Our curriculum
Find out about our all-through, backwards-planned curriculum
Our intentional and carefully planned curriculum drives progress to excellent outcomes through establishing a powerful knowledge base and a life-long love of learning.
As an all-through school, Reach Academy has considered the knowledge, skills and attitudes that are required to achieve academic excellence in each subject at A Level and beyond. Subject leaders and teachers then plan backwards from this point. This ensures that pupils in each phase receive a rigorous, coherent and intelligently sequenced curriculum, which builds on what has come before. The curriculum at Reach is grounded in the strongest available evidence about how pupils learn and retain knowledge in the long term – focusing in particular on research from cognitive science.
More about Reach Academy Feltham
| Backwards planned and deliberately sequenced | Our curriculum is designed backwards from success at A Level and beyond. We think carefully about what children need to be able to do, know and say at each point to ensure success. This sequencing ensures that pupils spiral back to key concepts throughout their learning within a subject and that these key concepts get progressively more challenging over time. |
| Knowledge rich, embedding key knowledge deeply and durably | We ensure that we are constantly developing both substantive and disciplinary knowledge throughout subject areas. The knowledge that pupils need is clearly mapped and regular retrieval ensures that this is learnt and remembered overtime. Direct instruction and use of careful questioning, alongside periods of practice ensures the durability and flexibility of this knowledge. Our research driven approach to teaching and learning ensures that teachers have the strategies they need to create change in pupils long term memory. |
| Carefully resourced with high quality, detailed materials | We think carefully about how we communicated knowledge and information. From 100% sheets that ensure all learners have a clear overview to booklets that support the delivery of our curriculum, we ensure that staff have adequate knowledge and skills to effectively design and enact the curriculum. Evidence-lead training and instructional coaching supports all staff to adapt, scaffold and stretch curriculum resources, where necessary, to ensure that they are meeting the needs of all learners. |
| Aspirational, inclusive and diverse in content | We want the best for our pupils and have high expectations for all pupils in every year group. These aspirational targets are key to the long term success of our vision. Our curriculum is diverse across all subject areas both within units and across them, thinking carefully about not only the knowledge that pupils learn but how that knowledge base has been constructed. We want to ensure that pupils can see himself represented in our curriculum and have therefore intentionally chosen texts and materials that reflect this. Our curriculum is inclusive and accessible to all pupils, with careful scaffolding, flexible groupings and additional support available when needed. |
| Rigorously assessed and promotes rapid progress | It is only by carefully assessing our pupils that we can truly know that they are remembering the knowledge and developing the skills that underpin our curriculum. Through low stakes retrieval and quizzing in every lesson, to termly summative assessments, we are constantly checking, re-planning and revisiting concepts to ensure that pupils are committing their knowledge to their long term memory and making rapid progress. |
Over the last eight years, our Phase 1 and 2 curriculum has been preparing pupils with the building blocks of all further learning. As pupils move into Phase 3, they will spend their time on a broader range of subjects, with subject specialists, preparing them to make the right choices for their GCSEs and beyond. We want to build on our first set of GCSE results, helping our pupils to achieve even more of the top grades, and supporting them into the very best universities and apprenticeships. As a school, we believe that a solid understanding of English and maths will support all pupils to achieve highly, and so these subjects will continue to form the foundation of our curriculum.
However, we also encourage our pupils to follow their own interests and develop into well-rounded learners so, from Year 6, pupils will have the opportunity to study a wide, academic and rigorous curriculum, and benefit from numerous extra-curricular opportunities to stretch their learning and spark their passions.
Please note that parents and carers have the right to withdraw their child from all or part of RE. Please contact the Co-headteacher if you wish to exercise this right. For more information about our curriculum please contact rafinfo@reachacademy.org.uk
Our subject overviews
We offer a range of subjects to all ages. As an all-through school, we’re able to provide an extensive education that spans many years. Browse our A-Z of subject overviews below:
Courses at Key Stage 4
Our options:
GCSE Maths
GCSE English Language
GCSE English Literature
GCSE Combined science
GCSE Triple science: Biology, Chemistry, Physics
GCSE Geography
GCSE History
GCSE French
GCSE Spanish
GCSE Further maths
GCSE Religious Studies
GCSE Art
BTEC Sport
BTEC Tech Award L1/2 Enterprise (equivalent to 1 GCSE)
Courses at Key Stage 5
Our options:
A-Level Spanish
A-Level Biology
BTEC Business
A-Level Chemistry
CISI Finance qualification
A-Level Computer Science
A-Level English Literature
Extended Project Qualification
A-Level French (via Languages for All)
A-Level Spanish (via Languages for All)
A-Level Further Maths
A-Level Geography
BTEC Health and Social Care
A-Level History
A-Level Maths
A-Level Physics
A-Level Politics
A-Level Psychology (Social Sciences)
A-Level Sociology (Social Sciences)
A-Level Economics
The Reach Out Curriculum
We are working with schools across the country to support their curriculum in History and Geography at Key Stage 2 and 3. We are delighted to be working with Pearson to share our Primary History and Geography curriculum, developed at Reach Academy Feltham over the past five years.