Our Curriculum Aims

The design of the curriculum and its delivery is something we have put a great deal of thought into. We’re proud of the strong academic outcomes we’ve achieved but we’re constantly evaluating what we do to see if we can make it even better. Upon making decisions in this area, we always consider our mission statement:

‘Bacon’s College ensures that every student is well educated, cared for and exhorted to achieve the academic and personal excellence that will lead to university or skilled work and to a fulfilled life’

Bacon’s College pupils follow a broad and rich academic curriculum culminating in qualifications that will give them the most options when they leave us. In line with our mission statement, we very much have in our minds the concept of intentional inclusion - where all of our students are given the opportunity to learn the curriculum content in a way they can access it.

As we are part of United Learning, we are provided with the United Learning curriculum, but we do tailor it to the context of our students. For example, in English, we add more challenging texts, including dystopian fiction and extra Shakespeare so they cover the 3 genres – History (Richard III), comedy (Much Ado About nothing) and tragedy (Othello). In History, students will also study the role of women in WWII.

Throughout all subject areas and each in key stage, our curriculum is sequenced to ensure full coverage of the National Curriculum. This includes time for formative assessment, as well as ‘flexi’ time to allow for revisiting content and addressing gaps in knowledge.

During the teaching of the curriculum, students' knowledge is checked regularly and thoroughly in many forms – Do Nows, mini white board checks, effective questioning, purposeful teacher circulation with live marking, formative assessment and feedback (yellow and blue sheets) and mid-year and end of year summative assessments.

Core Curriculum

Hundreds of United Learning teachers and leaders have been involved in developing our Common Curriculum as a core academic curriculum, which we provide. Our curriculum is based on these key principles:

Entitlement

We believe that all children have right to learn what is in the United Learning Curriculum; schools have a duty to ensure that all children are taught the whole of it.

Coherence

Taking the National Curriculum as its starting point, our curriculum is carefully sequenced so that powerful knowledge builds term by term and year by year. We make meaningful connections within subjects and between subjects.

Mastery

We ensure that foundational knowledge, skills, and concepts are secure before moving on. Pupils revisit prior learning and apply their understanding in new contexts.

Adaptability

The core content – the ‘what’ – of our curriculum is stable and in line with what the best schools are teaching, but we ensure we bring it to life for our own local context in South-East London. Equally, teachers will adapt lessons – the ‘how’ – to meet the needs of their own classes.

Representation

We are committed to the idea of ‘the mirror and the window’, that pupils see themselves in our curriculum, ensuring diversity and equality, but that our curriculum takes all pupils beyond their immediate experience, building cultural capital and aspiration.

Education With Character

Our curriculum, which includes the taught subject timetable as well as spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development, is intended to spark curiosity and to nourish both the head and the heart.

Concepts Not Context

The Curriculum is intended as a concise specification of knowledge and content to be taught and learned; it is for schools and teachers to decide how to teach and bring it to life.