Curriculum Vision & Principles
The curriculum is at the heart of a school’s purpose and our curriculum reflects our core values of Dedication, Determination, Destiny.
At Harris Academy St. John’s Wood, we recognise that improving educational outcomes is the biggest way we can positively impact our students’ futures. We take the term ‘educational’ in its most broad sense: this means more than just a set of results. It includes a child’s intellectual development, social and emotional development, citizenship and responsibility, happiness and success.
We hope that this vision is ‘lived’ in the way teachers develop the curriculum and the way students experience it. We want a curriculum that is designed effectively and implemented, that is true to subjects’ core content and concepts, develops a love of lifelong learning, and creates beautiful work, expertise, fascination and wonder.
Curriculum principles
Our curriculum seeks to find harmony between the four broad philosophies of what education is for: personal empowerment; cultural transmission; preparation for citizenship; and preparation for work.
Our seven whole-school principles of curriculum are:
- Balanced – promotes intellectual, moral, spiritual, aesthetic, creative, emotional, and physical development
- Rigorous – seeks to develop intra-disciplinary habits of mind; powerful ways of thinking that are developed through sustained engagement with the discipline
- Coherent – makes explicit connections and links between the different subjects and experiences
- Vertically integrated – focuses on progression by carefully sequencing knowledge; provides clarity about what ‘getting better’ at the subject means
- Appropriate – matches the level of challenge to a pupil’s current level of maturity and knowledge
- Focused – seeks to keep the curriculum manageable by teaching the most important knowledge; identifies the big ideas or key concepts within a subject
- Relevant – seeks to connect the valued outcomes of a curriculum to the pupils being taught it; provides opportunities for pupils to make informed choices
Our staff body has spent a great deal of time carefully considering what principles underpin our curriculum and why. In doing so we have engaged with the thinking of many other educators, and found Principled Curriculum Design by Dylan Wiliam highly informative (you can download this document below).
HASJW Curriculum Offer
At Harris Academy St Johns Wood students have twenty-nine 1-hour lessons per week. Students have 6 lessons Monday to Thursday and 5 lessons on Friday. Extra-curricular activities and targeted academic interventions will take place during period 7 Monday to Thursday and period 6 on Friday. Literacy and numeracy interventions will also take place for target students during tutor time, at the start of the day, and some students will have targeted 1:1 or small group support during target lessons.
At HASJW we have designed the curriculum to have a strong academic core, with emphasis being placed on English, Maths, Science, Humanities and Modern Foreign Languages. This is reflected in the curriculum time allocated to these subjects in our curriculum and supports students to develop the competencies and skills required to be successful in KS4, KS5 and beyond. This is complemented by a wide range of subjects on offer at KS4, including the Arts, Performing Arts, Business Studies, IT and Computing and Social Sciences.
Year 7 – 9 (KS3) Curriculum Offer
In years 7 –9, students study a broad and balanced range of subjects. National curriculum content is carefully tracked to ensure that students have covered all areas of non-statutory KS4 subjects by the end of year 9. All subjects have a curriculum plan which is appropriately sequenced ensuring gains in students’ knowledge and understanding of discrete subject disciplines as they progress through the Academy. Curriculum plans are regularly reviewed and developed by subject specialists.
| Subject | Number of Hours Per Week |
| English | 5 |
| Mathematics | 5 |
| Science | 4 |
| History | 2 |
| Geography | 2 |
| French or Spanish | 2 |
| Religious Studies | 1 |
| Physical Education | 2 |
| Computing | 1 |
| Art | 1 |
| Design Technology | 1 |
| Drama | 1 |
| Music | 1 |
| PSHE / Careers | 1 |
| TOTAL: | 29 |
Year 10 – 11 (KS4) Curriculum Offer
Students make two options choices at the end of year 9 to add to the core curriculum offer (English, Mathematics, Science, Humanities and Modern Foreign Languages, PSHE, P.E.). The options subjects are structured to provide students with a free choice over which two subjects they would like to study. This ensures equity of delivery, with all students having equal access to subjects. The options are designed to support the needs of the students at HASJW and meet the needs of our local context.
Students in Year 10 will study either combined science or separate sciences. Students will be allocated to this following their end of year 9 assessments. 2 science lessons are allocated to each of the three sciences; Biology, Chemistry and physics with subject specialists for each science.
| Subject | Number of Hours Per Week |
| English | 5 |
| Mathematics | 5 |
| Science: Biology, Chemistry and Physics | 6 |
| Humanities: History or Geography | 3 |
| Modern Foreign Language: French or Spanish | 3 |
| Option subject 1 | 3 |
| Option subject 2 | 3 |
| Core Physical Education | 1 |
| Core Religious Education | Drop down days 3 per year |
| PSHE / Careers | Drop down sessions each half term |
| Further Mathematics (target students) | Additional subject – period 7 |
| TOTAL: | 29 |
Options Subjects
| Subject | Type of Qualification |
| Art | GCSE |
| Design Technology | GCSE |
| Photography | GCSE |
| Food and Nutrition | GCSE |
| Drama | GCSE |
| Religious Education | GCSE |
| Sociology | GCSE |
| Health and Social Care | BTEC |
| Arabic | GCSE |
| Computer Science | GCSE |
| Business Studies | GCSE |
| Sport | Cambridge Nationals |
Year 12 – 13 (KS5) Curriculum Offer
There is a broad range of subjects on offer to students at HASJW sixth form. Most students in HASJW study three subjects, with some students studying four. Each subject studied has 5 curriculum hours allocated to it, in addition to students having supervised study lessons to support them to complete the independent study that accompanies each of their chosen subjects. Students will also have two lessons allocated to extra-curricular and one lesson that is allocated to visiting speakers, UCAS, careers and EPQ. The subjects students can select are below and more information can be found on the sixth form page.
Where students have not achieved at least a grade 4 in English or Mathematics, they will be supported through a rigorous programme during Year 12 to support them to re-sit this / these examination(s) and achieve at least a grade 4, supporting student progression when they leave HASJW.
| Subject | Type of Qualification |
| Fine Art | A-level |
| Product Design | A-level |
| Photography | A-level |
| Business Studies Double | BTEC |
| Business Studies | A-level |
| Economics | A-level |
| Computer Science | A-level |
| History | A-level |
| Geography | A-level |
| Philosophy | A-level |
| Government and Politics | A-level |
| Criminology | Diploma |
| Psychology | A-level |
| Sociology | A-level |
| Health and Social Care | CTEC |
| English Literature | A-level |
| Mathematics | A-level |
| Further Mathematics | A-level |
| Arabic | A-level |
| Spanish | A-level |
| Biology | A-level |
| Chemistry | A-level |
| Physics | A-level |
| Sport | CTEC |
If you would like to find out more about the curriculum offered at HASJW please contact:
Laura Lewis (Vice Principal in charge of Curriculum): laura.lewis@harrisstjohnswood.org.uk
Mark Savage (Head of Sixth Form): mark.savage@harrisstjohnswood.org.uk
