Curriculum
Curriculum Statement
The academy’s curriculum is underpinned by the values of aspiration and excellence whilst meeting the needs of the national curriculum. All students are entitled to a broad and balanced curriculum, centred around a traditional academic core, which provides opportunities for intellectual and personal development. The curriculum offers appropriate challenge and support and enthuses students about their learning. It provides numerous and varied opportunities for enrichment and character development and prepares students for life as competent, confident and responsible citizens. Students study most subjects offered by the academy in Year 7 and then choose their 'Options' subjects in Year 8 and begin studying these during Year 9.
In practice that means:
- All students master the basics of literacy and numeracy in Key Stage 3
- All students are entitled to study an academic core of English, Maths, Science, Humanities and a Modern Foreign Language
- Vocational courses are offered where appropriate
- All Key Stage 3 students have a PSHE period every week
- All students participate in a wide-ranging and character building Enrichment programme, which includes community service, international trips, cultural visits, guest speakers and outdoor activities
Further information about the national curriculum can be found here
Curriculum Plans - Year 7
Curriculum Plans - Year 8
Curriculum Plans - Year 9
Curriculum Plans - Year 10
Curriculum Plans - Year 11
Curriculum Plans - Year 12
Curriculum Plans - Year 13
View Knowledge Organisers here
Key Stage Three Curriculum Assessment
Student attainment at Key Stage 3 is assessed against descriptors for ‘Steps’. Each Step describes the understanding that students must master by the end of Key Stage 3, in order to be on-track for a given grade at GCSE. For example, if a student achieves Step 5 by the end of Key Stage 3, they will be on-track to achieve a GCSE Grade 5 at the end of Year 11. Predicted Attainment Grades at Key Stage 3 reflect the Step that students are expected to achieve by the end of Year 8. Further guidance about our Key Stage Three Steps can be found here
Year 7 Curriculum
Our Year 7 students are taught in three groups. Our Year 7 students are set in English and Maths based on prior attainment at KS2, the sets are continually reviewed throughout the year. The average point score students obtain at KS2 also determines the set students are in for their remaining subjects.
| CORE | English Mathematics Science |
5 Lessons 4 Lessons 5 Lessons |
|
FOUNDATION (* subjects taught in rotation) |
Geography |
2 Lessons |
Year 8 Curriculum
Students are taught in four groups for most subjects.
| CORE | English Mathematics Science |
5 Lessons 4 Lessons 5 Lessons |
|
FOUNDATION (* subjects taught in rotation) |
Geography |
2 Lessons |
Key Stage Four Curriculum Assessment
Our Key Stage Four students follow the new ‘reformed GCSEs’. The key features of reformed GCSEs are that they…
- will be more demanding and contain more challenging content
- will be ‘linear’, so students will take all of their exams at the end of the course
- will be assessed much more through exams than coursework
- will have a new grading scale from 9 to 1, instead of A* to G.
Although the old and new grades do not convert perfectly with each other, the table below will give you a rough indication of the value of the new 9 – 1 grades:
Under the old A* - G grading system, a grade C or above was considered to be a ‘good pass’. Under the new 9 – 1 grading system, a grade 5 or above will be considered to be a ‘good pass’.
The government is taking a staggered approach to the introduction of the reformed GCSEs. This means that students in some Year Groups will receive a mixture of 9 to 1 and A* to G grades. In summary,
- Year 11 students (sitting exams in 2018) will receive 9 – 1 grades in English, Maths and the vast majority of their other subjects.
- Year 10 students (sitting exams in 2019) will receive 9 – 1 grades in all of their subjects.
Further guidance about the subject content for each GCSE subject can be found here
Our students are taught in four groups for most subjects. All students will study Science, Mathematics, English and English Literature at GCSE level.
| CORE | English Mathematics Science |
5 Lessons 4 Lessons 5 Lessons |
| FOUNDATION | Option A Option B Option C |
3 Lessons 3 Lessons 3 Lessons |
| YEAR 9 OTHER |
PE |
2 Lessons |
| YEAR 10 OTHER |
PE |
3 Lessons |
| YEAR 11 OTHER |
PE |
3 Lessons |
Most students have selected a further 3 GCSEs or BTECs from a number of option blocks. Students choose between the following optional subjects:
Year 9
| Option A | Option B | Option C |
|
History |
History |
Spanish Art Product Design GCSE PE |
Year 10
| Option A | Option B | Option C |
|
History |
History |
Computer Science |
Year 11
| Option A | Option B | Option C |
|
History |
Spanish |
Food and Cookery |
Key Stage Five Curriculum
The majority of our students in EA6 follow the IBCP programme. However, some students opt to study a mixture of ‘A-Levels’ and vocational subjects. Click here to view the 6th form curriculum. Most students are expected to study 3 subjects.
|
A Levels |
5 Lessons |
|
International Baccalaureate Higher Diploma |
5 Lessons |
|
Applied General |
5 Lessons |
Extra Curriculum Provision
We offer a variety of enrichment activities for students to participate in during lunchtimes and afterschool. These activities have been designed to give students the opportunity to broaden their personal, social, moral, cultural and spiritual development and to undertake extra sport. Examples of activities include archery, sports clubs, art club and mindfulness.
Our Year 11 GCSE students are also asked to attend additional targeted booster sessions from 3.30-4.30pm Monday- Thursday.
Subject Information
Art, Design and Technology
Our team of Art, Design and Technology teachers are committed to providing all students with an opportunity to experience a wide range of options in this exciting subject, at the very highest level.
Students at the Ebbsfleet Academy will study all areas of the subject during their time in years 7 and 8. These include: Product Design, Electronic Product Design, Art and Art Textiles and Food Technology. The coursework content reflects the nature of the subject suite, providing many opportunities for practical skill development in a range of creative ‘hands on’ projects.
All of these subject areas are very popular with our students!
In Year 10 Product Design students follow the new Design Technology GCSE (1-9) where they will learn the subject in greater depth and complete an examination and a final ‘design and make project’ at the end of year 11.
In Year 11 our Product Design students follow the Product Design GCSE which has a similar format, completing a major design project of their choice and a final examination.
Students following the Art, Design and Textiles course in Year 10 and 11 have the opportunity to work in their preferred media to produce 3 projects, two of which will be put forward to the examiner as coursework for their GCSE. They too will sit an extended examination over 2 days towards the end of Year 11.
Our Food and Nutrition students currently follow the NCFE award in the subject, which has both coursework components as well as an examination at the end of Year 11. During this course students learn about the job-relevant issues of safety, hygiene and nutrition, which is reinforced with plenty of opportunity to cook!
Students will work to design briefs that reflect current industry requirements in their respective fields, making the subject wherever possible as close to real world work experience as possible.
Ebbsfleet Academy looks forward to a thriving ‘A level’ in Art and Technologies in the future as our new 6th Form expends its current provision.
English
English is a subject that is often discussed in terms of the importance to school league tables, to entry into college and providing a foundation to further education. All these points are true and particularly in the latter cases of real value. However, too often such an empirical view of English serves to obscure its true merit; to devalue the journey that studying the subject can take one upon. It fails to take into account the worlds that can be created, the ideas that can be explored and the enjoyment that the knowledge can garner. Mark Twain famously said that ‘The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them’. This is because the power of reading can take you to places and ideas previously unimagined.
At The Ebbsfleet Academy the English Department aims to strike a balance between the aforementioned achievement and the cultural enrichment. On the former our goals are clear, unashamedly ambitious and will provide students with the results they need to access further education and to realise their full potential. On the latter our aims are no less ambitious; we want students to be passionate about reading, to relish using their imagination and to develop a broader understanding of the world. These two goals go hand in hand as both provide the platform for students to go out into the wider world equipped with the knowledge, skills and passion that will make them flourish in life beyond The Ebbsfleet Academy.
Our KS3 curriculum allows students to not only develop key literacy skills but also to read novels about poverty in Victorian London and The Great Depression, to understand persuasive writing techniques, to study the development of poetry through time and to create their own pieces of imaginative writing. Whilst at KS4 we have formed a syllabus that enables students to gain the highest grades in English Language and Literature as well as studying a range of classic texts such as Jekyll & Hyde and Romeo & Juliet. The lessons are complimented by an exciting, evolving series of extra-curricular opportunities. These include a spelling bee, BBC school report, Shakespeare Schools Festival and regular theatre trips.
English is a passport for our students both with regards to their future prospects and to their fundamental understanding and enjoyment of the world we live in.
Global Studies
The Global Studies department comprises of Geography, History, Religious Studies and Modern Foreign Languages. These subjects are always asking the big questions in life - Where do we live? Why did we settle here? What do we believe in?
Geography
In KS3 Geography students will study the following:
• What is Geography?
Geography Skills
What is the UK?
The Water Cycle
Introducing Europe
• Who are Europeans?
• Europe’s weather and climate
• Tourism – good or bad?
• Rivers and Floods
• Italy
In KS4 Geography students study Edexcel B and cover the following:
• Global Geographical Issues: Climate, Tectonics, Development Dynamics and Challenges of an urbanising world
• UK Geographical Issues: The UK’s Evolving Physical Landscape, Coastal Change and Conflict, River Processes and The UK’s Evolving Human Lnadscape
• People and Environmental Issues: People and the Biosphere, Forests under Threat and Consuming Energy Resources
RS
KS3 RS - Students are covering an introduction to religion course where all of the six major world religions are explored. A particular focus is given to the founders, leaders, places of worship and symbols of the major world religions. There is a central focus on Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Buddhism. Students are able to explore these concepts in trips to a local Gudwara.
KS4 RS - In GCSE RS, students follow the EdExcel B Religious Studies course, Unit 1: Religion and Ethics and Unit 2 Religion, Peace and Conflict and where students explore ethical issues from a Christian and Muslim perspective. The following modules are covered:
• Christian Beliefs
• Living the Christian Life
• Marriage and the Family
• Matters of Life and Death
• Muslim Beliefs
• Living the Muslim Life
Crime and Punishment
• Peace and Conflict
History
In KS3, students are covering an exciting range of topics from the reign of Elizabeth I through to the Industrial Revolution.
In KS4, students are undertaking their GCSE syllabus – either Edexcel (Y9/10) or OCR Schools History Project (Y11). The Y9 and Y10 students are exploring the following modules:
· Weimar and Nazi Germany
· The American West
· Anglo-Saxon and Norman England
· Medicine in Britain, c1250-present
· The British sector of the Western Front, 1914-18: injuries, treatment and the trenches
The Y11 students are completing their course, which covers the following modules:
· Living in Nazi Germany
· The Making of America
· Dover Castle
· The Norman Conquest
· Public Health since the Medieval Period in Britain
MFL
At KS 3 the students study a variety of topics, such as family life, pets, the local area, the environment, sports, hobbies, holidays and school. The ability to understand and communicate in another language is a lifelong skill. The development of communication skills, together with an understanding of the structure of language, lay the foundations for future study of languages and support the development of literacy skills in English.
At KS4 The Ebbsleet Academy, pupils have the opportunity to study French and Spanish at GCSE level. The courses cover a range of personal, social and work-related topics, including:
1. Home and local area.
2. Leisure and lifestyle: free time, the media, sport, health and relationships
3. Travel and the wider world: holidays, environmental, cultural and social issues.
4. Education and work: school life in Great Britain and French/Spanish speaking countries, work experience, future study and jobs.
We study the Edexcel GCSE specification.
Science
Practical Science
Experiments and investigations are the beating heart of scientific knowledge, and so science at both Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 is very practical, with a wide range of experiments being undertaken using our excellent facilities.
Key Stage 5
The Ebbsfleet Academy offers A-Levels in both Chemistry and Biology. In Chemistry, students follow the Edexcel specification, which covers topics in analytical chemistry, organic chemistry, inorganic chemistry, energetics and kinetics.
In Biology, students follow the Edexcel Salters-Nuffield A-Level Biology course. This offers students a concept-led approach to their studies, covering a wide range of topics, such as cardiovascular disease, genetics and biodiversity.
Key Stage 4
Students will follow the Edexcel specification for Combined Science at The Ebbsfleet Academy. Students will begin studying this course from year 9 through to year 11, with the examinations taking place at the end of year 11. Throughout the course students have an exciting and broad curriculum which looks at aspects of Biology, Chemistry and Physics. Practical science is a key aspect of the course, with students completing 18 Core Practicals over the three years. The rigorous nature of the course offers students an excellent base for further scientific studies, such as A-Level qualifications.
Key Stage 3
Students follow the SMART Science course throughout Years 7 and 8. This engaging curriculum allows students to build their knowledge across Biology, Chemistry and Physics, whilst also gaining value practical skills in preparation for their Key Stage 4 course.
PE
Key Stage 5
Students are taught the Btec National Sport Level 3 course which involves both coursework and written exams. This course provides students with a broad basis of the sport sector, which allows pupils to progress onto University sport related sport courses.
Key Stage 4
Students at key stage 4 have the opportunity to study GCSE PE or BTEC sport, these examination areas of PE allow for students to consolidate and build knowledge they have gained at key stage 3 and help prepare learners for further study in sport and physical education.
All students will receive a minimum of 2 lessons of practical core PE per week during which they will be able to choose from a varied range of activities to take part in as part of them leading a healthy, active lifestyle.
Key Stage 3
Students are taught a very balanced curriculum which encompasses a wide range of activities from Football to OAA. The purpose of the curriculum is to enable students to gain the knowledge required to study examination PE at key stage 4 and also to help them explore the activities that could be on offer to them outside school.