Curriculum Overview

At Brandles our intention is to create an atmosphere of purpose, happiness and kindness, driven by the core values of Growth, Resilience, Enthusiasm, Aspirations and Tolerance. These are the qualities we look to build on as we seek to form men who will not only go on to be successful in their lives but, to be a force for good in a rapidly changing world.

Promoting academic excellence in harmony with social, emotional and mental health stability, the curriculum at Brandles is broad, balanced, challenging and engaging. We prepare students for the future by providing opportunities, responsibilities and experiences which they will encounter after leaving Brandles.

In order to ensure we cater for the needs of all our students we employ a variety of strategies including alternative education programmes, hybrid and bespoke timetables. This allows for flexible and adaptive teaching, differentiated to both support and challenge students of all abilities.

We acknowledge that literacy and numeracy levels are a key driver in the implementation of a purposeful and high quality curriculum. Therefore, we have a dedicated literacy and numeracy support assistant who specialises in improving reading, writing, comprehension and numeracy of students.

We measure impact of the curriculum through academic performance; learning walks; learning, social and emotional skill development; attendance; student feedback and external agency support.  This integrated approach allows for focussed strategic planning and continuous professional development in areas such as teaching and learning, assessment and specialist provision for students with SEMH needs such as ASD, ADHD, ODD and Dyslexia.

How our Curriculum is organised

Our curriculum is based on the National Curriculum and is broadly divided into Key Stage 3 (Years 7 to 9) and Key Stage 4 (Years 10 & 11). Alongside this we have created a series of enrichment activities that are focussed on developing the learning, social and emotional skills.

Moving into Key Stage 4 students follow both a core and option curriculum. The option curriculum allows students to progress further in areas in which they have a particular interest.

We offer a wide range of qualifications that are in keeping with our school motto of ‘preparing for the future’. These include GCSE, BTEC, Functional Skills, Entry Level Certificates, OCR Cambridge National Awards and the Duke of Edinburgh Award.