Mission
At Blessed Trinity we believe that we are part of God’s creative process; fulfilling the potential of each individual in order to incarnate the Kingdom of God. We see education in the wider context as a process of liberation and humanisation; of enabling children to become more fully human.
The central aims for the BTRCC curriculum are that:
• Pupils learn to value their individuality and unique talents and are motivated to fulfil their own potential
• Pupils, especially the most disadvantaged and those with SEND, acquire the knowledge and cultural capital they need to understand the world, to serve others and to make a significant contribution to society
• Pupils progress and cumulatively develop deep knowledge, through a curriculum that is coherently planned and sequenced
• Pupils consolidate and develop their understanding of the key ideas in each subject, through a curriculum that is designed to promote retention and retrieval of important concepts
Religious Education
At Blessed Trinity we are committed to the Diocesan ambition to support the personal faith journey of our pupils through a relevant, inspiring and thought provoking programme of Religious Education. 10% of pupils’ curriculum time is given to Religious Education during year 7-11 and all pupils sit a GCSE Religious Studies qualification. Beyond the classroom, the innovative Religious Education programme permeates all aspects of school life and is central to the strong sense of community that characterises our school. Pupils have the opportunity to engage in charity work, retreats, collective worship and celebrations which supports both the individuals understanding of their own faith and their spiritual, moral and social development.
A broad and balanced curriculum
At Blessed Trinity, our commitment to a broad and balanced curriculum allows pupils to develop important knowledge and cultural experience, not only in core academic subjects, but also in sport, the creative arts and technology.
Key Stage 3
Throughout our 3 year Key Stage 3, pupils follow a curriculum based upon the National curriculum subjects:
English; maths; science; history; geography; modern foreign languages; design and technology; art and design; music and performing arts; physical education; religious education; PHSE including citizenship; computing
Key Stage 4
The breadth of curriculum continues into Key stage 4 where alongside a core curriculum of
• English Language
• English Literature
• maths
• science
• religious education
• physical education
• PHSE including citizenship
We offer the following optional courses:
computer science; geography; history; French; Spanish; design and technology; fine art; music; music technology; dance; drama; PE; information technology; photography; sport and coaching principles; sociology, health and social care; hospitality.
The options process in Year 9 is characterised by high levels of advice, guidance and support for pupils and parents, from a committed team of class teachers, the head of year and form tutors, the school careers advisor and the senior leadership team. Our central aim is that pupils use the process to develop their unique talents and interests in a way that will enable them to move up to ambitious courses and training at Post 16 level and beyond. Our approach to the English Baccalaureate subjects is an important part of this guidance
English Baccalaureate (EBacc)
The English Baccalaureate describes a set of GCSEs that includes passes in the following set of subjects
• English language and literature
• maths
• two sciences, including computer science
• geography or history
• a language
We place a high value the English Baccalaureate subjects. These facilitating subjects provide pupils with cultural capital and keep young people’s options open for further study and future careers. In light of this, we ask pupils, with very few exceptions, to choose at least one English Baccalaureate subject from our set of optional courses. Where appropriate, pupils are recommended to follow the full English Baccalaureate pathway and include both a humanity and a modern foreign language in their optional choices
Bespoke Pathways
We accept that children have individual needs and therefore tailor our curriculum throughout the five years at Blessed Trinity to address the individual child. This may include provision for courses in Leadership and character development, additional modern foreign languages and additional maths and English. We also run two bespoke pathways
• The Accelerated Progress Group
• The Future successes pathway
Accelerated Progress Group
In response to our Primary Schools feedback that some of our Year7 pupils are not ready for full transition to Key Stage 3, we have an Accelerated Progress Group in Year 7.
The accelerated progress group have a settled classroom base and receive specialised teaching and support from a Primary specialist teacher for their core education; English; maths; history; geography, with subject specialist teachers for science, computing and religious education. They study design and technology; art and design; music and performing arts; physical education and PHSE including citizenship, alongside the other children in the Year Group in a mixed ability setting. The accelerated progress group begin to study modern foreign languages from Year 8, to allow more time to raise the standard of their English and maths.
The aims for this group are twofold. Firstly, we aim to accelerate the achievement of pupils who are well below the standards expected for a Year 6 pupil and who typically arrive with KS2 scaled scores of less than 90. Secondly, we aim to develop the pupils’ attitudes to learning, in particular encouraging them to become more independent and resilient in order to thrive in a High School environment. Children move into the full curriculum with the rest of their peers as soon as they are ready.
Future Successes Pathway
This pathways at Key stage 4, recognises that, for a very small number, a purely academic pathway is not suitable and will not equip them with the skills they need to move up and progress as they transition to Post 16 and beyond. Our innovative Future Successes Pathway combines the core curriculum of :
• English Language
• English Literature
• maths
• science
• religious education
• physical education
• PHSE
with a day of work experience and bespoke school-based courses in leadership, employability and character development.
Leadership