Approach to Learning

The HSAEL curriculum aims to enact our mission that every student will be a leader in their chosen field, with many choosing to be leaders of STEM.

It is through our well taught, academic curriculum that we will ensure that every student will leave HSAEL with the academic currency to gain entry to elite universities and professional careers.

Science is particularly important at HSAEL because research suggests (Laurisen and Friedman 2022) that entry to successful careers in science are more meritocratic and less subject to social and class bias than other elite careers. Scientists from working class backgrounds have a positive pay differential to those from middle class backgrounds (earning on average £5k more, in comparison to law and finance, where they earn £20k less). Engineering, for example, is a career open in terms of both access and progression, giving our students a clear route to leadership and positive social impact. We believe that as the world becomes more interconnected and technology plays a crucial part in our lives, a strong education in science and related disciplines will ensure our students are best prepared for the future.

We offer a rigorous and traditional curriculum, rooted in academia and building education.

• The intent of the HSAEL curriculum is to embody our values:
• Encouraging growth – ensuring students receive feedback regularly and building resilience.
• Instilling a sense of responsibility – through independence and making decisions that will improve their own academic experience.
• Promoting ambition – rigorous curriculum that enables students to achieve the highest grades and access to leadership opportunities and elite careers and universities.
• Fostering compassion – placing knowledge in the context of the wider world and creating an understanding of different perspectives.
• Cultivating excellence – creating consistent habits in gaining knowledge and a pursuit of the mastery of every subject.

Situated in Newham, one of the most deprived boroughs in London, the school serves some of the most deprived postcodes in both Newham and Tower Hamlets, according to the 2019 Index of Multiple Deprivation. It is through our well-taught and academic curriculum, that we will work to bring our students every possible advantage, so that they can gain entry to any elite career or university of their choosing.

Implementation

Curriculum Planning

Every department is passionate about their subject and wants to create leaders in their subject areas. With this in mind, when planning the curriculum, subject leads begin with an understanding of the knowledge that students will be required to have in order to access the most elite universities in the U.K. regardless of their starting point. It is the greatest honour to have students choose your subject at university level and become a leader in that area.

Departments complete medium-term plans so that every student has access to the exact same rigorous lessons and curriculum. 

At HSAEL, leaders will secure the most powerful knowledge in each discipline required for success. Once secured, leaders will develop proficiency in isolated skills through deep, deliberate independent practice applying their knowledge to critical problems in controlled struggle. In each lesson, the Golden Threads can be identified; these threads are the subject distilled down into its essence woven through our KS2-5 progression maps and mediumterm plans. Every lesson is made up of:

The Read Now: A passage relevant to the lesson, knowledge from the lesson in context, information linked to ‘big why’ or careers an exemplar response to see what great looks like. A balance of engaging content inspiring awe and wonder alongside academic rigour. Questions test skills in comprehension, vocabulary, inference and synthesis. Leaders refine answers selected by the teacher by ticking or correcting in red pen.

Daily Review – Questions targeting retention of golden nuggets, core knowledge and prior learning.

Exposition – Metacognitive steps scripted and explained by the teacher. A visual to focus the eye. Dozens of questions to all leaders. Checks for listening and checks for understanding.

Threshold Task - Quick formative assessment to allow for data collection. Teacher ascertains which round of Deliberate Practice students should begin on. Teacher allocates students on to appropriate practice based on answers. o Deliberate practice – time spent applying student’s prior knowledge as well as new knowledge form the exposition into their work. DPR displayed on the board on the key objective students are working towards. Multiple rounds of practice of increasing in depth and complexity.

Leadership - Leadership opportunity to verbalise the learning to show cognitive internalisation through: turn and talk, mini whiteboard preparation, student presentation and feedback.

Feedback - Assess all leaders on DPR. Teacher selects best work to place under visualiser to allow for a comparison between ‘secured’ and ‘leading’ exemplar to incentivise student autonomy and independence. Students write their lesson reflection up in their exercise book underneath deliberate practice in green pen.

Context:

• KS3 Curriculum Allocation

  Subject KS3 lessons per fortnight (100-minute lessons)

• English Language and Literature 5
• Mathematics 5
• Science 4
• MFL 4
• History 2
• Geography 2
• RS/Philosophy 1
• Art & Design 1
• Computer Science 1
• Music 1
• Physical Education 2

KS4 Curriculum Allocation + Ebacc

 Students take their Best 8 GCSEs to give them the highest possible APS.

 

Core Subjects

Subject Lessons per fortnight (100 minute lessons)

• English Language and English Literature 5
• Maths 5
• Science 4
• Physical Education 1

Specialisms

• French 3
• Computer Science 3
• History 3
• Geography 3
• Religious Studies 3
• Citizenship 3
• GCSE Physical Education 3
• Art, Crafts and Design 3
• Music 3

 

Stretching our more able students through the curriculum:

HSAEL approach to setting:

At the beginning of each new term, changes may be made to class groupings to reflect the progress that students have made and considering other factors.

At the heart of our model for independent practice, is the pathway model which allows for differentiated learning. Students will be placed on a pathway using their KS2 data, baseline tests and their progress over time. Students will be allocated to either Alpha, Beta or Gamma pathway. Student progress across key stages may result in moving up a pathway.

When researching strict setting, the evidence is clear: the majority of students do not perform better when they are in a group set by ability; however, some form of streaming does allow for rapid progress. At HSAEL, we strike a balance in our setting to allow for broadly mixed ability, withing a small range. This means that there are levels of challenge, as well as support, suitable for each specific class. A change of group does not define their progress per se, but that their teachers may find a change of surroundings more fruitful for the student’s success.