Our Curriculum
At Bournside, our curriculum maps take pride of place in every classroom and department area, showcasing the rich learning journeys our students follow. These maps bring each subject to life, illustrating not only what students learn and when, but how knowledge and skills build powerfully over time as they progress through the school.
Carefully sequenced and thoughtfully designed, our maps also show the meaningful links between subjects. By highlighting where themes and concepts connect, the maps help students understand the ‘why’ behind their learning and deepen their confidence in making sense of the world around them.
This essential information ensures that everyone in the Bournside community shares a clear understanding of the bigger picture. It reflects our commitment to a well-planned, ambitious curriculum for all, and supports every student to know more, remember more, and achieve more.
Useful documents:
Literacy
Literacy is one of the most important skills we can develop in our students. It is vital that students can read, write, speak, and listen in a way that lets them communicate effectively and make sense of the world. Students need to be readers and writers to gain proficiency with technology, develop relationships with others, and confront and solve problems collaboratively.
Every teacher at Bournside is a teacher of literacy in their own subject area, as students need high-level literacy skills to think, explore, organise, learn, and communicate successfully.
We want all of our students to develop a deep love of reading. Research repeatedly shows that reading for pleasure decreases with age, and that the best predictor of future education achievement and life success is reading ability. Therefore, we promote reading as a form of enjoyment and escapism while the reader is young.
At the start of each academic year, students in Year 7 take a paper-based reading test to enable us to assess their reading ability. Each student is given a Bournside reading band and recommended books at the appropriate level. We deliver targeted literacy lessons for those highlighted as needing additional support, overseen by our Literacy Team and SENCO.
Reading homework is a core part of daily learning and students can independently browse our Library for books of interest. All students have a Library Induction and our Librarian is available to help students with choosing books. Tutor-led shared reading takes place twice a week; every Tutor group is allocated a class set of fiction/non-fiction covering a variety of genres and subjects, allowing time to discuss new vocabulary and check understanding.
Recommended reading lists support students with reading at home. Throughout the year, we run numerous literacy events including reading challenges, competitions and more, to inspire reading for pleasure amongst our students.
Extra-curricular
At Bournside we encourage all students to try something new. Beyond our classrooms, we offer a rich and varied extra-curricular programme for students to get involved in. You can learn a musical instrument, play a part in one of our many school productions, show off your talents on the sports field, or develop your Cyber skills through an extensive offer of clubs and Cyber Explorer events. There are lots of clubs to join and students can also embark on the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme for which we offer all levels: Bronze (Year 9), Silver (Year 10), and Gold (Years 12 and 13).