Curriculum Overview

At Academy 360, our curriculum aims to equip every student with the personal, social and academic knowledge they need to thrive and succeed both at school and throughout their lives.

Our curriculum at Academy 360 not only supports academic success but also shapes individuals who are ambitious, brave, curious, determined and prepared to navigate the complexities of the modern world. We aim to transform the lives of our students and communities through extraordinary education. 

At Academy 360 we will ensure that our curriculum enables: 

• Our students to leave our academy with excellent qualifications that give them a wide range of choices and opportunities as they move into the next stage of education and adult life

• Our students to  leave our academy with excellent qualifications that  give them a wide range of  choices and opportunities as they move into the next stage of education and adult life

• Our students to udevelop strong character traits that will support  them to adapt and thrive in a rapidly changing world

• Our students to develop their physical and mental health, alongside their intellectual growth

• Our students to have access to high quality cultural experiences and extra curricular opportunities  

• Our students to engage with high quality  careers information and guidance across all key stages

• Our students to have a highly developed understanding of  the fundamental British Values  of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance. 

• Our students to have a strong understanding and appreciation of all protected characteristics, including race, gender, religion, disability, and sexual orientation.

The Design of our Curriculum:

As part of Laidlaw Schools Trust, we believe that all pupils can and must make meaningful progress. Our curriculum has been deliberately designed and sequenced to ensure that every pupil secures the foundational knowledge they need at each phase, enabling them to know more, remember more, and apply their learning with increasing confidence. This ensures that all pupils are ready for the next steps in their learning and are supported to progress successfully through school. We do this by ensuring that: 

Our broad and balanced curriculum is a continuous learning journey

Our curriculum provides all pupils with access to a broad and balanced range of subjects, with strong emphasis on those that open doors for future study and employment. English, mathematics and science form the cornerstone of our provision, complemented by humanities, modern foreign languages, the creative arts, and technical subjects.

Each subject area sequences its curriculum as a coherent learning journey, building securely on prior knowledge and towards clearly defined endpoints at unit, yearly, and key stage levels. This ensures that pupils gain the foundational knowledge required at each phase before moving on.

Where necessary, we make thoughtful and proportionate adaptations to the curriculum. When a bespoke pathway is required, it remains ambitious, broad and designed to ensure pupils can progress successfully and achieve well in their chosen direction.

Each subject is built around well-defined threshold concepts and the foundational knowledge pupils need to make progress

Across all subjects, we identify and prioritise threshold concepts—those key ideas that unlock deeper understanding. Subject specialists specify the essential foundational knowledge pupils need to gain and retain at each phase in order to progress. Concepts are revisited and built on over time, enabling pupils to develop increasingly sophisticated understanding and apply their knowledge with growing independence.

Subjects support pupils to know and remember more through planned retrieval and deliberate practice

Teachers plan regular opportunities for spaced retrieval so that pupils repeatedly recall, use and secure the most important knowledge. Deliberate practice enables pupils to apply what they have learned in a range of contexts, gradually increasing independence and fluency. This approach strengthens long-term retention and ensures pupils are ready for subsequent learning.

Every subject area prioritises literacy and oracy

We believe that fluent reading and confident communication underpin success across the curriculum. Every subject identifies key vocabulary, essential texts, and purposeful opportunities for discussion and extended writing. Pupils are taught to use subject-specific language accurately and to communicate with clarity, confidence and purpose.

Our curriculum is responsive and tailored to pupils’ needs

Assessment is integral to everyday teaching. Staff routinely check whether pupils have secured the foundational knowledge required before new content is introduced. Ongoing feedback and adaptation ensure that pupils who need additional support receive it promptly, while summative assessments provide clear, cumulative checkpoints without distorting the learning process.

Support and intervention are adapted at key points in pupils’ learning journeys, ensuring that all pupils can access the full curriculum and achieve well. Increasingly, we use digital technology to enhance personalised support and ensure that every pupil is equipped to progress successfully.

For a more detailed explanation of the curriculum in specific subject areas, please use the link below:

Subject Information

The Teaching & Learning Model

Primary Curriculum