Curriculum Overview
We believe that education is the single biggest lever for social justice. We believe education is the means to transform many of the challenges that society faces, be it injustice, poverty or social disadvantage. This is our mission at Harris Academy Rainham.
At the core of our educational mission is teaching children powerful knowledge that enables them to understand the world around us. We believe all children should have access to this powerful knowledge.
For this reason, all students in our school study an academic curriculum, all students study languages and all students experience the breadth and depth of the National Curriculum and beyond.
For us, this is an issue of social justice. The teaching of powerful knowledge is at the heart of our education system. It develops our students' intellectual abilities, enables them to think deeply and critically and it enables the transmission of our values and traditions from one generation to the next. As G.K. Chesterton writes: "Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another."
Curriculum principles
The principles behind our curriculum at Harris Academy Rainham are:
- Our curriculum is the key lever in promoting social justice and tackling educational inequalities. This is crucial for the life chances of our students.
- Our curriculum is ambitious and challenges students to accumulate powerful knowledge in each subject discipline, it will meet and exceed the National Curriculum.
- Our curriculum is founded on subject-specific core concepts and is sequenced so that new knowledge builds upon pre-existing schemata.
- Our curriculum revisits key concepts and is supported by the science of learning to ensure the durability of knowledge in the long-term memory.
- Our curriculum is dynamic and regularly reviewed by subject experts.
What is powerful knowledge?
Powerful knowledge is different to the knowledge that we acquire in our everyday lives. At HAR we believe powerful knowledge is the best that has been thought or said in each curriculum area. Powerful knowledge allows students to interact with society and make a positive contribution to humanity and allows students to achieve the strongest possible outcomes, enabling students to choose their career path in life.
If we simply teach children knowledge that is relevant to them, we will forever condemn them to be trapped by their experiences and their circumstances. Knowledge is liberating, enlightening and broadening.
This powerful knowledge is collected into subject disciplines that are alive and vibrant. We encourage our students to recognise that, when they study science for example, they are entering a scientific community that is dynamic and where new knowledge is being created. It is for this reason we teach students both substantive and disciplinary knowledge.
In an age where truth has become eroded, powerful knowledge is concerned with truth. It is this knowledge that liberates our students from the tyranny of ignorance, the sweet words of the dictator and the fear that invariably follows a lack of understanding. Our students will step into the world with knowledge that enables them to become active, responsible citizens who are profoundly human.
To fulfil these aims we have developed a knowledge-rich curriculum that is coherent and carefully constructed. Leaders and teachers have constructed a well-sequenced curriculum that considers required prior knowledge and develops both core and hinterland knowledge that ensures our students are able to learn and remember knowledge that enables them to think deeply about their subjects.
Curriculum leaders constantly review and improve curricular choices by engaging in regular debate. At Harris Academy Rainham we acknowledge that the curriculum is alive and needs nurturing and that it must be considered and amended constantly to ensure we teach the best that has been thought, said, or written. Therefore, it sits at the heart of our Academy and determines our pedagogy, assessment, reporting and accountability systems.
Click HERE to view our curriculum map and lessons per week of each subject.
Year 7 – 9
The key stage three curriculum is broad and balanced and enables all students to deepen their powerful academic knowledge across a range of subjects over time. All students study the full national curriculum at KS3 including English, Maths, Science, MFL, Technology, Computer Science, DT, Art and Music. In addition, all pupils at KS3 are taken beyond the National Curriculum experience through studying Latin, Drama, debating, financial money management and business enterprise skills and follow a bespoke pastoral curriculum that is presented in Learning Guide time. Students select their GCSE options during year 9.
Year 10-11
The key stage four curriculum is designed to be broad enough for students to cover a range of subjects so that further study and career pathways remain open to them, whilst also providing sufficient depth so that they develop their powerful academic knowledge within subjects and excel in their GCSE exams.
All students study National Curriculum subjects including Mathematics, English, Science, a PE option, a humanities subject, a modern foreign language, RE, Citizenship and Computing. The list of optional subjects is extensive and gives students real choice by offering a range of age-appropriate courses such as Media, Business and Statistics.
Click HERE to download a statement of our curriculum policy.
Click HERE for information about our equalities policy and further information.
For further information about the curriculum please contact the Principal's PA at the school or email info@harrisrainham.org.uk
