Our Curriculum

The Keystone Academy > Our Curriculum

Whole School Curriculum Intent

Our intent is to transform the lives of each unique child in our care. We offer a high-quality, specialist education, so that children graduate from The Keystone Academy with the courage, confidence, resilience and skills they need for bright and meaningful futures.  

At the heart of our school are staff who truly care and want the best for each student. We recognise that children learn and develop well in enabling environments with teaching and support from adults who respond to their individual interests and needs and help them to build their learning over time. We offer a nurturing and trauma-informed environment where all adults get to know every child. This relational practice ensures our students have a trusted adult, and feel safe, valued and comfortable.  This allows them to learn, to be happy and to discover who they really are.  

We recognise every child as a remarkable individual with a diverse range of experiences and starting points. We are ambitious for every child at every stage in their education. We provide a broad, bespoke and carefully sequenced curriculum where every child can achieve the outcomes, qualifications and skills that they need for happy, successful futures. 

We achieve this by having a curriculum offer that will: 

Maximise literacy and numeracy skills

Be truly broad, rich and balanced so students can discover their strengths, gifts and talents and grow in confidence.

Be inclusive and supportive so all pupils thrive regardless of their starting point.

Make learning exciting, experiential and purposeful so pupils develop a lifelong love of learning.

Understand pupils’ holistic needs, delivering adaptive and personalised learning experiences that engage and inspire.

Ensure our students leave us ready to flourish in the world, and broaden their viewpoints enabling them to become tolerant and empathic global citizens.

Place Life skills and Preparation for Adulthood at the centre of our curriculum, bringing together academic, practical, social, emotional and personal development alongside the skills and attitudes of responsibility, independence, health and wellbeing

Equip students with the knowledge and cultural capital they need to thrive.

Engender curiosity and motivation by providing opportunities for enquiry-based learning.

Give all students opportunities to be outdoors and active, recognising the positive impact that this has on mental health, wellbeing and PSED.

Whole School Curriculum Implementation 

We achieve our curriculum intent by: 

Delivering a carefully sequenced curriculum that ensures progression of skills, learning, personal qualities and values from EYFS to Y11

Having a Learner-led approach to teaching, recognising that the EYFS characteristics of effective learners are relevant to pupils of all ages. We call this our CLEAR approach:  Collaborative and Curious (Creative and Critical Thinking); Learning-led (active learning); Experiential (Playing and Exploring); Ambitious; Real and Relevant.

	We seek to develop learners who are:	We seek to develop practitioners who are:
Collaborative and Curious (Creative and Critical Thinkers)	Creative and critical thinkers, working together to test their ideas, making links between information and being reflective learners who know how to make progress.	Reflective practitioners. They offer learners enquiry-led opportunities, allowing learners to co-create and learn through seeking to understand more.
Learner-led (Active Learning)	Active learners, showing resilience and tenacity and being proud to be themselves.	Allow learners to have choice and control over their learning, developing a love of learning as its own intrinsic motivation.
Experiential (Playing and Exploring)	Curious about the world around them, grasping new opportunities and growing in Cultural Capital.	Giving learners active learning opportunities where they can learn through seeing and doing.
Ambitious	Aspiring to be their very best, brilliant selves.	Ambitious in the curriculum they deliver, with high expectations and no ceiling on capability.
Real and Relevant	Able to link learning to real examples in their local area and current affairs.	Linking theoretical learning to real examples in the local area and beyond, making learning relevant and connected to the real world.

Taking a mastery approach to curriculum design with progression mapped out in relatively small, carefully sequenced steps, mapped out across all phases, ensuring continuity and supporting transition.

Promoting teaching strategies that are most effective for our cohort.

Creating frequent opportunities for interleaved retrieval both within and across the subjects through a spiral curriculum, reducing cognitive load and allowing students to carefully build skills and knowledge.

Having a thematic curriculum at EFYS and KS1 and KS2, allowing for the integration of subjects so that pupils can link learning and build a greater depth of understanding

Have an enquiry-led approach to curriculum delivery at KS3 and KS4 to develop curiosity and maintain connections with learning.

Ensuring all students have access to Quality First Teaching, supported by evidence-informed CPD and a robust Quality Assurance Program.

Frequently reviewing and flexing our academic and Personal Development curriculum to ensure it is personalised and appropriate to each student and cohort and the changing needs of an SEMH school.

Providing a wide range of enrichment, experiences and extra-curricular opportunities so learning is real and relevant and students increase their cultural capital.

Providing in-depth and independent careers information and guidance to all students at all stages, including work experience and work place visits, thoroughly preparing them for their next stage of education, training or employment.

Using both formative and summative assessment strategies to ensure teachers can identify progress and students are aware how to improve and take ownership of their own learning.