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Subject Information
Our curriculum offers both traditional academic subjects and a choice of applied learning courses. A range of different learning and teaching styles is promoted and we are committed to creativity and innovation in order to bring the curriculum to life. The links and plans contained in the subject area sections are intended to allow you to discover more about the subjects we offer.
Business
Everyone interacts regularly with businesses whether as a customer, an employee or an owner. Having the opportunity to study businesses is therefore both highly relevant and exciting for our students as we prepare them to go out into the world. Within the business curriculum we study how and why businesses are set up, how they work and expand, the external environment they operate in and the main functions within a business including:
- Human resources
- Finance
- Marketing
- Production / business operations
Whilst studying business, students sharpen their literacy and numeracy skills and develop the ability to apply their acquired subject knowledge to solving business problems. The approach taken is both pragmatic and ethical and students are encouraged to understand issues from the perspective of different stakeholder groups.
Bishopshalt teaches a range of different courses within the business area including A level, GCSE, Cambridge National and Cambridge Technical awards. This gives our students a choice of being assessed in the way that is most suitable for them as learners. It is an extremely popular subject at both Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5 and many of our students go on to study it at university or college as well. For more details on the topics covered, please see the curriculum maps below:
Business-Long-Term-Curriculum-Plan.pdf
Cambridge-National-Enterprise-and-Marketing-Long-Term-Curriculum-Plan.pdf
Cambridge-Technical-Key-Stage-5-Business-Long-Term-Curriculum-Plan.pdf
Classics
The ideas, stories, culture, and languages of the Classical world have influenced and shaped societies for centuries. At Bishopshalt we aim to give pupils an introduction to the extraordinary literature, philosophy and history of the ancient world, and explore why they are still relevant today.
Pupils will study the myths, drama and epics that have inspired art from Shakespeare to Hollywood blockbusters, debate key concepts such as democracy and the nature of knowledge, and investigate the history, architecture and institutions that still shape our world. In doing so, they will gain the skills and powerful knowledge to successfully articulate their opinions and persuade others, opening the door to the same bright futures traditionally enjoyed by those attending elite private schools.
Classics curriculum overview and plan
Computer Science
Computer Science officers students Computational Thinking, Computing Unplugged, Physical Computing and Information Technology. Computer Science is an in-depth course and deals with data, the hardware of computers, networks, the internet and programming. Whereas, Information Technology deals with using computers to acquire and use knowledge as applied in the business world.
We provide quality Computing education, which gradually builds up students digital literacy.The curriculum is grounded in the fundamental principles of computing and prepares our students to apply these principles creatively and responsibly. Students gain a clear understanding of the ethical, legal and safety issues in computer science. Rather than a discrete topic, E-safety and being a responsible digital citizen is interleaved and reinforced throughout.
Throughout computing students learn to become creators, rather than consumers of computer systems. The sequencing allows students to use various text-based coding platforms, providing greater opportunities for creativity and flair. They are then able to move to increasingly complex programming constructs across a range of simulated, real or physical platforms. This challenging curriculum ensures that students show resilience and build character.
Physical computing adds value and relevance. Rather than just being theoretical, our students are taught to use "computational thinking and creativity to change the world" in relation to both natural and artificial systems.
The study of data representation provides another aspect of understanding and how binary (or in the future Quantum computing technology) allows storage, transmission and creativity with data. We know we are preparing students for a technological future that we can’t imagine. In teaching students these powerful building blocks, we equip them for bright futures.
Fore more details of the topics covered, please see the curriculum maps below:
Computer-Science-Long-Term-Curriculum-Plan-.pdf
The Creative Arts
We offer a range of subjects in the creative arts. For more details, please click on the subject vision statements and curriculum maps listed under the subject areas below:
Art
We study Art and Design through a range of disciplines allowing us to teach students to express themselves and to observe and make sense of the world and its cultural histories. All students are regarded as creative individuals whose creativity is further stimulated by a diverse and exciting curriculum.
Art-Long-Term-Curriculum-Plan.pdf
Photography and Creative Media
We aim to inspire a love of learning, a wealth of creativity and a passion for the subject. Instilling transferable skills that will prepare students for a diverse range of A Level subjects, degree courses, career opportunities and the ever changing world of Digital Media.
Photog-Creative-Digital-Media-Vision.pdf
Photography-Long-Term-Curriculum-Plan.pdf
Design and Technology
Design and Technology is about developing the ability to creatively and practically solve problems through the use of both modern and traditional manufacturing processes. Students learn how to design and make products that solve relevant problems within different contexts, which address the needs of different users. Students studying D&T apply knowledge and skills from a broad range of subjects such as Mathematics, Science, Computing and Art.
DTechnology-Vision-Statement.pdf
Design and Technology Long Term Plan 2023
Food Technology
The Food and Nutrition curriculum enables pupils to understand the principles of nutrition and healthy eating, while instilling a love of cooking in all students. Through a practical based curriculum, we empower students to work confidently and independently to become self-sufficient young adults, who understand diet and how this may impact them later in life
Food-Nutirition-KS3-Vision.pdf - see Design and Technology curriculum map for details.
Economics
At Bishopshalt, the Economics curriculum provides students with opportunities to develop a sound understanding of some of the biggest challenges that face society today. As global citizens, we want all our students to benefit from having a deeper understanding of the world they live in, how it operates and how the world’s resources can be allocated. We are ambitious for our students and optimistic that several of them will be able to make a contribution to solving the challenges we all face for the greater good. The aim is for students to develop a deep and confident understanding of:
- Microeconomics: how markets work, decisions faced by firms and consumers and sources of market failure
- Macroeconomics: how the economy works at country level as well as globally
- How the two are connected and how to apply their understanding to address problems
Economics is a popular A level subject and a large proportion of our students go on to study it further at university. For more details of the topics covered on our syllabus, please see the curriculum plan below:
Economics-Key-Stage-5-Long-Term-Curriculum-Plan-YEAR-12-1.pdf
English and Media
English
Our English curriculum empowers students by unlocking their ability to fully access all other subjects and the world beyond school, because Bishopshalt students become highly literate and develop their academic register. Through the study of English, we encourage our students to ask questions, to challenge and be inquisitive, so that they find their voice and have bright futures. Full details of our vision and curriculum for English can be found in the documents below:
English-Key-Stage-3-Long-Term-Curriculum-Plan.pdf
English-Key-Stage-4-Long-Term-Curriculum-Plan.pdf
English-Key-Stage-5-Long-Term-Curriculum-Plan.pdf
Media
As the media plays a central role in contemporary society, the Media Studies curriculum at Bishopshalt offers a balanced, engaging and ambitious course of study. Media Studies enables learners to acquire powerful knowledge through the engaging topics studied.
Media-vision-statement-2022.docx-1.pdf
Media-Long-Term-Curriculum-Plan.pdf
Geography
At Bishopshalt School, we aim to provide a Geography curriculum which ensures that students appreciate Geography as a dynamic subject. We aim to interconnect key concepts of Human and Physical Geography to stimulate curiosity and gain deeper understanding about the world around them. Our aim is that students will develop a love and appreciation of Geography by:
- Equipping students with the knowledge and skills about their world and the challenges it faces to be future decision makers.
- Being able to problem solve by developing an argument or justification based on a Geographic challenge.
- Applying their knowledge to a variety of contexts and synoptically linking Geographical ideas together.
Geography is a broad and interdependent subject that requires repeated revisiting and linking of topics to lead to progressively deeper understanding of the underlying principles. This process of regular and repeated practice of challenging and ambitious topics requires perseverance and resilience. In turn, this enables students to develop their understanding, apply their knowledge and develop their curiosity about the world we live in.
More details of the topics covered in our Geography syllabuses can be found in the curriculum plan below:
History
In order to be an active and engaged global citizen it is important that our students understand how society has evolved and developed. Students learn how both men and women fought across hundreds of years to gain suffrage to highlight the importance of democracy. Students learn the history of the British Empire to explain cultural development in our society. For us, history is all about people, and in order to Love Learning, students learn powerful stories which help them to understand the world and how they have a significant role to play in its future. By learning how humans have not always treated each other with respect, students can Show Kindness in empathising with the past and learning from it.
History is not only about the fascinating stories of our ancestors but also the valuable skills it develops so that our students can seek Brighter Futures. The department has designed a powerful and ambitious curriculum which provides students with opportunities to learn about their own past, while also providing windows onto the past of those less familiar to them, who have equally shaped their world. We aim to use historical second order concepts of cause, consequence, change, continuity, similarity and difference to create not only well- rounded historians but also curious citizens, challenging them to Build Character by engaging with the big questions regarding how the world has come to be. In a world of controversy and political debate, it has never been more important to develop interdisciplinary skills like analysis, debate and reason which help our students to Chase Brilliance. Our department has a love of history at its core, and we endeavour to foster that love of learning and engagement in our students to ensure they take history beyond the classroom.
Our aim is that our students “think like a historian, talk like a historian and write like a historian” to gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. We want to inspire pupils’ curiosity to know more about the past. Our teaching equips pupils to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments, and develop perspective and judgement as history helps pupils to understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as their own identity and the challenges of their time.
Languages
The MFL (Modern Foreign Languages) curriculum is designed to empower students with the ability and desire to communicate confidently in another language. We recognise that this is a fundamental skill to help them compete globally and achieve ‘bright futures’.
We have a clear and ambitious vision for our students. Topics and skills are coherently sequenced to build on vocabulary and key grammatical structures from Year 7 to Year 13.
We want learners to strive to improve their knowledge, to reflect on their learning and to enjoy the challenges they face when learning a new language. Our aim is to provide students with a lifelong skill in language learning and to instil a sense of global citizenship
Maths
The mathematics department at Bishopshalt strives to provide students with the confidence, enjoyment and challenge when learning mathematics, irrespective of prior attainment. Our pupils will develop independent thinking and logical problem solving skills, equipping them with the mathematical skills essential for everyday life. Our ambitious curriculum ensures success through mathematical fluency, mastery and problem solving.
Our curriculum is sequenced in six strands; Number, Algebra, Geometry & Measure, Ratio & Proportion, Probability and Statistics, with all strands coherently interlinked.
Wherever you look in the world there is maths and we prepare students with the knowledge and, more importantly, the skills to enjoy bright futures in a world where mathematical ability is highly valued.
Performing Arts and PE
We offer a range of subjects in these areas. For more details, please click on the vision statements and curriculum maps listed under the subject areas below:
Dance
At Bishopshalt School we provide a Dance curriculum which is inclusive and encourages students to engage imaginatively and intellectually with their own and others’ dance works. Our curriculum is ambitious and, therefore, the standard of dance across the curriculum is exceptionally high for all students.
Dance-curriculum-map-22-23.pdf
Drama
We provide a Drama curriculum which is ambitious and encourages students to engage imaginatively, socially and intellectually with their own and others’ drama work. Students learn through exploring influential practitioners and key movements in theatre.
Music
At Bishopshalt we provide a Music curriculum which embraces inclusivity, equality and the perseverance for self improvement. Our aim is that students develop the emotional, intellectual and critical thinking skills necessary to become successful inside and outside of the classroom.
Physical Education
At Bishopshalt we provide a broad curriculum which encourages pupils to engage in various sports and pursue a healthy lifestyle outside school.
Politics
Politics
The Bishopshalt politics curriculum offered at KS5, aims to equip students with the necessary knowledge, skills and understanding for the evaluation of key ideas of society, state, economy, and human nature that make up modern politics. The course is designed to give our students the academic vocabulary and political awareness so that they can understand, analyse and communicate viewpoints within the subject and across their lives. The Edexcel syllabus that students will follow is designed to enable students to evaluate political participation and government systems in both the UK and the USA. Students will be equipped with a clear understanding of the political ideologies which shape political discourse in twenty-first century Britain and wider. Students will explain or analyse similarities and differences between UK and US political systems using comparative theories, further equipping them for future critical analysis of politics.
In Year 12 students examine the government of the United Kingdom, ideologies such as liberalism and conservatism and political participation in the United Kingdom. In Year 13 students study the politics and government of the United States of America and complete a comparative study of the United States and the United Kingdom.
Religious Studies
The vision of the RS department at Bishopshalt School is to expand students’ knowledge and understanding of the world’s diversity through the teaching of different living traditions of religions and non-religious views, whilst also looking at Philosophy and Ethics, through a challenging and ambitious curriculum. Religious Studies involves three distinct areas:
- Substantive knowledge. Students will not only explore these religions and non-religious views as living traditions, but also take into account the historical, geographical, metaphysical and cosmological aspects of these traditions.
- Ways of knowing. The vision also includes giving the students ‘ways of knowing’, how to know ‘Substantive knowledge’, through knowledge of well-established methods and processes and other roles of scholarship that are used to make sense of these living traditions, whilst also including ‘types of conversations’ (modes of enquiry) that academics have about religion, philosophy, ethics and non-religious traditions.
- Personal Knowledge. Students’ from all faiths and none will explore questions of meaning, purpose and value, and are encouraged to reflect critically on their own thoughts and beliefs and those of others, drawing on the wisdom of religions, philosophy, ethics and worldviews.
As the future citizens of a diverse society and globalised world, we aim to give students the tools and knowledge to co-exist peacefully with others, to listen empathetically and to disagree respectfully, while always showing kindness. Through inquiry into different religions and world views, we allow students to break down ignorance and stereotypes. Furthermore, we aim for students to develop a range of interdisciplinary skills each year, including; synthesis, analysis, application, evaluation, expression, self-understanding and reflection, which can be used not only in Religious Studies but across a range of subjects, further education, in their daily lives and the world of work. The RS curriculum provides opportunities for students to engage with the big questions of humanity.
Science
We study science to give a better understanding of the world we live in, enabling students to enquire and make critiqued and informed decisions throughout their lives, by applying their knowledge and understanding to the real world, so that they love learning. Its reach is total - from the outer reaches of the universe to the inner workings of cells.
Using laboratory work, we both investigate scientific rationale and invite students into the world of scientific method and enquiry. We equip learners with the confidence and competence to pursue careers that build on and apply their scientific knowledge and understanding.
Studying science enables students to be informed on a whole host of concepts, from the natural world where trees turn sunlight into stored energy creating the oxygen we need to survive to the workings of the mobile phone, to the basis of the chemicals we use to make everyday products. This fascinating world of science allows them to positively contribute to their communities and help ensure bright futures for themselves and society.
Science-Key-Stage-3-Long-Term-Curriculum-Plan.pdf
Social Sciences
We offer the following subjects in this area at Key Stage 5 (A level). For more details, please click on the vision statements and curriculum maps listed under the subject areas below:
Psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behaviour at both individual and collective level. Psychologists seek to understand all mental and interpersonal processes from memory and sleep to aggression and social influence in order to derive predictable laws of behaviour. Psychology draws on many disciplines such as biology, sociology, philosophy and statistics and seeks to engender a critical, objective and non- judgemental perspective on behaviour and motivation.
Psychology-Vision-statement.pdf
Psychology-Long-Term-Curriculum-Plan.pdf
Sociology
The sociology department aspires to develop progressive, critical, and ambitious thinkers, who seek positive change in the world. The study of Sociology encourages students to investigate and explore big questions about the complex nature of society. It allows all students the ability to delve into key aspects of their own lives and others, through the comprehension of social structures and processes. This enlightens students to the struggles that members of society may face within their own community.
-Sociology-Long-Term-Curriculum-Plan.pdf