The Taught Curriculum

The Taught Curriculum

The taught curriculum is made up from a wide range of subject areas that ensures students have access to a broad and balanced curriculum. We know that students have different interests and passions and we hope that our broad range of subjects allows students to enjoy their current loves and explore new opportunities. Religious studies forms a core part of our curriculum throughout all key stages. This is supported by our ethos teams and linked to wider school opportunities such as missionary and charity work. 

As a school we place great emphasis on the value of Key Stage 3 and ensure that our curriculum structure offers students a broad and balanced range of subjects in Year 7, 8 and 9. Throughout Key Stage 3 we make greater use of ability groups as students move from Year 7 to 8. In Year 9, the very large majority of subjects are taught in ability groups. 

As students move into Key Stage 4 we ensure that all students have access to the English Baccalaureate whilst offering subjects that will support them in their next steps. We offer a robust suite of GCSE and Vocational subjects that support our students and we firmly believe that our approach supports students  to enjoy their time at St Thomas More and achieve highly. 

At Key Stage 5 we offer a range of qualifications to our students and are proud to be one of the few schools that offer T-Levels. Our Key Stage 5 curriculum is built around the same principles as Key Stage 3 and 5, ensuring that students achieve as highly as they can. 

The taught curriculum is primarily structured around key concepts and crucial learning on a modular [termly] basis.  An outline of each subject’s curriculum can be found by using the links below.

Subject Overviews:

The taught curriculum is primarily structured around key concepts on a modular [termly] basis. 

The key concepts provide threads of a journey through the content to be taught. These are the big ideas within a subject and signpost the underlying structures. They are also able to expand as new knowledge linked to the concept is encountered. These concepts help students to make sense of their learning, linking back to where they may have encountered the concept before and stretching into the future to consider how new information links to our previous understanding. This helps to ensure that learning is structured and coherent, and not just a list of topics or content to be learnt – they add deeper meaning.

An outline of each subject’s curriculum is available for parents and carers using the links below. You will clearly see the key concepts for each subject, and then the main topics through which these are explored in each module. 

For more information regards the curriculum our school is following please contact info@stm.bwcet.com.