THE CONSTANCE BRIDGEMAN CENTRE

Curriculum Offer

September 2016

CURRICULUM OFFER

It is the aim of the Constance Bridgeman Centre to provide year 10 & 11 students with a broad and balanced, integrated curriculum which offers the opportunity for realisation of their potential, both academically and socially.

The curriculum offered includes:

  • English
  • Mathematics
  • Science
  • PE/Sport
  • Arts Award
  • Home Cooking Skills
  • Preparation for Working Life
  • ICT
  • P4C
  • Citizenship

The Year 11 curriculum offeredalso includesWork Experience

Academic progress will be evaluated using the assessment results from base line data collected on completion of literacy and numeracy assessments by new students. Regular reviews monitoring progress will ensure that the work on offer is relevant to the individual student’s developing needs. Student achievements will be recognised and communicated to parents or carers and other concerned persons.

The curriculum offer is evaluated on a regular basis to ensure it continues to meet the varied individual needs of the students. The criteria for this evaluation are:

  • Accreditation success rates
  • Student and parental feedback
  • Number of students successfully completing courses
  • Attendance rates

A brief outline of all curriculum areas is given below:

  • ENGLISH

A specialised English course, consisting of two parts, making use of a wide range of literary classic and modern works and the study of Language - including media texts - will offer students the opportunity to completeboth Language and Literature GCSE examinations at the end of Year 11.

Students are assessed on their spoken English Language, reading and writing through a series of four examinations and one public presentation, during the course of Year 11. Evidence of improvement will be gathered from a direct comparison with academic assessment prior to placement.

Group work encourages students to contribute to discussions, develop reasoning skills and the ability to comment constructively on others’ viewpoints.

Classwork and home reading tasks encourage students to develop an awareness and understanding of texts and the literary techniques writers use to create effects.Students will also compare different writers’ ideas and viewpoints, and learn how to communicate clearly, effectively and imaginatively when evaluating different texts.

  • MATHEMATICS

The new GCSE 9-1 mathematics curriculum will encourage students to –

  • Develop fluent knowledge, skills and understanding of mathematical methods and concepts
  • Acquire, select and apply mathematical techniques to solve problems
  • Reason mathematically, make deductions and inferences, interpret and draw conclusions
  • Understand, interpret and communicate mathematical information in a variety of forms appropriate to the context

Students are assessed following the completion of each unit and at the end of each term, in order to monitor progress. At the end of Year 11 students will complete three examination papers –

  • Using and applying standard techniques
  • Reasoning, interpreting and communication mathematically
  • Solving problems within a mathematical context
  • SCIENCE YEAR 11

GCSE Science B focuses on using Science as a tool to explain the world we live in. Students will cover three core elements – Physics, Chemistry and Biology. This is the last year this accreditation is available.

Knowledge and skills gained include :

  • An understanding of the material, physical and natural worlds
  • Development of investigative and communication skills in scientific contexts
  • Consolidation of mathematical skills
  • The ability to evaluate scientific processes
  • Using hypotheses to apply knowledge of scientific processes
  • SCIENCE YEAR 10

As a result of changes to the Science GCSE curriculum, Year 10 students are currently following an accreditation in Biology, with first examinations in June 2018.

The course covers the following topics –

  • Cell biology and organisation
  • Infection and the body response
  • Bioenergetics
  • Homeostasis
  • Inheritance, variation and evolution
  • Ecology
  • WORK RELATED LEARNING

The option of work experience,during Year 11, is available to all students who demonstrate a positive commitment to their CBC programme.

BTEC Sport

This curriculum initiative is a two year course and so is available to Year 10 students for first examination in June 2018.

This course is made up of six compulsory units. Students are required to do three activities - an individual activity, a team activity and either a team or individual activity of their choice. The activities planned are

  • Circuit Training
  • Badminton
  • Kayaking
  • Wall Climbing
  • Cycling
  • Football

Students complete an online test at intervals during the academic year and the highest mark achieved is then taken towards their final grade.
GCSE Food Preparation & Nutrition

This is a curriculum initiative for Year 10 students. The course cover seven units:

  • Food Preparation Skills
  • Nutrition and Health
  • Food Science
  • Food Safety
  • Food Choice
  • Food Provenance
  • Preparing for Assessment

Students must complete two practical assessments and one final written exam for full accreditation.

BTEC Home Cooking Skills

This engaging course aims to help students to learn the basic skills and recipes that will help them to make healthy choices throughout their lives.

They will learn essential knowledge and skills such as:

  • kitchen basics: what equipment you need and the best way to stock your store cupboard, fridge and freezer
  • food safety and hygiene: knife safety, fridge management and rotation
  • how to shop cleverly: shopping lists, seasonal food and planning ahead
  • preparing ingredientsand understanding food labels
    Students can achieve Level 1 or Level 2 in this BTEC. Both levels require a completed Learner Record. Level 2 includes a practical cooking assessment.
    BTEC Information and Creative Technology – Year 10
    Students can achieve a Level 1 / Level 2 First Award in Information and Creative Technology. The course inspires and enthuses learners to become technologically competent, gives the opportunity to gain a broad understanding and knowledge of the IT sector, and enables students to gain skills using ICT to take into the world of work.
    There are 13 Units of study available in the course. Students must complete four units in total: two compulsory core units (Unit 1 & Unit 3) and two additional units.
    Unit 1 is externally assessed using an onscreen test. Unit 3 and two further units are internally assessed.
  • PREPARATION FOR WORKING LIFE

For the coursework in Preparation for Working Life, students are required to produce written or word processed work containing three elements:

  • A letter of application for a job or course to accompany a Curriculum Vitae
  • A Curriculum Vitae
  • Notes on Interview Preparation

The subject content is divided into nine main compulsory sections

  • Personal Awareness
  • Healthy Lifestyles for work–life balance
  • Relationships and the differences between people
  • The changing world of work
  • Applying for jobs and courses
  • Economic and Financial Aspects of Life
  • Employment Opportunities
  • Enterprise Activities
  • Hazard Identification at Home, on the Roads and at Work
  • CITIZENSHIP

This area of study is embedded within the curriculum of both years 10 & 11 and focuses on enabling students to:

  • Become informed citizens
  • Develop skills of enquiry and communication
  • Develop skills of participation and responsible action
  • GCSE PE - Short Course.

The GCSE Short course is made up of five sections

  • Your healthy active lifestyle
  • Fitness
  • Fitness testing and training programmes
  • Training methods
  • Personal health and well being

Students are required to do two activities, which are videoed, marked and sent off to an external moderator. Activities we have chosen are Cycling, Wall Climbing, Circuit Training and Football.

Students are expected to produce personal exercise plans around the Circuit Training.

  • Arts Award

We offer Arts Awards Bronze and Silver Certificates. These explore different art techniques such as clay, spray paint and stencilling, acrylic paint and model making. Students develop their own art projects according to individual interests and ideas. As part of the curriculum, pupils visit Tate Modern and a local artist's studiowherethey take part in a workshop and produce an art work. They also take part in leadership and community activities by teaching an art lesson at a local primary school.Students canfollowtheir art studies at a college by taking the Arts Award Gold Certificate which will prepare them for an art degree course.

  • P4C

P4C (Philosophy for Children, Colleges, Communities) centres around encouraging students to develop their enquiry and questioning skills to deepen understanding of concepts.Typically, the teacher shares a stimulus and guides learners in choosing questions together to help them investigate that stimulus more deeply. This stimulus could be a book, a story, a short film or film extract, or even a piece of music. Students are then prompted and given time to think of and discuss questions that arise from it.

A P4C approach can be applied to all areas of the curriculum, and regularly incorporating P4C can build confidence and listening skills. The approach rests on the basis that all contributions matter and it aims to create a culture of collaboration in the classroom.

P4C lets us focus on developing a real articulation of thought. You are asking children to construct and analyse their own ideas and opinions, rather than just consuming answers. It takes time to develop, but the outcomes can be reaped across the curriculum and even outside of school. Simple but crucial skills are at the core of this technique –things like turn-taking, reasoning and compromise.

P4C is well established in many mainstream schools at all key stages. Independent research has shown it to be a solid approach that develops critical thinking and enquiry in learners, and we are one of a very small number of providers outside of mainstream schooling to offer it. More information can be found at

There are also additional supplements to the main curriculum offer. These include:

  • Diverse Voices

Diverse Voices provides a selection of workshops tackling specific issues relevant to our student group, using drama, role play etc. The DV team quickly develops good relationships with our students to encourage engagement and secure a positive outcome.

  • Offsite activities

These include, or have included: horse riding at Aldersbrook Riding School; football at Hainault Power League; fitness training at Hainault Gym; wall climbing at Mile End Climbing Wall; various outdoor activities at Lambourne End and fitness and recreation at Loxford Youth Centre. In addition we have periodic student trips including paintballing; go karting; galleries and exhibitions.

  • Careers support

Our careers advisor visits on a fortnightly basis to provide individual support and advice to our students regarding post 16 options.

  • Health advisor

Our EOTAS Health Advisor visits regularly and offers advice and support to students on a variety of health issues.

  • Safer Schools Officer

We have an allocated police officer who visits regularly to engage with students and develop positive relationships, as well as offer specific police support and intervention should it prove necessary.

  • Educational Psychologist

As a further support for students we have our own Educational Psychologist who works at CBC one day each week. Our psychologist will work individually with students but also, where requested by them, with parents or families. They are also just available for students to go along and talk.

Please Note:

Where any subject award is achievedthroughcoursework, we abide by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) rules on plagiarism, i.e. passing someone’s work off as your own. In summary, these are –

Candidates must not:

• submit work which is not their own;

• lend work to other candidates or allow their work to be copied;

• allow other candidates access to, or the use of, their own independently sourced

material or assist others in the production of coursework;

(this does not mean that candidates may not lend their books to one another, but

candidates must not plagiarise others’ research);

• use any books, the internet or other sources without acknowledgement or

attribution;

• submit work word-processed by a third person without acknowledgement.

These actions constitute malpractice, for which a penalty (e.g. disqualification

from the assessment) will be applied.