School

A New Curriculum for Wales

The four purposes of the curriculum according to Professor Graham Donaldson’s Report, ‘Successful Futures’, lie at the heart of our curriculum. We endeavour to ensure that the education being provided is broad and balanced. It is believed that the education will promote the spiritual, moral, cultural, intellectual and physical development of every child at the school. We will also ensure that the curriculum is appropriate for each child, broad and balanced. Priority is given to using all the school’s funding to extend educational resources for the children who currently attend the school. This element is elaborated upon in our policies on Equal Opportunity, Special Educational Needs and Racism.

Foundation Phase
Children under seven years of age do not come under the National Curriculum, instead, a curriculum is provided for them that promotes development and understanding in six areas:

  • Language, Literacy and Communication Skills
  • Personal and Social Development
  • Mathematical Development
  • Knowledge and Understanding of the World
  • Physical Development
  • Creative Development.

Key Stages 2 and 3
The National Curriculum will be presented in the form of thematic and subject-based activities. The thematic work is based on the six Areas of Learning and Experience contained in Professor Donaldson’s ‘Successful Futures’ report.

National Curriculum Subjects
Core Subjects: Welsh, English, Mathematics and Science; Non-core Subjects: History, Geography,Art,Technology, Information Technology, Physical Education and Music, French (occasionally in KS2, and weekly in KS3).

Basic Skills
The school has a policy to promote the pupils’ basic skills - Literacy, Numeracy and ICT – across the curriculum.

Key stage 4 (Years 10 and 11)
Every pupil will follow courses in Welsh (Language/Literature); English (Language/Literature); Mathematics and Mathematics - Numeracy; Science; Welsh Baccalaureate qualification and will choose other subjects from the fields of Technology, Humanities, Creative and Expressive Arts and Foreign Language. They will also receive Physical Education lessons. The Personal Education Core
will be introduced at various times during Key Stages 3 and 4 and will include Religious and Moral Education, Careers Guidance, Enterprise Experience, Study Skills, Health Education, Sex Education,
Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship.