Why a foundation curriculum at Manchester Academy? Ease transfer and transition (pupils arrive from 35 different primary schools) Many students arrive on their own. Many school send only 2 or 3 children Dip in attainment and attitude in Year 7 Emphasis on transfer is on social issues, we do a lot already to ease transition.

Why a foundation curriculum at Manchester Academy? There is little liaison with primary staff on teaching content and learning styles. Pupils make good progress in year 6 due to teaching and learning styles used. Secondary teachers need to use these styles and strategies in their teaching and introduce change gradually. We collect data from various assessments, we need to focus on one to set our new students.

Transfer: Physical environment Primary – controlled environment Secondary – large environment, moving from room to room and teacher to teacher; different experiences in teaching styles, routines and expectations

Transition: Curriculum Primary – teachers know and understand the learning needs of the student. Secondary – subjects compartmentalised and content led; pupils do not transfer learning skills; dip in attainment.

Why a foundation curriculum at Manchester Academy? Raise standards at KS3 Improve transition Development of student confidence and self- esteem Develop transferable skills and competences, such as literacy, numeracy and ICT which will equip pupils for learning and their on going school careers Create engagement in independent learning. Embed learning to learn and emotional intelligence into the curriculum.

Why a foundation curriculum at Manchester Academy? Extend and challenge the most able pupils and engage those with the potential to become disaffected in KS3, (nuture group) Embed ICT throughout the curriculum. Strengthen the relationship between pupil & form teacher

What will it look like? 180 pupils; 6 form teachers/classes, 6 classrooms next door to each other & 1 x nurture group and a library/role-play area???, playground at front of school??? Teaching assistant for each classroom?? This will be required especially for literacy lesson to allow for group guided/shared reading and writing. 15 or 20 x lessons per week. If 15 lessons students could go on lunch at to 1.00, 3 period morning in homebase and 2 period afternoon. All pupils timetabled for primary base at the same time. Groups set according to ability. Students go out of primary base for practical based lessons.

What do we need to do? Professional dialogue between primary base staff and with primary colleagues; centred around pedagogy and practice. Schemes of work collected so staff can maintain curriculum continuity. Build team of teachers and support staff- presentation given to staff and ask them to put themselves forward. (Already have some volunteers, ideally we want a specialist teacher for each subject taught in the primary base and those who understand the primary approach to learning. We also need literacy specialists and primary specialists to allow a mix of best literacy, secondary and primary practise.). Develop leadership roles within the team.

What do we need to do? Observations by primary base staff of teaching and learning at Key Stage 2. Teachers should observe all subjects that are going to be taught in primary base. A particular focus should be on the primary literacy strategies, guided reading, writing, shared reading and writing. Produce a common lesson plan structure. Use same vocabulary used in lessons that is used in primary schools, eg: WALT Decide upon subjects to be taught within the primary base. Decide on number of lessons students remain in primary base.

What do we need to do? Planning Step 1 Decide on cross curricular themes for project based work.

Themes could be business & humanities based –develop concepts Term 1 – Me, Myself & I Term 2 - Power Term 3 - Space Term 4 - Changes Term 5 - Enterprise project Term 6 – Getting ready for year 8

What do we need to do? An integrated, theme based, competency led curriculum. Competences based on ‘Opening Minds Model’ Competences for Learning Competences for Citizenship Competences for Relating to People Competences for Managing Situations Competences for Managing Information

Themes could be global and each theme could be taught in 9 weeks blocks with an assessment for literacy and humanities at the end of each unit. The belief is that living in a global society requires understanding of eight key concepts: Citizenship, social justice, sustainable development, diversity, values and perceptions, interdependence, conflict resolution and human rights. Project 1: Diversity Project 2: Conflict resolution Project 3: Globalisation Project 4: Interdependence and sustainable development

What do we need to do? Planning Step 2 This stage involves the collaboration of subjects, eg: if we choose the global theme, literacy and humanities should be planned together as one unit. Curriculum planning meetings set up. Project based planning. Responsibility for integrating subjects in to planning

What do we need to do? The main focus is on developing key skills Teachers plan: emotional intelligence teamwork listening skills note taking mind mapping into each unit of work.

What do we need to do? Planning Step 3 Collapsed days planned, eg: Learning to learn day: workshops so children can identify how they learn best. Residentials to develop friendships and provide an opportunity to acquire new skills.

What do we need to do in the summer term? On data collection forms ask primary teachers to set literacy and numeracy targets, (and perhaps other subjects to be taught in the base). On data collection forms ask about pupil’s attitude to work and parental support. Send letters to parents of year 6 to explain the structure for next year. Data collection forms collated and given to primary base teachers. IEPs and PEPs written.

What do we need to do? Decide upon baseline assessments for setting the students. Will we set them?? OCA/ MBO to visit all year 6 students. Questionnaires to students at end of year 6 and after September in Year 7 to assess impact. Plan a literacy unit of work??