Curriculum has been defined as “the purpose of a school and the journey it wants its pupils to take” (Knowledge and the Future School) this definition encapsulates our beliefs in what we want for the students of Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School. Through our curriculum aims (outlined below) it is evident that we are determined to ensure that all students are empowered to be successful through the education they receive and prepared for life outside of the classroom.

Curriculum Aims:

• To empower all students to achieve to the best of their ability to enable them to be successful in life
• To enable pupils to seek and find the truth about the world
• To promote the intellectual development of all pupils

Our curriculum is best defined as ‘Knowledge-Engaged’ whereby the acquisition and understanding of knowledge is the fundamental aspect of our curriculum design and enables the application of the key skills. The core principles of our knowledge-engaged curriculum are stated below:

• Knowledge is the entitlement for all
• There is no ‘better’ knowledge or ‘universal’ knowledge that should be studied and learnt in each subject
• Knowledge is fallible (not given) and open to question
• We need knowledge to live in a complex world but we cannot live by knowledge
• Knowledge and skills are domain specific
• The knowledge that we want our pupils to have access to is our starting point, not the learner nor the context they face
• Powerful knowledge can enhance and change students’ understanding of the world around them and broaden their horizons
• The Matthew Effect – new knowledge sticks to old knowledge – “the rich get richer”… We need to ensure that our students acquire the knowledge they need to challenge this belief.

It is important to note that research has been utilised as a tool for guiding our curriculum work and is a key element in building our professional learning community. It is an expectation of staff to engage with research to ensure that they are at the forefront of research and findings within their curriculum areas.

“One who knows more, loves more” St. Catherine of Sienna

The school day

The school day consists of 6 lessons of 50 minutes plus a 20 minute Formation session and a 30 minute Sparx Maths session where students use the ‘Sparx’ online platform to revise their Maths skills.

During Formation: pupils will have a weekly assembly as a year group, opportunity to interact with different news topics to raise understanding of the world in which we live as well as receive a proportion of the PSHE curriculum.

In addition, students in year 7, 8 and 9 have 25 minutes of ‘reading’ Monday through to Thursday. Students in year 10 and 11 use this time for additional Maths, Science and RE which is taught on rotation.

In ‘Reading’ sessions, students use ‘Accelerated Reader’ in order to quiz after reading. Reading ages are carefully monitored and students are encouraged and supported to increase their reading age through active reading.

On Friday afternoons the whole school has an extended period of Transformation. Pupils get to opt for a range of different activities from one of the following categories - Learning New Skills, School Service or Community service. There are over 30 different activities on offer from Taekwondo, Chess, and podcasting to completing the Duke of Edinburgh Award, crafting and learning the basics of electrics.

All of the activities are designed to help our pupils develop their character, broaden their experiences and help them to discover their interests and God given talents.

• At Cardinal Wiseman we offer a traditional curriculum which includes Maths, English, Science, Physical Education, the Humanities subjects of History and Geography, Computing, Religious Education, the Arts subjects (Art and Music), Design and Technology subjects of Food and Product Design and a language (Spanish).
• The Design Technology subjects are taught on a rotation with half of the curriculum time spent in each of the two disciplines.
• The pupils are mainly taught in their house groups but some classes are set according to ability for subjects such as English and Maths.

• At Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School, Key Stage 4 (KS4) covers Year 10 & 11 – consequently students make their option choices at the end of Year 9. All GCSE pupils study Maths, English, Religious Education and Science. Students opt to study either History or Geography plus their optional subjects. Additionally, they have two lessons of core PE.

GCSE

• Art and Design: OCR
• Business Studies: Edexcel
• Computer Science: OCR
• English Language – AQA
• English Literature – AQA
• Geography B – AQA
• History – AQA
• Maths – Edexcel
• Religious Studies (Route B – Catholic Christianity – Eduqas)
• Combined Science: Synergy – AQA
• Spanish – Edexcel

Vocational Courses

• Performing Arts: Drama (Pearson BTEC)
• Health and Fitness (NCFE)
• Hospitality and Catering (WJEC)
• Music Practise (Pearson BTEC)