Our provision follows a three year programme at KS3 that delivers the National Curriculum across the subject areas identified in the table below. The exception to this is the delivery of Mandarin and of Science, where the GCSE courses for Biology, Chemistry and Physics start at the beginning of Year 9.
Curriculum Intent and Overview by Subject
Curriculum Overview by Term
Revision Lists
Our provision at KS4 follows a two-year programme with students following a set of core courses all leading to a GCSE qualification. This core is supported by a range of optional courses. Within the combination of subjects to available students will be encouraged to study for the EBACC qualification where appropriate.
Curriculum Intent and Overview by Subject
Revision Lists
The school offers 18 Level 3 subjects at A level. This currently includes the additional provision of the Extended Project Qualification. All subjects receive up to 10 lessons per fortnight.
Curriculum Intent and Overview by Subject
Your child will examine strategies to help them retain information. These study skills will be taught during PSHE in Year 7 and form time for Years 8 to 13. They will know that revision means re-visiting work and it is an on-going process and not just something to do before an assessment. Please see the attached documents for further information.
Included in this booklet are a collection of ‘subject pages’, which have been designed by Academic Departments at BVGS. These include a variety of prompts and ideas to enable you to explore your favourite subjects beyond the confines of the taught syllabus. These ‘subject pages’ are by no means exhaustive lists but should offer you a source of inspiration to explore your favourite subjects.
These activities can take many forms including wider reading, watching online materials, downloading podcasts, attending University lectures/masterclasses, arranging Summer School placements, engaging with Higher Education super-curricular initiatives or visiting museums/places of academic interest. You might also like to join a regional or national club or society related to your academic interests, or enter competitions such as essay prizes or Maths Olympiads
At Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School we have a culture of reading. We want all students to love reading. Promoting reading at home is essential to your child’s literacy development: it increases their dexterity and ability to deal with texts in all subject areas. It also promotes use of punctuation, phrasing and increases their vocabulary and allows them to access their imagination and be creative when processing the imagery and information the writer is demonstrating. Our reading ability is like training any muscle: the more we use it the stronger it is – and the less we use it, the more work we have to do to regain the strength that we once had. We must keep reading to keep our ability and deftness strong.
We also encourage and promote parents and carers to monitor their child’s reading of prose fiction (fiction books with paragraphs and chapters) for at least 30 to 40 minutes each day – e.g. before bed, or, before or after dinner; to find moments to read with their child and ask them questions about character and setting; themes and the genre; and in general, spark natural conversations about the book their child is reading and to ask what they like and dislike about the book they have chosen; to promote their child to select books from their ZPD range (discussed later) from the school library and to encourage their to child to do Accelerated Reader quizzes at home, or, at school in the library in KS3; to remind their child that the school library is open before and after school, at break and lunch. Also to remind their child that in years 7, 8 and 9 students are expected to carry their AR book as part of their equipment; to encourage their child to read articles from broadsheet newspapers and magazines as well as books and to discuss these with them.
This programme allows us as a school to monitor and track the progress your child is making with their reading. At four points over the academic year, we test the students to find out their reading ages so we can assess where a student may need support. Students are given a number (a ZPD or zone of proximal development) which they use to select a range of appropriate books to develop their skills and love of reading; they will have written this number in their planners.
After reading a book, students should quiz to test their comprehension of the text. The quizzes lead to awards such as certificates, prizes and house points to add to the house competition rankings. Look out for more information about the Accelerated Reader programme here at BVGS via the weekly newsletter. As always, we appreciate your support with your child’s education. If you have any questions feel free to get in contact.
