Why Choose Mascalls Academy?

Welcome from the Principal

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the Mascalls Academy community.  As a successful and popular academy, we provide our students with the opportunities within the classroom and beyond to develop into young people who will contribute positively to our local, national and global communities.

We achieve academic excellence and promote the Arts, our Creative Arts National Area of Excellence develops the skills and confidence our students need to succeed through visual art, dance, drama and music. There really is an opportunity for everyone to be happy and succeed here and that underpins the very core of our purpose.

What underpins all that we do is that we truly care, Mascalls Academy really is a community in the truest sense.  Developing successful and happy young people requires a team, and strong and supportive communication between all members of our community is essential to ensure this.  Our students are balanced and compassionate young people who care for one another and have pride in what we all achieve each and every day.  

Mrs Jo Brooks | Principal

Mascalls Academy web tile
Our Prospectus

Why Choose Mascalls Academy?

At Mascalls Academy, we offer an incredibly wide curriculum; there are twenty seven different subjects being taught at GCSE level and twenty nine subjects at A level. We are also proud to be an International Baccalaureate World School offering the Middle Years Programme in Years 7-9 which is designed to develop happy, inquisitive, rounded, independent, globally aware and resilient young people. Our co-curricular offers an incredible eighteen lunchtime clubs and twenty one after school clubs alongside teams in football, netball, rugby, volleyball and many more.

We achieve academic excellence and promote the Arts, our Creative Arts National Area of Excellence develops the skills and confidence our students need to succeed through visual art, dance, drama and music. There really is an opportunity for everyone to be happy and succeed here and that underpins the very core of our purpose.

Whilst our academy is large, we support our students by breaking it down into smaller schools, known as colleges. Each college is roughly the size of the average primary school and is headed by a large and dedicated leadership team devoted to the academic and pastoral care of the students within it. We prioritise mental health and well being alongside academic achievement through our on-site provision of Place2be, offering full time individual and group therapy sessions for those who need it.

In partnership with parents we work closely through the seven-year journey from the very first day to the confident, knowledgeable and disciplined individuals leaving our academy as young adults.

We have incredibly high expectations of behaviour. Our students are happy, they are polite and show respect. Our behaviour systems promote a discipline within our students that prepares them fully for the world beyond the academy. As an academy, as a community we achieve academic excellence, develop strength of individual character supported by our culture of aspiration and celebrating success. Our rewards system recognises the success of our students through achievement points, Golden Tickets, half colours and full colours. Achievement and progress are rewarded within every lesson.

What underpins all that we do is that we truly care, Mascalls Academy really is a community in the truest sense. Developing successful and happy young people requires a team, and strong and supportive communication between all members of our community is essential to ensure this. Our students are balanced and compassionate young people who care for one another and have pride in what we all achieve each and every day.

By applying to Ebbsfleet Academy, you also become part of Leigh Academies Trust.

The Trust was formed in 2008 with the linking of the Leigh Technology Academy and Longfield Academy under one governing body. Today, we encompass more than 20,000 students between the ages of 2 months and 19 in 33 primary, secondary and special academies including one all-through academy and one grammar school.

We aim to provide a culture that supports our students in developing their character to its fullest potential and to achieve excellence across a broad range of academic curricular and co-curricular programs.

We encourage the individual and celebrate as a collective. We understand that our achievements reflect positively on us all, our achievements represent. Represent our academy, represent our parents and families and represent our individual character.

We have unapologetically high expectations – and as a result our students succeed personally, and we are proud.

Excellence is a process of evolution, of cumulative learning, of incremental improvement. Our curriculum is carefully planned over a seven year progression to ensure our students arrive at academic endpoints in peak condition for public examinations and with the necessary study skills.

As a result, our students consistently outperform their peers nationally. Our teachers are highly trained professionals delivering the most efficient methods to make sure learning is optimal. We deliver a broad and balanced curriculum underpinned by knowledge to make academic success a by-product of high quality teaching and learning.

Our students are challenged daily with expert explanation, modelling, questioning and feedback ensuring academic excellence can be achieved by all.

Parents and teachers are each other’s greatest allies. Only through a close and mutually supportive relationship between the academy and the parent or carer can we provide the optimum environment for our young people to reach their potential. Every conversation, every interaction at school and in the home shapes young minds and opinions. We work tirelessly in partnership with our parents to ensure that our students have every opportunity to experience success.

  • Respect – for self and others
  • Determination to succeed
  • Resilience – a commitment to personal development in spite of setbacks

Personal discipline is not expecting somebody else to do your job for you. It teaches you not to expect things handed to you and even sometimes, in order to succeed, to do things now when you really ‘want to do it tomorrow’. At Mascalls personal discipline underpins our character, we value respect, determination and resilience and understand that the combination of those characteristics, applied daily make success a repeatable experience.

  • High expectations – of self and others
  • Continual improvement – steps to success
  • Celebrate success – big or small

We are all caretakers of our legacy, as students continue their journey with us they are encouraged to build on the successes of our past and aspire to new standards for our future. Students and staff, as leaders, drive and insist on an environment which promotes the behaviours needed for success at school and beyond. At Mascalls we create a culture for personal development – through high expectations, a commitment to continual improvement and through celebrating our many successes. We celebrate our achievements and learn from our mistakes knowing that our collective character drives culture, our reputation and turns it into something we can be proud of.

Our Curriculum

The curriculum at Mascalls Academy is challenging and rigorous with knowledge acquisition at the core. We offer a curriculum that is broad and balanced, with a rich variety of subjects to instil in students a love of learning. The diversity within the curriculum offers stimulating and challenging learning, meeting the needs of all our students. The learning opportunities are both innovative and inclusive. We have designed a curriculum that not only instils value in the core subjects, but also the EBACC and foundation subjects in all key stages.

At Mascalls Academy in Years 7-9 we deliver a curriculum under the framework of the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme. The Middle Years Programme encourages students to become lifelong learners and global citizens. It aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect. We develop these attributes in our young people through our written curriculum by excellent teaching and learning and our bespoke pastoral programme. Students then continue their journey of learning in Year 9 preparing them for the rigour of the GCSE and vocational programmes in Years 10 and 11. Students who decide to continue their educational journey at Mascalls Academy will study a diet of A Levels or a combination of A Level and vocational programmes.

In Key Stage 3 (Years 7-9) students study 8 subject groups;

  • Language and Literature – English,
  • Mathematics,
  • Sciences, Language Acquisition – Spanish,
  • Individuals and Societies – history, geography & RE,
  • Design – IT & design and technology,
  • Arts – art & design, dance, drama, music,
  • Physical and Health Education – P.E.

They also have a structured pastoral programme in advisory groups every morning.

In Key Stage 4 (Years 10-11) we offer one of the widest range of option choices amongst local schools, embracing the academic and vocational curricula. All students continue to study English – language and literature, mathematics, science and P.E. Students can then choose from a wide range of GCSE and vocational subjects ranging from fine art and computer science to product design and media studies.

In Key Stage 5 (Years 12-13) we offer students several pathways through either a traditional academic route of A Levels, a mix of A Levels and vocational courses or a purely vocational route with work placement.

Rewards

Students receiving the highest number of reward points receive subject awards in termly college rewards assemblies. Students will receive automatic reward points for 100% attendance and excellent attitude to learning in their progress reports.

Intent

Mascalls provides a challenging and rigorous curriculum with knowledge acquisition at its core. Our curriculum is broad and balanced, with a rich variety of subjects allowing students to study widely. The diversity within the curriculum offers stimulating and challenging learning meeting the needs of all our students regardless of background or ability. The learning opportunities are both innovative and inclusive. We have designed a curriculum that not only instils value in the core subjects but also the EBACC and foundation subjects in all key stages. Our curriculum provides opportunities for children to develop as independent, confident and successful learners with high aspirations. Our curriculum ensures that academic success, creativity, problem solving, reliability, responsibility and resilience, as well as physical development, well-being and mental health are key elements that support the development of the whole child and promote a positive attitude to learning and enable them to become well-rounded, global citizens.

Through our digital strategy students are able to access the best curricular resources from within the academy and beyond to enhance, support, assess and review their learning at any time for all learners.

High quality summative and formative assessment at Mascalls define curriculum excellence, it sets out the standard that you expect students to achieve and informs both the curriculum and teacher planning. The design of assessment is derived from a tight focus on assessing the content taught, the accumulation of knowledge and the application of skills appropriate to the age and stage of the learner.  The outcomes of assessment, both formative and summative, identify gaps and misconceptions in knowledge and understanding, directly informing future planning by providing information that can be used by the teacher to close the gaps as close to the assessment point as possible.

Digital opportunities are utilised through our chromebook scheme to enhance the efficiency of  assessment, improving the speed and diagnostic nature of feedback from summative and formative assessments. 

Challenge is at the heart of teaching and learning at Mascalls, with high expectations through clarity of explanation, expert modelling, questioning, deliberate practice and feedback lessons are delivered in the most efficient sequence to ensure optimal learning.  Through our research based approach, we banish the educational myths that have little impact on learning and knowledge acquisition.  We ‘teach to the top’ and scaffold appropriately. We never confuse low prior attainment with low ability; all students are provided with learning tasks that have a ‘desirable difficulty’.  Our research into cognitive load theory underpins our approach to pedagogy and the ‘Challenge Wheel’, our explicit models of instruction and instructional techniques fit within the characteristics of working memory in order to maximise learning.

Our digital strategy makes the most of the opportunities to substitute, augment, modify or redefine aspects within the learning process to ensure the most efficient and effective delivery.

At the beginning of Year 7 students will be placed in core teaching groups based upon their prior performance and mixed ability in non-core subjects. Their progress is carefully monitored throughout the year and at key reporting times in the year their progress is reviewed.

Parents will receive a report on their child’s progress three times a year. Parents can also track the progress made in each subject on our parent gateway portal via our website.

Mascalls Academy is proud of its comprehensive career education programme which incorporates work-related learning throughout their education.

A student at Mascalls Academy will be prepared for the world of work through education, careers education and work-related learning. We will work with the students to improve self-awareness and challenge their ideas.

As part of Leigh Academies Trust all of the academies are committed to the Investor in Careers Award and Mascalls Academy is proud to have achieved this full award. This award demonstrates the comprehensive Careers Education Information Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) that the students receive throughout their journey at Mascalls.

As an academy we are judged on the destination of our students. Our students achieve positive destinations by continuing in education, entering the workplace by way of an apprenticeship or going into training.

Our students all have the opportunity to have a careers interview at any stage of their education. The careers section of the website clearly outlines our students’ entitlement and the timescales of the careers education.

For more information on our curriculum, please visit our dedicated page.

Curriculum at Mascalls Academy

Our Colleges

It is essential to maintain close links between home and school throughout your child’s education at Mascalls so we can support them effectively.

The academy is organised into four colleges – Earhart, Luther King, Shackleton and Marie Curie (Sixth Form). Each college has approximately 350 students, led by a Head of College, Deputy Head of College, Head of Pastoral, Assistant Head of Pastoral and a team of advisors who all know your child very well. Each student is in a mixed age advisory group which meets with their advisor every day.

Mascalls actively encourages the competitive element of inter-college competitions through half termly challenges that include sports, literature and art elements.

All of our colleges pride themselves on high expectations and excellent pastoral care based upon family values. They are named after adventurers and pioneers who aspired to achieve great things, irrespective of the barriers ahead of them. It is their spirit of adventure and aspiration that Mascalls seeks to inspire in our students, through our small school structure.

Earhart College logo

Amelia Earhart College

A pioneering aviator and inspirational figure, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean and set many other records throughout her career.

Luther King College logo

Martin Luther King, Jr. College

Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Baptist minister and activist who was a leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using non-violent civil disobedience based on his Christian beliefs.

Shackleton College logo

Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton College

He was a polar explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic, and one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.

Marie Curie Sixth Form College

Our Sixth Form offers excellent standards of teaching to ensure that students are equipped with the best education to allow them to access a range of Post18 pathways. The aim of our programme of study is to develop our students to be passionate thinkers; creative risk-takers and informed researchers. We ensure that all our students receive specialist support when considering possible career pathways and university choices. Students and parents are supported in making informed decisions and advice is given on finance, applications and CV writing for all routes Post-18. When our students leave us, we believe they are fully equipped to embrace the next steps in their lives, whether that be the challenges of Higher Education; apprenticeship programmes with influential local employers; full-time employment or embarking on gap year travel experiences. Through our developing Alumni Network, our current students are able to see the possibilities in their own futures, confirming our academy ethos: Academic Excellence, Character and Culture.

Marie Curie College logo

Marie Curie College

She was a Polish-born Physicist and Chemist and one of the most famous scientists of her time. Having discovered two new elements – radium and polonium, she carried out the first research into the treatment of tumours with radiation and was instrumental in developing X-Rays for use in surgery

Student Life

We aim to foster a culture where students and parents value homework and understand its contribution to students’ success, to support and encourage students to develop independent study skills, organisational skills, time management and self-discipline.

Homework is recorded in student planners and in addition can be accessed by parents electronically

By contract coaches and service buses

If you live more than three miles from the school which Kent County Council has designated as the nearest appropriate school, you can claim free transport to that school. Usually, you will be given a season ticket for public transport or offered a seat on a bus hired by Kent County Council. The distance is measured by the shortest walking route.

Young Person’s Travel Pass

Kent County Council runs the Young Person’s Travel Pass which allows students in Years 7-11 to travel on many scheduled bus services in Kent. Mascalls is included in this scheme.

Students with special educational needs (SEN) are supported from transition. Interventions are tailored to individual needs and progress is closely tracked and monitored.

We pride ourselves on developing successful partnerships between home and the academy in order for every SEN student to achieve their potential. For more information please contact our SENCo, Miss Mohamed.

As part of our vision to support students in achieving their full potential, we run Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 booster sessions in a range of subjects. These sessions, known as ‘Period 6’ run after school from 3-4pm every Tuesday-Friday, delivered by specialist teachers.

Mascalls Academy has a wide range of facilities and expertise and the provision of activities through our co-curriculum is an integral part of academy life. We believe that it is vital to encourage students to extend and take up new interests and hobbies alongside their studies. From sports to film,performing arts and gymnastics, there really is something for everyone!

Area of Excellence – Creative Arts

Our area of excellence reflects our commitment to a broader curriculum and the many ways success can be achieved. The skills required to be a success in creative arts lead to further success and can be applied across the curriculum. Teamwork, creativity, performance and presentation are highly sought after in the modern workplace, we develop them here. From shows and exhibitions, to competition and collaboration every student is encouraged to make the most of every opportunity to continue their personal development throughout their time here at Mascalls.

For the last five years, Mascalls’ results have gone from strength-to-strength making us consistently one of the highest performing non-selective schools in the county.

As you may know our Years 11 and 13 received their results in a different way during the lockdown period. Our staff worked tirelessly to ensure that students received grades that would enable them to continue their journey in education or employment. Each one thoroughly deserved and the result of sustained hard work, determination and resilience during their studies. The overall headlines for our school showed an improvement in line with the last five years but most importantly each and every one of our students in Years 11 and 13 were able to go on to their chosen path to continue their education and we are incredibly proud of them all.

360 Tour

View Our 360 Tour

Open 360 in new tab