Curriculum Intent

At Birchwood, we believe that every student deserves to have thoughtful, purposeful and enjoyable lessons throughout their time at school and across all of their subjects.

This is why we follow a curriculum that is ‘knowledge-rich’. This means that all lessons include information that has been carefully selected and deemed to be of the highest importance. All lessons link together so that all of the content to which students are exposed is vital and part of a bigger sequence. Essentially, the curriculum has been carefully designed so that students build on key concepts during each year of study.

Each subject ensures that their curriculum complements and builds upon the KS2 National Curriculum. This is further personalised by continuing work with our feeder primary schools to ensure a through build on previously learnt knowledge. We ensure that our KS3 curriculum is centred on the KS3 National Curriculum and teachers strive to go beyond this by covering broader content. Our staff are dedicated to cultivating a curriculum that provides a solid foundation for further study at KS4 as well as a deeper understanding and enriching enjoyment of the subject. At KS4, we ensure that our students feel confident applying subject-specific skills, understanding valuable knowledge and covering challenging content to help students to aspire for KS5 and beyond.

We recognise that a well-rounded curriculum is not just based on academia but its thoroughly supported by the education around Personal Development. At Birchwood, our Personal Development Curriculum is vast and includes key strands to encourage our key value of aspiration within our students. This includes extensive work around: careers, PSHE and character development.  With this approach, by the time they leave Birchwood, students will have encountered a range of valuable and inspirational learning material – this will empower them to approach their future with aspiration, knowledge and kindness.