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Rooks Heath School

Rooks Heath School

Strive to be your best

Curriculum

The curriculum at Rooks Heath School is broad and balanced and strives for all students to achieve the best they can. All students at Key Stage 3 study a broad range of subjects, including a core of English, Maths and Science, along with Religious Studies, PSHE and PE. Students study two languages in Year 8 and one in Year 9, choosing from Mandarin Chinese, Latin, French and German. Students study History, Geography and Computing from Year 7 to 9, and a broad range of creative subjects: Art, Design Technology, Food Preparation, Drama and Music. We also teach Computing and ICT skills from Year 7-9. 

At Rooks Heath, cultural capital is embedded across the curriculum. Students are exposed to the best that has been thought and said, particularly in English and History, and we offer both Latin and Ancient Greek to students. Our STEM subjects teach the best thinkers of world-STEM developments. 

Social, Moral, Cultural and Spiritual education opportunities and British Values are embedded throughout our curriculum and pastoral programme and as a school we intend to produce students of good character. Our school values are Teamwork, Resilience, Achievement, Creativity and Kindness. 

There are opportunities across the curriculum in all year groups for students to make links between the skills they are learning in school and the variety of careers this learning may unlock. The transferable skills students learn make them world-ready students. Alongside our curriculum, we offer a broad and rich range of extracurricular opportunities including the offer of a wide variety of sports teams (within school, at borough level and at National competition level), music and drama concerts and productions, music peripatetic lessons in a wide choice of instruments, year group trips, curriculum trips to museums/galleries, areas of natural or historical interest (both in this country and abroad) and career or next steps trips (to universities or businesses). We have visitors to the school who provide a wide range of experiences that enrich the curriculum, including careers fairs, STEM workshops, problem solving and study skills workshops, MPs, entrepreneurs and those with a personal story to tell. 

At Rooks Heath students study a three-year, broad and balanced KS3. In Year 7 great care is taken to ensure the transition from primary school follows an upwards trajectory with regards to progress, interest, enthusiasm and motivation. In Year 8 and 9, students build further knowledge in range of subjects and to have consistency in their learning across a broad range of skills.  

In the Spring term of Year 9, students are guided through interviews with tutors and parents regarding their options for Key Stage 4 and give career guidance. Years 10 and 11 students are able to choose from a broad range of subjects across a range of skills, including subjects not studied at KS3, such as Economics, Sociology and Business Studies. This also includes vocational choices such as Health and Social Care BTEC. We are ambitious for all our students, and we encourage as many students as are able to study for the English Baccalaureate (EBacc). 

We have an inclusive curriculum, with some of our students taking additional GCSEs such as Further Maths, the Separate Science option, and Ancient Greek. Many of our students sit Home Language GCSEs. We support some of our students with a more targeted curriculum replacing one of their subjects, teaching the Functional Skills of English and Maths. We work with alternative provision centres for a minority of students for whom the full mainstream curriculum is not effective. 

As part of the Harrow Collegiate, we offer our students an extensive range of A Level and vocational BTEC National level 3 courses to choose from culminating in a suite of either 3 or 4 A levels or a vocational equivalent. In addition, students all benefit from a tutorial programme which guides them towards increased personal and academic independence covering topics such as personal finance, community safeguarding and a period of work experience. A dedicated comprehensive support programme for university applications or other areas of education or employment is in place and involves the expertise of the school’s own Careers Advisor.  

We intend to deliver the highest possible quality teaching, and we always aim to recruit subject specialists with good subject knowledge. We regularly prioritise staff professional development on research-based pedagogy. We ensure students are taught literacy across the curriculum and to have a well-resourced Learning Resource Centre. We strive for academic excellence in every lesson and are continually developing the technology needed for teaching and learning. Assessment and feedback are consistently built into our curriculum across all areas. We provide and education fit for the 21st century school, ensuring ‘World-Ready Students’.