Bellemoor School | Southampton

The Southampton Curriculum Policy seeks to provide a framework within which schools will determine a curriculum which best meets the needs and potential of all their pupils.

 

Our Mission, Principles & Aims

Mission: Our central task is to provide better learning for all.

 

Principles: We believe:

• that the City Council should provide leadership direction and support for educational development in Southampton;
  
• that lifelong learning in the City should reflect its regional, national, European and international contexts;
  
• that local government has a central role to play in delivering high quality education;
  
• that all kinds of achievement should be valued;
  
• that learning is valuable both for itself and for its contribution to employability and economic prosperity;
  
• in a multi-agency community approach;
  
• in good communications and effective teamwork.

Aims: Every learner in Southampton should achieve his or her best. We shall:

• raise standards of achievement;
• secure the educational entitlement of all;
• promote lifelong learning;
• demonstrate equality of opportunity;
• maximise value for money;
• become the City of Learning.

Even Better Learning

Southampton City Council is totally committed to even better learning for all its citizens. What children and young people learn during their school years is critical. This Curriculum Policy asserts that all pupils are intelligent and that they are all entitled to be taught what is necessary to make sure that they gain a positive sense of personal identity, a range of secure attitudes and values and the necessary skills and understanding to live their lives as fully as possible both now and into adulthood. We want to encourage and help pupils to achieve their best so that they can participate actively and with pride in The City of Learning.

 

The Purposes of the Curriculum

The curriculum of a school consists of all those activities and experiences designed or encouraged by the organisation and management of the school and its community to:

• promote the spiritual, moral, cultural, social, emotional, intellectual and physical development of its pupils;
  
• enable them to live fulfilling lives;
  
• prepare them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life.

 

The Components of the Curriculum

The curriculum consists of:

• the statutory requirements of the National Curriculum, religious education and sex education;
  
• other subjects or areas of experience added at the school's discretion;
  
• the attitudes and values which are taught both directly and indirectly;
  
• the quality of relationships and other aspects of the ethos of the school.

The curriculum should reflect:

• the needs and potential of all its pupils;
  
• the expectations and aspirations of its parents and carers.

The statutory requirements for the curriculum will change from time to time. Each school needs to consider its own priorities for what is to be taught to and learned by its pupils and to determine the balance between these priorities in the light of statutory requirement.

The Aims for the Curriculum

 

Southampton City Council promotes even better learning for all. The curriculum in Southampton's schools should:

• encourage and help pupils to achieve their best;
• raise standards of achievement for all our pupils;
• secure the educational entitlement of all;
• promote lifelong learning;
• ensure equality of opportunity;
• reflect the City's identity.

 

 

When schools formulate their curriculum policy, they should acknowledge the City Council's aspirations for Southampton to be THE Learning City in which it will:

• work in partnership with other stakeholders;
  
• support the learning of individual staff through professional development;
  
• consult with and listen to others;
  
• manage information well, using information and communication technology where appropriate;
  
• base decisions on reliable evidence;
  
• be open to alternative points of view and alternative solutions;
  
• be committed to research;
  
• be transparent in decision-making;
  
• be sensitive to feedback;
  
• acknowledge and rectify errors;
  
• evaluate our decisions and our performance;
  
• make decisions at the most appropriate level of the organisation;
  
• value self-esteem;
  
• use resources efficiently;
  
• manage stress;
  
• work purposefully to achieve our aims.

The Curriculum Framework

In order to take their place in the world, to survive and thrive, pupils need:

• a positive sense of personal identity;
• a range of secure attitudes and values;
• a well developed set of skills;
• a broad base of knowledge and understanding;