Key Information

Curriculum

Our core purpose is to offer an ambitious curriculum that supports learning in and out of the classroom, underpinned by our school values of Ambition, Respect, Care and Honesty (ARCH).

Through offering a wide range of subjects and opportunities, reinforced by great learning and teaching, we truly believe that we will enable each individual to unlock their unique potential. The success of our curriculum is measured by outcomes, progression and attendance. 

If you wish to obtain additional information on our curriculum please don’t hesitate to contact Mrs Coates (Deputy Headteacher) or Mrs Mansfield (Assistant Headteacher) who will be able to advise you. To read more about equality in the curriculum please take a look at our Public Sector Equality Duty page here.

To view our full ‘Curriculum Intent’ document, click here.

To find out more about our vision, long term plans and provision for enabling disabled pupils to fully participate in the school’s curriculum please see our school’s accessibility plan available on the policies page of our website here.

Student grouping rationale

  • Year 7 and Year 8 are taught in mixed prior attainment groups for all lessons.
  • Year 9-11 are taught in foundation and higher groups for maths and science. All other subjects are taught in mixed prior attainment groups. 
  • Group changes generally happen at the end of the academic year, or term, however they may happen mid-term. These changes take into account the whole cohort and will be made in line with teacher assessment and professional judgement.

At Todmorden High School we have moved to mixed prior attainment across nearly all of the school. This is to support our vision to unlock the unique potential of all individuals.

Setting does not work for the majority of our students. Methods used to set students and group them by ‘ability’ or ‘prior attainment’ can be flawed. We believe the outcomes of a test or assessment are not a reliable reflection of a student’s potential in any given subject. We do not want to put artificial ceilings on students as a result of their grouping.

We also believe that effort and self-belief are key determiners of achievement. A system that sets students, creates classrooms that are hierarchical and lower students’ beliefs in what they can do. This creates avoidable barriers to learning. Academic research by Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968) describe the Pygmalion effect – whereby high expectations of all students result in higher levels of achievement. We are ambitious for all our students.

Teachers have received training on best practice in mixed prior attainment teaching grounded in the academic research of Professor Francis (2017) and reflecting the needs of our current student profile. We will continue to build on best practice strategies in our continuing professional development with all staff.

Curriculum Overview
 Key Stage 3 (Years 7, 8 & 9)

Curriculum offer

English (4hrs), maths (4hrs), science (4hrs), computer science (1hrs), EPR (Ethics, philosophy and religion) (1hr), PE (1hr), geography (2hrs), history (2hrs), Spanish (2hrs), art (1hr).

Rotations - design and technology/food technology/digital literacy (1hr), music/drama (1hr), Latin/ARCH (1hr).

(Year 9 students will do an additional 1hr per week on English speaking and listening and science on a rotation, instead of Latin/ARCH).

PSHCE (Personal Social Health and Citizenship Education)

Students will have three full ‘ARCH’ days studying a PSHCE programme covering aspects such as citizenship, sexual health, sex education, British values, tolerance, extremism, mental health and preparing students for the world of work. Year 7 and 8 will have ARCH lessons on rotation. 

Key Stage 4 

Terminal exams in 2025 (current year 10 September 2023)- English Language (Eduqas) and English Literature x 4 hrs (AQA), maths x 4 hrs (Pearson), science x 4 hrs (Pearson), core PE x 1 hr, options 4 x 3 hrs.

PSHCE/SMSC (Social, Moral, Spiritual, Cultural): Students will also have three full ‘ARCH’ days covering aspects such as citizenship, sexual health, sex education, religious education, British Values, tolerance, extremism, mental health, computer science and preparing students for the world of work. In addition some of these subjects are covered during form tutor time and assemblies.

Option A

Option B

Option C

Option D

Art, Craft and Design

AQA

Additional Maths and English (only
available to some students)

Child Development

OCR Cambridge National

Business Studies

Pearson

Computer Science

OCR

Art, Craft and Design

AQA

Creative iMedia

OCR Cambridge National

Creative iMedia

OCR Cambridge National

Design Technology

AQA

Business Studies

Pearson

Design and Technology

AQA

Ethics, Philosophy and Religion (EPR)

AQA

Geography

AQA

Ethics, Philosophy and Religion (EPR)

AQA

Ethics, Philosophy and Religion (EPR)

AQA

Health and Social Care

OCR Cambridge National

History

AQA

Geography

AQA

Geography

AQA

Hospitality and Catering

WJEC

Photography

AQA

History

AQA

History

AQA

Latin

OCR

Separate Sciences

Pearson

Music

Pearson BTEC

Hospitality and Catering

WJEC

Photography

AQA

 

Performing Arts

Pearson BTEC

Sports Studies

OCR Cambridge National

Separate Sciences

Pearson

 

Spanish

AQA

 

Sports Studies

OCR Cambridge National

Terminal exams in 2024 (current year 11 September 2023)- English Language (Eduqas) and English Literature (AQA) x 4 hrs (AQA), maths x 4 hrs (Pearson), science x 4 hrs (Pearson), core PE x 1 hr, options 4 x 3 hrs.

PSHCE/SMSC (Social, Moral, Spiritual, Cultural): Students will also have three full ‘ARCH’ days covering aspects such as citizenship, sexual health, sex education, British Values, tolerance, extremism, mental health and preparing students for the world of work. In addition some of these subjects are covered during form tutor time and assemblies.

Option A

Option B

Option C

Option D

Separate Sciences

Pearson

Art, Craft and Design

AQA

Computing

OCR

Creative iMedia 

OCR Cambridge National

Additional Maths and English (only
available to some students)

Pearson

Business Studies 

Pearson

Creative iMedia

OCR Cambridge National

Geography 

AQA

Art

AQA

Child Development 

OCR Cambridge National

Geography 

AQA

History

AQA

Business Studies

Pearson

Ethics, Philosophy and Religion (EPR)

AQA

Health and Social Care

OCR Cambridge National 

Hospitality and Catering

WJEC

Design Technology

AQA

Geography

AQA

History

AQA

Music 

Pearson BTEC

Ethics, Philosophy and Religion (EPR)

AQA

History

AQA

Spanish 

AQA

Performing Arts 

Pearson BTEC

Hospitality and Catering

WJEC

Sports Studies

OCR Cambridge National

Sports Studies 

OCR Cambridge National

Photography 

AQA

Photography

AQA

   

Separate Sciences

Pearson

 

Key Stage 4 Core RE Provision

A large cohort of students take EPR GCSE as an option at THS, however, for those who do not, we are committed to ensuring they get their entitlement through curriculum provision. All students in years 10 and 11 take part in daily focus sessions. Within this 30 minute session students are looking at a series of texts. All texts studied have a moral, philosophical, religious or ethical dimension to them. This whole class reading is accompanied with guided questions which are focused upon these themes for reflection. Delivering the provision in this way allows for students to develop a deeper understanding of these themes through seeing them in the context of the novel. The RE department in conjunction with our literacy lead, designs the questions and themes for reflection on each novel. This is mapped against the text allowing form tutors to focus in on the pertinent parts of each book. CPD opportunities are provided by the RE department to build confidence across the team of tutors to ensure delivery is consistent and of good quality. Combined with assembly and ARCH provision this ensures students have a cumulatively sufficient body of developing knowledge for the future.

Curriculum Overviews

We have provided curriculum documents for parents and other interested stakeholders to see what is delivered in each subject over an academic year. If you want some more detailed information about content please visit our essential knowledge booklet page where you can have a look at areas of recall and study provided for our students. These curriculum documents are dynamic, we update them annually and if we make major changes to content or structure. The documents show where assessments will be held in each subject to support effective revision for our students.  

Key Stage 3 Curriculum Overviews

ARCH curriculum - Aside from the three ARCH days a year, students in year 7 and 8 have ARCH lessons on rotation where they cover a wide range of PSHCE and personal development topics. This rotation was introduced in September 2022, and a curriculum overview is currently being built to support this. 

KeY stage 4 curriculum overviews