Curriculum Plan and Overview

At New Mills School we offer an academically rich curriculum which leads to the development of deep subject knowledge in a broad range of subjects. Our curriculum is planned and sequenced so that new knowledge is built on what has been taught before as students work towards defined milestones at the end of academic each year. Students are supported in developing rich interconnected webs of knowledge and the cultural capital they need to succeed in life.  Our curriculum exceeds the requirements as set out in The National Curriculum. 

Our curriculum is designed to allow students to acquire and retain the core knowledge in each subject through careful planning, sequencing and revisiting of key knowledge. Our curriculum is designed to provide opportunities to develop common skills that make up the wider curriculum; Literacy (written fluency, stamina and reading), numeracy, SMSC, engagement and cultural capital. The curriculum is brought to life through high quality teaching which develops and extends these threshold concepts to provide a rich and engaging curriculum.

The curriculum is planned as a five-year journey. Students spend three years studying a broad range of subjects at Key Stage 3, followed by two years studying a range of GCSE (and equivalent) courses in more depth. We believe that this model enables us to provide a strong foundation through enhanced curriculum time in all areas at KS3 while still providing them with personalisation and choice for their GCSEs. Further information about the curriculum in each subject area can be found under the heading 'The Curriculum'.