Key Stage 3 Foundation Course at Newhaven School
This curriculum seeks to offer students who have previously had negative experiences of schooling (e.g. refusal to attend, behavioural concerns), or a significant amount of missed schooling, an opportunity to re-engage with primary style learning within a secondary school environment.
The curriculum covers 2 years. Year 1 offers a more project-based approach to learning, and more informal and embedded opportunities for learners to work on key skills needed (e.g. literacy and numeracy). Year 2 prepares students for a reintegration back into the main school, with more opportunities for independent and traditional learning and assessment. Each week, learners will have 4x Maths lesson, English lessons (divided into 1x SPAG, 1x Writing, 1x Comprehension and 1x Speaking and Listening), 4x Topic lessons, and then a variety of RSHE, Forest School, Art, Performing Arts and Pastoral lessons.
This curriculum has been developed on the understanding that learning happens within a context for students, and pays particular attention to cultural and experiential opportunities.
Differentiation is met through a variety of self-assessment checklists specifically picked for each learner, which aim to provide sufficient challenge. An understanding of learners and flexibility on topics covered is also essential to ensure achievement and enjoyment throughout the duration of the course.
What we learn – Year 1
| Year 1 | Topic | Maths | English SPAG | English Reading and Comprehension |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Autumn 1 | Living things and their Habitats 1 | Number 1 (Place Value and the Four Operations) | Week 1: Proper Nouns Week 2: Adverbs of Possibility Week 3: Converting Nouns and Adjectives into Verbs –Suffixes –ate, -ise, -ify Week 4: Tenses: Past and present progressive, and present perfect Week 5: Possessive Plural Apostrophes Week 6: Expanded Noun Phrases | Soul- Disney Noughts and Crosses (Yr 7) Born a Crime (Yr 8-9) |
| Autumn 2 | Forces | Measurements | Week 1: Adverbs Week 2: Degrees of possibility- Modal verbs Week 3: Verb prefixes dis-, de-, mis-, over-, re- Week 4: Verb inflections and Standard English Week 5: Using Inverted Commas | Descriptive writing and Comprehension focus |
| Spring 1 | Properties and Changes of Materials | Fractions | Week 1: Prepositions Week 2: More prefixes Week 3: Coordinating Conjunctions Week 4: Using Inverted Commas Week 5: Parenthesis- Brackets Week 6: Commas for Meaning and Clarity | Wonder- AJ Palacio (All years) |
| Spring 2 | Animals including Humans 1 | Statistics | Week 1: Determiners Week 2: More suffixes Week 3: Subordinating Conjunctions Week 4: Linking Paragraphs with Adverbials Week 5: Direct & Indirect (Reported) Speech | Inside Out- Disney Madame Doubtfire- Anne Fine (All years) |
| Summer 1 | Earth and Space | Geometry | Week 1: Pronouns & Possessive Pronouns Week 2: Word Families Week 3: Subordinate Clauses Week 4: Writing Cohesive Paragraphs Week 5: Parenthesis- Commas Week 6: Homophones | Poetry and Non-fiction texts (Fact Files) |
| Summer 2 | Energy and the Environment | Number 2 | Week 1: Adverbials/ Fronted Adverbials ● Dictionary Work ● Relative Clauses ● Editing and Evaluating ● Parentheses- Dashes | Wall:E- Disney Non-fiction texts (Newspaper articles) |
What we learn – Year 2
| Year 2 | Topic | Maths | English SPAG | English Reading and Comprehension |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Autumn 1 | Light and Electricity | Number 1 | Week 1: Noun Phrases Week 2: Modal Verbs and Subjunctive Mood Week 3: Suffices- Nouns and Adjectives to Verbs Week 4: Relative Clauses Week 5: Commas Week 6: Assess and Review | Poetry |
| Autumn 2 | World War II | Fractions | Week 1: Pronouns and Possessive Pronouns Week 2: Adverbs to Show Frequency Week 3: Prefixes Week 4: Colons in Lists Week 5: Subordinating Conjunctions and Clauses Week 6: Assess and Review | Personal Writing (Diary entry, Postcard, Letter writing) Case Study: Anne Frank Fiction: Goodnight Mr Tom |
| Spring 1 | The Tudors | Geometry | Week 1: Synonyms and Antonyms Week 2: Adverbs to Show Possibility Week 3: Root Words Week 4: Hyphens Week 5: Coordinating Conjunctions Week 6: Assess and Review | Significant Author: Shakespeare Poetry Play Scripts |
| Spring 2 | Animals including Humans 2 | Measure | Week 1: Subject and Object Week 2: Ambiguity Week 3: Hyphenated Compound Words Week 4: Bullet Points Week 5: Perfect Form of Verbs to Mark Relationships of Time and Cause Week 6: Assess and Review | Descriptive Writing Matilda- Roald Dahl (optional study) |
| Summer 1 | Evolution and Inheritance | Statistics | Week 1: Direct and Reported Speech Week 2: Active and Passive Week 3: Semi-colons, Colons and Dashes to Mark Clauses Week 4: Formal and Informal Speech and Vocabulary Week 5: Layout Devices Week 6: Assess and Review | Story Writing Life of Pi- Yann Martel (optional study) |
| Summer 2 | Living thing and their Habitats 2 | Algebra | Week 1: Verb Tenses Week 2: Editing and Evaluating Week 3: Parenthesis- Brackets, Commas and Dashes Week 4: Formal and Informal Writing Week 5: Cohesion Across Paragraphs Week 6: Assess and Review | Non-Fiction Texts (Writing to persuade) |
