Calderstones School

Our children are encouraged to explore, discover and question through a range of exciting learning opportunities both within and outside the classroom. The staff endeavour to provide a calm and stimulating environment where good behaviour and mutual respect is modelled by everyone and where everyone is valued.

We work closely with parents/carers and the wider community to ensure the success of our children. We believe that children deserve the best possible chances in life and that they learn best when there are strong links between home and school.

During the 2016-17 academic year we spoke constantly about raised expectations and we will continue to push this throughout this academic year. In every aspect of school life, we will raise the bar for students and staff with the view that 'nobody rises to low expectations'. In terms of pupil achievement and progress, their involvement in school and community life, the ways in which pupils wear the uniform and present their work with pride, the ways in which they speak to each other and the behaviours that they demonstrate within the school and the community in which it resides ... in all of these ways, our expectations will be more ambitious and explicit than ever before.

However, in the 2017-18 academic year we aim to take this further. One of our main priorities this year will be to ensure, as far as we can, that no child is left behind and that every child is challenged. Students should find things difficult, although not impossible, at times. They should struggle at times and be expected to think deeply about the work that they do. They shouldn’t be getting everything right all of the time; if they are, the work is too easy and they’re not being challenged. None of this means that they shouldn’t be enjoying their learning; being challenged can be enjoyable.

The aim of the school is to educate pupils of all abilities, each to a maximum of his/her potential, so that every boy and girl can enjoy a high quality of life and contribute responsibly and fully to the life of the community. To achieve this general aim we are concerned:

• To provide the range of courses, the quality of teaching and the climate for learning necessary for the individual to develop skills, abilities and interests to the full, thus maintaining the school's tradition of excellence
• To enhance the pupils' learning and development through the provision of a wide range of extra-curricular activities
• To provide the staff with the support and training to achieve the aims of the school; to promote an orderly, caring community in which truth, integrity, courtesy and respect for the needs of others are valued

At Calderstones, we believe in offering a curriculum that is broad, balanced and relevant. We believe that it should engage students, enable each of them to fulfil their individual potential and equip them with the key skills and knowledge required in an ever-changing world. This includes not only the curricular experiences that students are exposed to within their timetabled lessons but also the extra-curricular opportunities that they are offered.

We believe firmly in offering a three year Key Stage 3 curriculum. Although in some subjects, clearly signposted preparation towards Key Stage 4 qualifications may begin during the course of Year 9, we value Key Stage 3 as being an overall preparatory experience for the qualifications that students will study in Years 10 and 11. As such, the explicit study of these qualifications only begins in Year 10. This is because we believe that every child should experience a curriculum that is as broad and balanced as we can possibly make it for as long as we can possibly afford to do so.

At Key Stage 4 (Years 10 and 11) we offer a range of traditional courses which lead to qualifications, mainly GCSEs. Students choose their options in the Spring of Year 9 following the guidance and advice provided. The ‘Pathways’ system at Key Stage 4 is well matched to students’ needs and interests and provide a good range of options. We believe that for many students, studying a language and a humanities subject and therefore enabling them to achieve the English Baccalaureate suite of qualifications is important. However, we also believe that for other students, who have talents in other subjects, these qualifications are just as valid. We believe in creating curriculum opportunities for and making decision based on the individual student as far as we possibly can.

Think of our Sixth form as a stepping stone to your future. By committing yourself fully to your studies, anything will be possible once you leave; university, apprenticeship or the career of your choice.

The facilities available in the Sixth Form are excellent. The main building contains dedicated rooms for the teaching of Mathematics, Business, English, Geography, Economics, Sociology and ICT/Computing. Quiet independent study takes place in our staffed Sixth Form Library, whilst group work that involves debate and discussions can take place in our Resource Centre; both of which are fully equipped with ICT facilities.