Subject specific student resources from successful departments (Curriculum Documents - part 5)
Hello Curriculum Thinkers,
Last week, the excellent Louise Ferrier dug deep into the Subject Success Research Team’s findings to look at what resources and documents successful departments are publishing to support their students’ progress and foster independent learning.
This week she hones in on subject-specific examples.
Missed parts 1, 2, 3 and 4?
Read:
Curriculum Documents Part 2: Visual maps and journeys - 8 observations from successful departments
Curriculum Documents (Part 3): Subject-Specific Maps and Journeys
Over to you, Louise…
Subject-Specific Student Resources
At a subject level, what do examples of student documents and resources look like? Have we considered the most effective forms of organising our knowledge for student accessibility? Do our subject websites house student resources and if so what do we prioritise?
The examples below are a snapshot of what the subject directories have to offer. To explore the vast array of information and documentation, remember to check them out for yourself here.
Art
Erdington Academy’ s Art department produces ‘home-school learning collaboration’ documents which serve as both a sort of knowledge organiser but also a guide to activities to be completed at home to aid learning.
Business
The Business department of Guru Nanak Sikh Academy produces knowledge-organisers framed by a ‘big question’ to be considered leading to a significant amount of detail in ‘the big picture’.
While Harris Boys' Academy East Dulwich’s business team have shared knowledge-organisers based around the specification which are segmented and organised into smaller chunks.
Computer Science and IT
Goldington Academy’s computing department publishes workbooks and revision guides containing plenty of visuals and tasks for students to complete. Both documents are vast and detailed resources to support students which you can find in full in the directory. Here is a snapshot:
DT
The visually attractive document extract below comes from the Belle Vue Girls Academy’s D.T. department. They publish home learning/independent study tasks online for each year group. See the yr7 example below:
The expectations of home/independent study are also made clear through the document below setting the tone and value of students taking ownership of their own development:
English
Harris Academy East Dulwich’s English Department publishes a very detailed reading list that covers both reading to enhance the curriculum and reading for pleasure:
While Oasis Southbank Academy’s English Department publishes vocabulary lists specific to each unit of study such as the example below:
Geography
One interesting observation in the research was that Geography departments featured had the fewest published support documents available to students on the website. That’s not to say they are not provided elsewhere. One of the few examples was this assessment guidance document from the Ursuline Academy Ilford. In it, students are encouraged to explore a breakdown of the knowledge and skills needed to achieve mastery.
History
One of the most prolific departments for student documents found was the history department of Aylsham High School which publishes on its page: homework booklets for each KS3 year, reading lists, substantive knowledge lists and also knowledge tests. You will find extracts from these below:
RE
The RE department at West London Free School refer to the knowledge organisers on their site as ‘Mastery Pages’. The example below is for Yr9:
With so many new concepts and vocabulary to learn the RE department of St Paul's Way Trust School provides detailed knowledge organisers for every year group.
Languages
The Languages knowledge organisers from the Paddington Academy (are structured to link in with cycles of the curriculum and are simply structured around key vocabulary and tenses:
Maths
The 2 very colourful pages below come from the Maths Dept’s Yr8 knowledge organiser of Totteridge Academy. The knowledge organiser itself is 5 pages long and is contained in the whole-school publication. Each year-group has its own unique set.
Performing Arts
The first document is a revision checklist published to students by the Drama department of Harris Academy Wimbledon which includes a self assessment column:
While this knowledge organiser from the Music Department at The Bourne Academy is one of ten aimed at GCSE students:
The knowledge organisers from the Wingfield Academy Drama department are specifically connected to units of study such as the one here:
Science
St George’s Catholic School’s Science department publish a vast array of knowledge organisers each focused on key topics and include visual additions:
PE
The addition of photographs to demonstrate concepts in the knowledge organisers published by Wingfield Academy’s PE department were a unique feature not spotted elsewhere:
Social Sciences
The Social Sciences Department at Alperton Community School publishes on its website: vocabulary lists, links to personal learning checklists, and exam materials plus a revision guide:
As always, the examples today are a mere snapshot of what the directories have to offer. There is much to be gained from exploring the subject directories with your own focus in mind.
🔎 Compare student resources in your subject across hundreds of departments
To help you learn how these departments do what they do, our team have been busy gathering everything they can including:
performance data
intent statements
exams boards
time allocation
Year 7-11 sequencing
subject specific curriculum features
planning and delivery resources
team structure
extracurricular activities and…
…more.
Here’s an example of the subject specific directories they’ve been building👇
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🔎 What aspects of curriculum practice are we unpacking through our subject success research?
To help you get as much as possible out of our Subject Success Research, over the coming weeks we’ll bring you different slices of what we’ve found:
Subject-specific curriculum models used by successful departments
Making links between subjects: cross curricular observations
Curriculum documents (part 1) written curriculum plans: examples from successful departments.
Curriculum Documents Part 3: Subject-specific maps and journeys
Curriculum Documents Part 5: Subject Specific Student resources
Sequencing decisions by subject, year group and key stage
Resources like options booklets, curriculum maps, knowledge organisers, revision materials and…
…more
If you don’t want to miss out on all these…
Take it further
This work builds on previous We Are In Beta research to support community members to know and understand more about the brilliant practice happening in schools up and down the country. Including…
Top-performing state secondary schools with high Progress 8 for disadvantaged students 2023 (as well as 2022 here and 2019 here)
Schools that secured strong grades for students with lower prior attainment in 2019
Which subjects are most likely to be deep dived by Ofsted? & Every subject deep dive from 1200 Ofsted inspections under the new EIF