Curriculum Intent and Rationale
The Meridian Curriculum
The intentions of our Curriculum are as follows:
1. All students are CHALLENGED to think deeply, recall and skilfully apply information and supported to ensure they produce work of the highest standard.
2. All students LEARN. Students acquire knowledge and develop an interest in the subjects they study to enable them to appreciate learning as an important life long skill.
3. All students ACHIEVE the best possible outcomes by studying a carefully considered educational programme, applying themselves in every lesson and by developing a clear understanding of why achievement matters to their future goals and aspirations.
Our programme for education at Meridian High School is a knowledge-based curriculum, empowering students to develop an understanding and appreciation of the subjects they study. Our curriculum is therefore carefully designed by our subject specialists within the school and across our Multi Academy Trust to challenge our students, to ensure learning is at the heart of our lessons and to enable our students to meet and exceed their minimum expected grades (MEGs) so all students have the opportunity for a better future.
We recognise that we ‘Require Improvement’ (Ofsted2019). Our team of dedicated teachers and support staff are relentlessly focused on improving the Quality of Education and therefore further strengthening our Curricular Intent and Implementation.
In order to support the four curricular aims below, we are developing a whole school approach to Oracy because we believe the development of spoken language to be fundamental to the achievement of the students at Meridian high school.
Our curriculum aims are to develop strong academic outcomes through evidence based Quality First Teaching Strategies such as:
1. Modelling: Our teachers use visualisers to develop a collaborative learning atmosphere and enable students to improve the quality of their written work.
2. Questioning: Our teachers carefully plan their questions to students and use a range of question types to encourage students to think and articulate their answers.
3. Scaffolding: Every subject has Challenge Questions that students work towards answering.
4. Recall: Our teachers have designed subject specific knowledge organisers and use daily quizzing to support our students to develop their recall skills and apply their knowledge with confidence.
Our Curriculum Model is currently under review for September 2020. We are working alongside Trust Leaders and our colleagues in our Outstanding Schools to ensure the Meridian Curriculum is broad, rich and carefully designed to support our students so that they are well placed to be successful in the future.