topic, in each year.

In other words, pupils can access them in their own physical space, in their relevant curriculum place, and at their own learning pace.

Our Subject Site provision means that pupils waste no time searching the internet with no end product or undertaking passive revision. They provide the opportunity for targeted, purposeful gap plugging and they make it easy for pupils to do this, and for parents to support and monitor. For example, a pupil in Year 7 can access English, Autumn Term, Oliver Twist and revise key/essential knowledge or learn key skills they are deficient in/have missed/not accessed as relevant to their personalised position using content built and recorded by our own teachers, according to our own school principles.

The sites also engage parents by making clear through homework and reporting avenues, what focused revision and independent learning should look like at home.