Our Curriculum Offer
At Harper Green School, we continually reflect on the quality and impact of our curriculum to ensure that it provides an ambitious, broad and balanced education for all our students.
We offer a rich and robust three-year Key Stage 3 curriculum, giving students access to a broad range of subjects and experiences. At Key Stage 4, students can choose from a wide range of academic, creative and technical courses, including separate sciences and subjects that enable students to pursue the English Baccalaureate (EBacc).
We do not require students to follow a particular pathway based solely on prior attainment. Instead, our comprehensive careers education, information, advice and guidance (CEIAG) programme supports students and their parents and carers to make informed choices about the subjects and pathways that are right for them.
Detailed information about the knowledge and skills taught within each subject can be found on our individual subject curriculum pages.
Our curriculum is designed to prepare students to discover their dreams, achieve their ambitions and lead the lives they aspire to lead.
For further information about the curriculum at Harper Green School, please contact Mr Ware, Deputy Headteacher for Quality of Education.
Key Stage 3: Years 7-9
At Key Stage 3, we place a high value on providing a broad and balanced curriculum that includes a strong range of academic, creative and technical subjects.
All students study:
- English Language and Literature
- Mathematics
- Science (Biology, Chemistry and Physics)
- History
- Geography
- Religious Education
- Spanish
- Physical Education
- ICT/Computing
- Art
- Food Technology
- Design Technology
- Drama
- Dance
- Music
Students also follow our Personal Development curriculum, including PSHE, RSE and SMSC. This is delivered through dedicated opportunities, tutor time, enrichment and the wider curriculum.
We deliver the National Curriculum as a minimum expectation across all relevant subjects at Key Stage 3.
Students in Years 7, 8 and 9 experience the full range of core and foundation subjects. From October half term, students are grouped according to their attainment in English and Mathematics assessments.
Explore Our Key Stage 3 Curriculum
Use the subject pages below to find out more about what students learn and how knowledge and skills develop across the curriculum:
Key Stage 4: Years 10-11
Our Key Stage 4 curriculum provides students with access to a broad range of GCSE and vocational qualifications and follows the National Curriculum.
Our curriculum offer is robust and challenging, and all courses are carefully selected to ensure this remains the case for all students. Early each year, we look at the range of courses on offer to make sure that they:
- Are worthwhile courses in their own right – i.e. they are interesting and rewarding to study;
- Lead to rigorous, high value qualifications that open doors to future opportunities;
- Meet a range of students’ needs;
- Can be delivered to a high standard by available staff (i.e. we will only offer courses if we are confident that our staff have the appropriate qualifications and experience to teach them to a very high standard).
Our curriculum offer is reviewed regularly to ensure that it remains ambitious and appropriate for our students.
Options Process
Students choose their Key Stage 4 options during Year 9, ready to begin their chosen courses in Year 10.
Throughout the options process, students receive information and guidance through assemblies, subject presentations and discussions with staff. Our aim is to help every student choose a broad and ambitious combination of subjects that reflects their interests, strengths and future aspirations.
Students with SEND and students who speak English as an additional language may benefit from additional guidance during this process and will be supported by members of our Inclusion Team where appropriate.
Parents and carers are involved throughout the options process.
Subjects Studied at Key Stage 4
All students will study a set of core options, for which they will sit a GCSE examination at the end of Year 11. The subjects that all students study at GCSE level are:
- English Language
- English Literature
- Mathematics
- Combined Science (worth two GCSEs)
- History or Geography
In addition, they choose three subjects from the following range of option subjects:
- Art
- Biology*
- Business and Enterprise Studies
- Chemistry*
- Computer Science
- Dance
- Design Technology
- Drama
- Health and Social Care
- Hospitality and Catering
- Information Technology
- Music
- Photography
- Physical Education (Cambridge National P.E. or GCSE P.E.)
- Physics*
- Religious Education
- Spanish
*Students who select separate sciences study Biology, Chemistry and Physics as individual GCSE subjects. Further information is available on our Science curriculum pages.
Regardless of their option choices, all students will continue to study elements of religious education, physical education, ICT, PSHE, RSE and SMSC. These constitute important life skills and knowledge and are vital for being a well-rounded young person. These skills and content are taught discretely as well as being threaded throughout students' academic and pastoral curriculum.