At Featherstone High School we offer a broad and balanced curriculum that aims to enable all our young people to become:

• Successful learners, who enjoy learning, make progress and achieve
• Confident individuals who are able to lead safe, healthy and fulfilling lives
• Responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society

(Revised National Curriculum aims; QCA; 2007)

Our curriculum provision should be:

1. Equipping the learner to become a “whole person” with positive values and attitudes thus developing their social, moral, spiritual and cultural awareness; and ensuring their physical and emotional well-being.
2. Constructing a personalised programme that values each learner as an individual; and which is founded on their strengths and interests
3. Making learning fun and relevant for every learner – promoting creativity and enterprise
4. Equipping learners with transferrable skills (including reading, writing, mathematical, communication, technological, thinking and problem solving skills) that enables them to face the challenge of an increasingly globalised world with confidence.
5. Providing learners with opportunities to work independently and collaboratively to acquire and apply their knowledge.
6. Building continuity and progression within the curriculum, providing learners with opportunities to access many different pathways at each key stage and avoiding early specialisation.

How does the local labour market influence our curriculum?

1. Equipping the learner to become a “whole person” with positive values and attitudes thus developing their social, moral, spiritual and cultural awareness; and ensuring their physical and emotional well-being.
2. 86% of the workforce is employed in the service industry including nearly 29% in distribution, hotels and restaurants, 24% in finance, IT and business and 20% in administration, education and health.
3. A further 6% of the workforce is employed in the tourist industry.
4. Heathrow Airport is a major employer for people living in Southall
5. The school has 53 registered NEETS (2010 to 2013) or 6% of all leavers

The FHS curriculum is delivered through:

1. Timetabled lessons
2. Curriculum Weeks and other calendared periods when the timetable is collapsed
3. Intervention and additional lessons during the extended day (periods 1,2, 8,9 10 and 11)
4. Educational visits including residential stays
5. Home-learning
6. On-line learning
7. Enrichment opportunities such as young enterprise, sport including sports day, house team building day and science week; and extra-curricular clubs
8. Partnerships – EBSI, “Spark,”connexions, the local colleges and other local providers

All subject curriculum information (programmes of study) is placed on-line on a year by year basis. This is reviewed annually.

At Featherstone pupils follow a two year key stage 3 programme of study made up of English, maths, science, history, geography, art and design, drama, music, cookery, computing, PE and dance, PSHE (including citizenship) and RE. Pupils in the F and H bands also study a modern foreign language (French or Spanish or Panjabi). Pupils in the S band follow a course of language study in addition to English and maths plus. S band pupils are able to study Panjabi during the extended day. Pupils beginning year 7 with a level 3 at KS2 receive additional English and maths support (funded by the year 7 literacy and numeracy catch up premium).

At KS4 all pupils study the core areas of English (GCSE English Literature as well as GCSE English Language), maths, science, PSHE (including citizenship), RE and PE. Students follow the local curriculum agreed by Ealing SACRE for their RE. Most of them take exams in the subject. The majority of the pupils in the F band are expected to follow the English Baccalaureate pathway. All the students in F Band are also expected follow the triple science course (some of it during the extended day). All pupils are expected to attempt the English literature GCSE as well as English language. In year 9 all pupils are expected to follow guided subject pathways. Pupils in the H and S band will access additional English and maths as they follow the Progress 8 Pathway.

Pupils can take up 2 to 4 the following subjects in Year 9 depending on their curriculum pathway:

English Baccalaureate subjects:

• Computer Science
• French
• Geography
• History
• Panjabi
• Spanish
• Triple Science

Non-English Baccalaureate subjects:

• Art
• Business Studies
• Dance
• Drama
• Graphics
• Health and Social Care (BTEC)
• Media Studies
• Music
• Statistics
• Travel and Tourism (BTEC)
• Textiles

Post-16 students have an opportunity to study level 2 and level 3 courses. Those students who have not attained a pass grade at GCSE for English and or maths continue to study these subjects at level 2 and have the opportunity to re-take their GCSE. All students take part in PE (3 hours per fortnight) and PSHE and citizenship (1.5 hours per fortnight). All BTEC students are expected to participate in regular work experience. All A level students are expected to complete an AS course as well as the full A level for the subjects that they have chosen.

The following subjects are offered at A level or BTEC (dependent on take up):

A Levels:

• Art
• Biology
• Business
• Chemistry
• Economics
• English
• French
• Further Mathematics
• History
• Computer Science
• Geography
• Mathematics
• Media Studies
• Panjabi
• PE
• Physics
• Psychology
• Sociology
• Spanish
• Theatre Studies

BTEC Level 3:

• Applied Art
• Applied Science
• Business
• Health and Social Care
• Music Technology
• Performing Arts
• Sport
• Travel and Tourism
• ICT

The wider social, moral, spiritual and cultural strands of the curriculum are delivered through lessons, assemblies, educational visits and activities during the curriculum days and weeks (when the formal timetable is collapsed).

The school has secured a determination to opt out of a wholly Christian daily act of collective worship. Our model for collective reflection has now been adopted by Ealing SACRE. During curriculum weeks pupils take part in visits to local places of worship including the Anglican Church, Mosque, Gurdwara, Hindu Temple and Buddhist Vihara. Year 9 pupils visit the Holocaust exhibition at the Imperial War Museum and the Jewish Museum as part of the “Jewish Project.” The following festivals are formally commemorated: Armistice day (remembrance day), Christmas, Diwali, Easter, Eid al-Fitr, Eid al Adha, Guru Nanak’s birthday, and Holocaust day.

First Type of Performance Measure:

The Progress 8 measure

Passes in

1. English language and literature
2. Mathematics
3. Combined Science
4. One other English Baccalaureate subject – Triple Science (Biology, Chemistry, Physics or Computer Science) History, Geography, Foreign Languages such as French, Spanish and Panjabi
5. Three other subjects including Technical Awards (BTEC and Vocational Certificate) as well as GCSEs – Art, Business Studies, Dance, Drama, Health and Social Care, Hospitality and Catering, Music, PE, RE, Textiles, Travel and Tourism

Second Type of performance measure: The English Baccalaureate

Students who attain a grade 5 or higher in GCSE English (lang & lit), Maths, Double Science, History or Geography and a Modern Foreign Language will have passed the English Baccalaureate. The Government require 90% of all students to follow an Ebacc Curriculum