Curriculum Vision

We believe that students should leave The Swan School having achieved more than they ever believed possible, and with the qualifications, skills, and confidence to achieve even more in the future.

We also believe they should leave with happy memories, plenty of friends and a sense of responsibility for their community. We plan to send every student out into the world with an understanding of the way it works and the empathy and drive to make it better, in whatever way they can. 

To achieve this, we have designed a highly ambitious and inclusive centralised and bookletised curriculum. We believe this powerful body of knowledge, skills and ideas is an entitlement for all students.

Our rich curriculum, resourced and delivered by subject experts, will support all students to flourish and grow at our school. It will enable them to achieve exceptional outcomes that unlock opportunities and allow them to pursue fulfilling next steps.

We believe that our curriculum will have a powerful and lasting impact on our students, ensuring they feel a sense of pride and ownership of their learning in each subject; that they understand the world around them and their place within it. 

Swan’s bookletised curriculum: our approach to ambitious and inclusive resourcing

We have bookletised our curriculum as part of our innovative drive towards a truly ambitious and inclusive curriculum. We believe that our curriculum is best delivered using booklets and visualisers.

This means that:

• Resources are full of rich vocabulary and interesting texts that enhance students’ experience of the curriculum and mean that reading is the key vehicle to deliver the curriculum in all subjects.

• Students and teachers are working on the same material at the same time.

• Students can refer back to their booklet to clarify and support their work (the key information does not disappear as it would on a slide). 

At The Swan School our curriculum is:

• Rich in powerful knowledge, language and ideas, all of which are specified, taught, assessed and securely learnt.

• Exceptionally well-planned, sequenced and resourced.

• Exceptional in its use of assessment to support learning.

• Supportive of teachers’ job satisfaction, through ensuring a manageable workload.

Curriculum Structure 

This is our broad and balanced curriculum offer at KS3

KS4

We have an academic core curriculum at GCSE that includes:

• English Language

• English Literature

• Mathematics

• Science (Triple or Combined) 

• Either history or geography (and potentially both)

• French

In addition, students make two further choices from a broad range of subjects. 

Link to current GCSE Options Booklet

KS5

For A levels at Swan Sixth Form, students can choose three or four A levels from our offer of academic subjects. In addition, they will study either an Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) or Core Maths, both of which are equivalent to half an A level.

Link to current A level Prospectus