Curriculum

Curriculum 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.