POLICY GUIDELINES
The Curriculum in S1, S2 and S3: 1-1
Person responsible for updating this policy:
Depute Head Teacher (Broad General Education)
Newbattle Community High School
School Policy on The Curriculum in S1, S2 and S3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 Introduction The Curriculum in S1 and S2 The Curriculum in S3 Class Organisation Learning and Teaching Methods Oversight and Review 1.0
Introduction
1.1
The purpose of the Newbattle curriculum is to make sure that learners
acquire the four capacities of Curriculum for Excellence to be:
 successful learners
 confident individuals
 effective contributors
 responsible citizens.
1.2
Learners will demonstrate this by becoming more independent and
successful in their learning, by having greater knowledge and more
secure understanding, and by being able to use the knowledge that they
have more effectively. They will be able to process new information
more easily and apply knowledge in different contexts from those in
which the knowledge was acquired. They will be able to learn more
independently. They will be more confident in tackling new and more
challenging tasks and dealing with new situations, and will have a
better understanding of their responsibilities within society. They will
be more able to control their own lives and to be active in society,
particularly in contributing to the economy, but also in their awareness
of wider issues that affect them.
1.3
Planning will be based on the principles for curriculum design:
challenge and enjoyment; breadth; progression; depth; personalisation
and choice; coherence; relevance.
1.4
Learning will be made available to our pupils through:
 Ethos and life of the school as a community
Revised: November 2013
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NCHS Policy Guidelines 1-1: The Curriculum in S1, S2 and S3



2.0
Curriculum areas and subjects
Interdisciplinary learning
Opportunities for personal achievement
1.5
The curriculum will be coherent from Primary, through S1, S2 and S3,
and on in to the Senior Phase.
1.6
In S1, S2 and S3 our pupils will experience a Broad General
Education, including well planned experiences and outcomes across all
the curriculum areas.
1.7
Our pupils will:
 achieve stretching levels of literacy and numeracy
 develop skills for learning and skills for life and skills for work
 develop knowledge and understanding of society, Scottish
contexts, history and culture and Scotland’s place in the world
 experience challenge and success.
The Curriculum in S1 and S2
2.1
In S1 and S2 all pupils will undertake studies in the following areas:
Curricular Area
Subject
* indicates that further detail is
provided below
Languages
Mathematics
Sciences
Social studies
Expressive Arts
Health and Wellbeing
Technologies
Religious and Moral
Education
Interdisciplinary
2.2
English
Modern Language(s)*
Mathematics
Science
History
Modern Studies
Geography
Art and Design
Music and Drama*
Home Economics (HE)
Physical Education (PE)
Personal and Social
Education (PSE)
Business and Computing
CDT
Religious and Moral
Education (RME)
Peak Performance
Total
Time allocation
(periods per
week)
S1
S2
4
4
3
3
4
4
3
3
3
3
2
2
2
2
1
1
2
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
0
29
1
29
Social studies: The majority of experiences and outcomes from
People in society, economy and business will be delivered as part of
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NCHS Policy Guidelines 1-1: The Curriculum in S1, S2 and S3
the History and Geography courses. The remainder will be part of the
curriculum in Business and Computing.
2.3
2.4
3.0
Music and Drama are arranged as follows:
2.3.1
Drama is taught on a rota basis alongside music.
2.3.2
All classes have one period of music for the entire year, and a
second rota period of music and/or drama. The rota period
will be timetabled to two or three teachers throughout the year.
2.3.3
During the rota period, pupils will receive two 13-week blocks
of music and one 13-week block of drama.
2.3.4
The rota arrangements are co-ordinated by the Principal
Teacher (Music and Drama).
Modern Languages are arranged as follows:
2.4.1
In S1 each class undertakes a rota in which they experience a
13-week block of each of French, German and Spanish.
2.4.2
In S2, each pupils gets the opportunity to choose which
language they wish to specialise in for the entire year.
2.4.3
The rota, course choice and setting decisions are co-ordinated
by the Principal Teacher (Modern Languages).
2.5
The number of periods devoted to each subject area is subject to
adjustment in the light of staffing availability.
2.6
The SFA School of Football works with pupils in S1, S2 and S3
offering up to five hours per week to develop skills, performance and
focus to a small group of pupils.
 School of Football pupils in S1 and S2 will attend SFA classes
in place of their two timetabled PE classes.
 School of Football pupils in S1 will attend SFA classes instead
of one of their two periods of history, art and Home
Economics.
 School of Football pupils in S2 will attend SFA classes instead
of one of their two periods of music and CDT.
 School of Football pupils in S2 will attend SFA classes instead
of Peak Performance.
 School of Football pupils in S3 will attend for two periods per
week in place of one of their other subject choices.
The Curriculum in S3
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NCHS Policy Guidelines 1-1: The Curriculum in S1, S2 and S3
3.1
By the end of S2 many of our pupils will have achieved Third level
across curriculum areas. In S3 pupils get further opportunities for
personalisation and choice by specialising within curriculum areas.
Interdisciplinary learning, within and across curriculum areas will
ensure that the entitlement to learning across all the experiences and
outcomes in the eight curriculum areas to the third curriculum level (so
far as this is consistent with young people’s needs and prior
achievements) will have been met. Interdisciplinary learning will also
be used to provide for pupils who do not choose to study a particular
area of the curriculum.
3.2
In S3 all pupils will undertake studies across all curricular areas as
follows:
Curricular Area
Subject
further detail is provided
below for all subjects
Languages
English
Modern Language
Mathematics
Mathematics
Sciences
Science Option 1
Science Option 2
Social studies
Social Studies Option 1
Social Studies Option 2
Expressive Arts
Expressive Arts Option 1
Expressive Arts Option 2
Health and Wellbeing Physical Education (PE)
Personal and Social
Education (PSE)
Technologies
Technologies Option 1
Technologies Option 2
Religious and Moral Religious and Moral
Education
Education (RME)
Total
3.3
Time allocation
(periods per
week)
3.5 (see below)
2
3.5 (see below)
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
2
2
1
29
Mathematics and English are timetabled as follows so that each
subject gets an equal amount of time across the whole year (working
out at 3.5ppw on average):
3.3.1
From the change of timetable until (approximately)
November/December, S3 pupils have 4 periods of English and
3 periods of maths.
3.3.2
From November/December until the change of timetable, S3
pupils have 3 periods of English and 4 periods of maths.
3.3.3
The exact date of the change will be mutually agreed between
the Principal Teachers of English and Mathematics.
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NCHS Policy Guidelines 1-1: The Curriculum in S1, S2 and S3
3.4
Pupils have the opportunity for personalisation and choice within a
Broad General Education as follows:
3.4.1
In Modern Languages, pupils continue with their specialist
language chosen at the start of S2.
3.4.2
In Sciences, pupils choose to specialise in two out of Biology,
Chemistry and Physics. Courses will be delivered in such a
way that appropriate experiences and outcomes relating to the
third science will also be delivered.
3.4.3
In Social Subjects, pupils choose to specialise in two out of
Geography, History and Business Enterprise.
3.4.4
In Expressive Arts, pupils choose to specialise in two out of
Art and Design, Dance, Drama, Music and Design and Make.
Design and Make is a hybrid course run between the Art and
Design and CDT departments.
3.4.5
In Technologies, pupils choose to specialise in two out of
Business & IT, Computing Science, CDT and Home
Economics.
3.5
For certain pupils a Princes Trust xl course or a School of Football
option will be offered in place of one of the option columns above.
3.6
Pupils embarking on a range of courses at the beginning of S3 will be
expected to continue with these courses throughout S3.
3.6.1
4.0
Changes of course will only be permitted after consultation
between parents/carers, Principal Teachers (Curriculum) and
Principal Teachers (Pupil Support). No change may be put
into effect until authorised by the Depute Headteacher (Broad
General Education).
Class Organisation
4.1
Teaching groups will usually be mixed ability in S1 and S2 with the
exception of English, Mathematics and Science which will be set by
ability.
4.1.1
4.2
In S3, where the size of the teaching population allows two or
more teaching groups, setting by ability is permitted.
Teaching groups for practical subjects (Music and Drama, Art and
Design, CDT, Home Economics and Business/Computing) and SE will
be based on Homeroom Groups.
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NCHS Policy Guidelines 1-1: The Curriculum in S1, S2 and S3
4.2.1
4.3
Teaching groups for Social Subjects, PE, and Modern Languages will
be based on Point Classes, which will consist of one entire homeroom
with up to half of one other homeroom.
4.3.1
4.4
5.0
6.0
Homeroom class sizes will not exceed 20 pupils.
Point Class sizes will not exceed 33 pupils in S1/S2 and 30
pupils in S3.
All classes are co-educational with the exception of some swimming
classes.
Learning and Teaching Methods
5.1
Learning and Teaching will follow the principles set out in policy
document 1-3 ‘Learning and Teaching’.
5.2
Course design and teaching approaches will be suited to the full ability
range of the teaching groups
5.3
Pupils with Additional Support Needs will be taught, as far as possible,
by subject teachers with additional support wherever available from
the Pupil Support department.
Oversight and Review
6.1
The Depute Headteacher (Broad General Education) will ensure that
the curriculum meets national guidelines and is subject to continual
review.
6.2
The Depute Headteacher (Broad General Education) will also be
expected to monitor teaching methods used in the Broad General
Education phase and to promote improvements wherever possible.
6.3
Principal Teachers (Curriculum) should keep the Depute Headteacher
(Broad General Education) fully up to date on:
 content of all courses being taught
 teaching methods used
 assessment techniques used
 proposed future developments.
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