Curriculum Intent: A traditional rigorous curriculum which is designed to provide qualifications to students of a wide range of abilities by offering both BTEC and A Level courses. Beyond this, a curriculum which provides support and development opportunities for our students and prepares them for the next steps.

Gordon’s School Sixth Form offers a broadly traditional curriculum, following a 3+1 model.

This is  a model where all students choose three A Level subjects, or a pure BTEC model, or alternatively a combination of A Level and BTEC courses at their core. In addition, students choose a fourth subject option from our Supplementary Options to pursue in Year 12 only.  Examples of +1 options are AS Maths to support a core qualification such as sciences. For creative students we offer the Gold Arts Award, for science students wishing to lead an independent project in this field we now deliver the Crest Award. For our budding Sport enthusiasts we offer the chance of an extra qualification in the form of Higher Sports Leaders and Strength and Conditioning. 

Most students choose to undertake the EPQ as their supplementary option as this is an excellent preparation for University. 

The curriculum at Gordon’s therefore is characterised by a strong academic focus at its core and several layers of opportunities for students to extend themselves beyond the core provision and the classroom. This prepares them well for life as they secure qualifications, develop transferable skills such as confidence, self-management, cultural capital and an understanding of the wider world and their options. 

This provides the base for our academic programme which is further enhanced by a complimentary academic provision designed to develop students' cultural capital, and personal development in th form of extra skills, experiences and qualifications. We do this by extending our provision beyond the expected - see below. 

FURTHER CURRICULAR  OPPORTUNITIES

Other opportunities for academic and personal development are through our Expansive Curriculum, our Open Study, Liberal Arts and our PSHE programme. The intent here is to gradually enhance our students’ skills, confidence and provide them with opportunities to create a portfolio of experiences for a CV full of stories they can tell as they move on to their next steps. 

EXPANSIVE CURRICULUM

A core part is the Liberal Arts programme in Year 12 which comprises modules such as Politics, History of Art, Critical Thinking and Ethics. These change every year with the aim to develop students' Cultural Capital.

Furthermore, In Year 13 we build on this by offering a more personalised programme aimed at giving our students 'the edge'. In the Open Study programme gives Gordon's students 'the edge' by educating them on the factors which affect future success, drawing n research from Covey, University of Cambridge and the Sutton Trust, guiding them to self assess and build skills in line with these factors.  More details can be found on the next page.