Curriculum Statement

At Leigh Academy Hugh Christie, our core values focus on our students being ready, respectful and responsible. We set high expectations to ensure that every pupil excels across all aspects of academy life. As a candidate IB World School, our aim is for all students to develop the skills of the IB Learner profile to become lifelong learners who contribute positively as global citizens.

All students at Leigh Academy Hugh Christie will experience a broad and deep curriculum encouraging a rich knowledge base for all students, including those with SEND and from disadvantaged backgrounds. For our students, we aim to:

  • Build a global character base through the learner profile
  • Secure a strong foundation of key knowledge and skills that promotes independence
  • Have high expectations for their behaviour, achievement and attitudes
  • Develop their mental, physical, cultural, social and moral development
  • Be literate, numerate and digitally literate
  • Provide carers guidance in line with the Gatsby benchmarks and ensure all students achieve a successful onward destination.

The Leigh Academy Hugh Christie curriculum is rigorous, broad and balanced, with the acquisition of key knowledge at the heart of our intent. The diverse nature of our curriculum stimulates academic curiosity, challenging our students to be resilient and progress exceptionally well; regardless of ability, needs or background. Lessons are planned in a consistent manner, underpinned by the most recent research from the Education Endowment Foundation that forms our ‘non-negotiables’ of teaching and learning. The core elements of our curriculum underpin its design through EBacc and foundation subjects. The vertical mapping and horizontal integration of the curriculum supports the retention of knowledge, acquisition of applicable skills and addresses any misconceptions. This dynamic approach to the curriculum design, prepares students for their onward destination and chosen career pathway.

The Key Stage 3 curriculum is broad and balanced, following the International Baccalaureate Middle Years’ Programme (MYP) and this is studied in Years 7, 8 and 9. This ensures students acquire a deep understanding across eight key subject disciplines. To ensure knowledge is fully embedded, lessons are constructed to ensure students are guided and supported, with opportunities skillfully provided to secure the need to recall and retrieve prior learning.

The curriculum is reviewed and developed to ensure accessibility for all, enabling all students to maximise their progress. Our intention is to ensure pupils make outstanding progress and that the curriculum removes any potential barriers to learning. In line with National guidance, the academy staff engage with Quality First Teaching to support students with special educational needs. The SEND team collaborates closely with teaching staff and leaders to ensure all students have access to a robust curriculum that goes beyond the National Curriculum.

The development of language and literacy skills are paramount and underpin our curriculum. Our aim is to build confidence in communication skills to support student progress in school and prepare them for working life. Our literacy programme includes bespoke time and focus for reading throughout the curriculum. Pupils who have a reading age below their chronological age are supported through interventions to close this gap as quickly as possible. Numeracy skills are embedded across the curriculum and supported during our advisory programme. Pupils below expected progress from Primary school are provided with interventions to quickly catch-up through incisive intervention. Our digital strategy ensures students that digital literacy is embedded into each curriculum area and supported via our pastoral programme. Our students are taught to utilise digital access responsibility to enhance their skills ready for the world of work.

The academy is inclusive and we have high expectations of each student. Our behaviour policy promotes and celebrates positive behaviours, linking directly to the IB learner profile. Our highly positive and engaging culture is built on understanding and respect. These key features form the foundations of our pastoral programme.

Our core curriculum also prioritises PSHRE to ensure that our learners develop key understandings about challenging topics linked to the real world. This also enhances our SMSC (Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural) programme which is fully integrated into academy life via our advisory programme as each pupil develops their character as a whole to ensure they are fully prepared to be outstanding global citizens. Our co-curricular offer enhances the student experience, supporting all aspects of development and contextualises the learning for our students.

Leigh Academy Hugh Christie intends to provide all students with secure foundations for progression into further education and apprenticeships. Full coverage of the Gatsby benchmarks starts from Year 7, with all students receiving regular updates on relevant careers information. High aspirations are instilled in our students to ensure that all students achieve their potential and move forward successfully into their intended career pathway.

We successfully offer:

  • The Middle Years Programme (MYP) in Years 7, 8 and 9 (KS3)
  • GCSEs & BTEC’s in Years 10 and 11 (KS4)
  • In our Sixth Form we offer A levels and Applied General qualifications.

Our personalised curriculum provides the academic challenge that encourages students to embrace and understand the connections between traditional subjects and the real world, and become critical and reflective thinkers. It also promotes a positive attitude to learning by challenging students to solve problems, show creativity and resourcefulness, and participate actively in their communities.

The wide range of opportunities for learning include: student curriculum, extra-curricular clubs, educational visits and excursions abroad, assemblies, enhancement and enrichment programmes, guest speakers, workshops and the pastoral programmes delivered through the system of advisory programmes, one-to-one tuition, work experience and careers/work-related learning, enterprise activities and conferences, working with businesses and employers/educators.

British Values, SMSC and careers education are used to provide students with appropriate and relevant learning experiences. All students study the language and culture of at least one other country as part of our commitment to encouraging intercultural understanding and respect. It is our expectation that all students will make at least good progress and stretch and challenge and independent thinking and reflection should be experienced by all.

With the increased content demands of our curriculum, students make highly effective use of Knowledge Organisers, personal chromebooks, google classroom, alongside other digital platforms. These tools support students by removing potential barriers to learning and providing access to key information at all times. 

The Knowledge Organiser provides students with the important, useful and powerful content from a topic on a single page. This is tasked for homework and then this knowledge is used as the foundation to strengthen and develop understanding and apply to problems and practical scenarios within the classroom.

Leigh Academy Hugh Christie prides itself on the exceptional level of consistency in our teaching and learning, with all lessons effectively supporting daily student progress. All staff adopt the ‘Leigh Academy Hugh Christie Way’, with each lesson having a consistent approach to maximise student engagement in each lesson and maintain our high standards. Such approaches include:

  • Do Now Tasks (Low-Stakes Testing): A brief activity at the start of the lesson to assess prior knowledge and prepare students for the day’s learning.
  • Adaptive Teaching: Adjusting teaching methods and materials to meet the diverse needs of students, ensuring effective engagement and learning.
  • Link to Prior Learning (Knowledge Recall): Connecting new content to previously learned material to reinforce understanding and facilitate deeper learning.
  • Direct Instruction/Modelling (Skills Consolidation): Explicitly teaching and demonstrating skills or concepts to consolidate understanding.
  • Staged Instruction (I Do, We Do, You Do): Using a structured approach to gradually shift responsibility from teacher-led instruction to independent student work.
  • Cold Calling and Comprehension Checks: Using random questioning to assess understanding and ensure active engagement.
  • Independent Task (Including Reading Development): Providing opportunities for students to apply learning independently, with a focus on developing reading skills
  • Plenary/Consolidation: Summarising the lesson’s key points and reflecting on what has been learned to consolidate knowledge and assess progress.

The broad and balanced curriculum ensures opportunities for all students to succeed. 

The impact of our curriculum can be measured through the following:

  • Internal and external assessment outcomes throughout all key stages.
  • Progress in class-based assessments, recording in the Record of Progress (ROP) folders.
  • Retention of key knowledge, via the low-stakes knowledge organiser quizzes.
  • Engagement in their learning, measured via their Commitment to Learning grade.
  • Students who join the academy at lower starting points show improvement in literacy and numeracy throughout each key stage.
  • Students are able to communicate their learning clearly and effectively in formal and informal settings.
  • Students’ work shows pride and progress in exercise books and assessments.
  • Students are proud of their achievements and enjoy coming to school, which results in:
    • High levels of attendance
    • Low fixed term suspensions.
    • High engagement in enrichment activities.
  • Students develop a sense of global awareness and environmental responsibility and will have been actively engaged in the local community as well as establishing and embedding the knowledge and skills to be effective in an ever-changing world.
  • Through engaging with the IB Learner profile, students develop confidence, independence and skills for life.

Achieving the Gatsby benchmarks to ensure students achieve their preferred onward destination and forge a successful career path.

Leigh Academy Hugh Christie is a Candidate School* for the Middle Years Programme (MYP).  This school is pursuing authorization as an IB World School. These are schools that share a common philosophy—a commitment to high quality, challenging, international education that Leigh Academy Hugh Christie believes is important for our students. *Only schools authorised by the IB Organization can offer any of its four academic programmes: the Primary Years Programme (PYP), the Middle Years Programme (MYP), the Diploma Programme, or the Career-related Programme (CP). Candidate status gives no guarantee that authorization will be granted. For further information about the IB and its programmes, visit www.ibo.org