Key Stage 3 (KS3) Curriculum: September 2018
Students access a broad and balanced curriculum across Year 7-9. The Key Stage 3 curriculum has been designed to prepare pupils for Key Stage 4 when they will access GCSE and equivalent qualifications.

All students at KS3, receive 8 hours/fortnight of English and Mathematics. Literacy and numeracy skills are crucial in accessing the whole curriculum, enabling employability and as GCSEs, they make twice the contribution of other subjects. The third core subject, Science is also taught over 6 hours/fortnight as all students will undertake the equivalent of 2 or 3 GCSEs in science.

The Key Stage 3 curriculum comprises of core and foundation subjects.

Core subjects:
English (incorporating Literacy)
Mathematics
Science
Physical Education
Community Values (incorporating Social, Cultural, Moral, Spiritual and Ethical issues)

Foundation subjects:
Art
Computing
Drama
Geography
History
Modern Foreign Languages: MFL (French/Spanish)
Music
Technology

Mid way through Year 9, student assessment data is utilised to present each student with a number of ‘Electives.’ These ‘electives’ are the subjects that students are having recommended to them that they study into Key Stage 4. This process has replaced the previous ‘Options’ process and is designed to enable the students to make choices that will yield the most academic progress and enable the best progression into post-16 education or training.

Please see below a summary of the Key Stage 3 Curriculum. 

Key Stage 3 (Year 7 - Year 9)

All KS3 subjects deliver the new national curriculum. Schemes of work and mapping have been quality assured to ensure full national curriculum coverage within a relevant context for our students, which includes the promotion of British Values.

These schemes also outline assessment models and secure inclusion of skills development e.g. literacy, numeracy, SMSC and employability. Progress data is collected every half term, which enables flexibility and responsiveness in terms of setting and banding students. Our in-school monitoring and analysis has demonstrated that if the ability range within a teaching class is similar, all students make more progress as the teacher is able to deliver activities which enable stretch and challenge and also accessibility for all. At termly intervals (allows adequate time to consistently demonstrate attainment), the placement of students may be reviewed and sets changed when required.

The opportunity for movement across bands is particularly important for our transition classes (2 in year 7), for students with low levels of literacy and numeracy (less than a level 3). These students follow a project-based curriculum, which develops literacy, oracy and numeracy, as well as subject content.

Key Stage 4 (Year 10 - Year 11)

The consistently excellent progress of students at Manchester Academy may be attributed, at least in part, to Manchester Academy offering an engaging, broad and balanced curriculum.

In addition to meeting progress 8 accountability measures and statutory requirements, the curriculum provide students with both the skills and qualifications they need for future progression and this is carefully balanced to ensure it also meets their interests and aspirations.

Curriculum provision for international new arrivals

To ensure international new arrivals have the opportunity to acquire a level of English that enables them to access to academic qualifications, they begin in the KS3 or KS4 induction group, where they intensively develop English skills.

Students enter mainstream lessons using a gradual phased approach when they meet NASSEA step 5 and are at a stage of consolidating their language acquisition. Each student’s timetable in induction is bespoke and based on their level, prior education and interests.

The Key Stage 4 Curriculum at Manchester Academy

Key Stage 4 encompasses Years 10 and 11. Across this two year period, pupils continue to access all aspect of the core curriculum.

These core subjects are:
English (Language and Literature)
Mathematics
Science
Physical Education
RE

In addition, pupils study three other subjects that they have been guided into as part of the Year 9 ‘Electives’ process.

In total, most Key Stage 4 pupils will access 9 GCSE qualifications or equivalents. This is because core Physical Education is a non-accredited programme of study. The 9 GCSE or equivalent qualifications are therefore:

English Language
English Literature
Mathematics
Science (at least the value of x 2 GCSE)
RE
Electives 1/2/3

Elective Subjects
Pupils work with staff during Year 9 to identify the subjects where they have shown evidence of having made most progress since the beginning of their Manchester Academy school career. The three most suitable subjects are allocated to the pupils for them to study in Years 10 and 11. We are always looking to embed the most suited subjects and qualifications into the list of electives we offer. At present, the subject areas covered are:

ART
ASDAN CoPE*
BUSINESS STUDIES
CITIZENSHIP
COMPUTING
CONSTRUCTION
DRAMA
FRENCH
GEOGRAPHY
HISTORY
HOSPITALITY AND CATERING
MUSIC
SINGLE SCIENCES (Students gain separate GCSE qualifications in Biology/Chemistry/Physics)**
SPORT
TECHNOLOGY

*ASDAN CoPE- This qualification is best suited to pupils that have either arrived after the beginning of Year 7 or have spent part of Key Stage 3 being taught within Transition. Pupils guided into this subject area will have parental meetings as set up as part of the induction process.

**Single Sciences – Pupils are selected for this programme of study based on progress at the end of Key Stage 3. This is a very demanding programme of study and minimum entry requirements are set by the Science Department to ensure maximum progress and attainment is achieved by all pupils within Science.

In total, pupils study three elective subjects at Key Stage 4.

Parents and carers receive a brief introduction to the electives process at the Parents’ Information Evening early in the Autumn Term. A more detailed session takes place in the Spring Term once the subject list moving into Years 10 and 11 is more established.