“It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well.” Rene Descartes
The vital concept which animates our curriculum is ambition…
The vital concept which animates our curriculum is ambition…
Ambition for our students:
- to ignite a passion for learning
- to learn a progressively challenging body of knowledge in every subject each year
- to understand a range of increasingly sophisticated key concepts in every subject each year
- to appreciate content and conceptual links between subjects
- to be inspired to pursue their curiosity through extra-curricular and enrichment opportunities
Ambition for our staff:
- to be active participants in the design and review of schemes of work
- to be reflective practitioners as they teach the curriculum
- to be critical analysts as they monitor assessments and scrutinise outcomes
- to both support and be supported in their ambitious curriculum practice
Ambition for our school:
- to honour the legacy of those who founded our school in 1907, providing a home for girls’ academic education
- to inspire our current community to achieve their individual and collective best
- to progress our educational inheritance through curriculum innovation
- to create a new chapter of curriculum excellence for future generations
Our curriculum is distinguished by…
Breadth…
- appropriate coverage for our able students across the family of subjects
- Arts: Art, Drama/Theatre Studies and Music
- English: English Language and English Literature
- Health: Physical Education and Personal, Social, Health & Economic education (PSHE)
- Humanities: Geography, History and Religious Studies
- Languages: Classical – Latin; Modern Foreign Languages – French, German (Yrs 11 & 13), and Spanish
- Social Sciences: Economics, Politics and Psychology (all KS5)
- STEM: Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Further Maths (KS5), Mathematics and Physics
- KS4 Academic Project: Higher Project Qualification (HPQ)
- KS5 Academic Project: Extended Project Qualification (EPQ)
- Innovations: CCHS Philosophy (Yr7), CCHS Design (Yr8), OCR FSMQ Mathematics (KS4), Edexcel Russian (GCSE extra-curricular, KS5), OCR Ancient History (GCSE extra-curricular, mixed year groups) and CCHS Enrichment & Wellbeing Programme (KS5)
Balance…
- appropriate apportioning of curriculum time
- access to all subjects for each student
- progression through KS3, e.g. with Philosophy (for Children) in Yr7, then Latin in Yr8; sciences in Yr7, then Biology, Chemistry and Physics in Yrs8-9
Challenge…
- CCHS Challenge Model
- Scheduled: habitual challenge
- Extension: amplified challenge
- Enrichment: deep challenge
- Overarching: cohesive challenge
- Excellence: examination challenge
- Ancillary: complementary challenge
- Innovation: novel challenge
- number and range of subjects at KS3 (x14 Yr7; x16 Yrs8-9;)
- CCHS KS3 Curriculum (Content, Concepts, Connections and Competencies)
- GCSE options structure to realise the EBacc (core, humanities, languages, additional and open choices)
- A-level options structure to realise access to competitive courses at selective universities
Professional curriculum engagement
- Membership of Subject Associations and participation in subject-related social media fora
- Engaged locally with Mid-Essex Secondary Heads (MESH) and Association of Secondary Heads in Essex (ASHE)
- Engaged nationally with the Grammar School Heads Association (GSHA), Successful Selective Girls’ Schools (SSGS), Prince’s Teaching Institute (PTI), National Association for Able Children in Education (NACE)
- Engaged globally with the International Coalition of Girls’ Schools (ICGS)
