Our curriculum is both ambitious and inclusive, offering a broad and balanced foundation. It is meticulously planned and thoughtfully sequenced and ensures our students are equipped to become highly effective learners.
Our character curriculum (ABBEY character) fosters the personal growth and development of students, enabling to them to thrive with us and excel in their future endeavours. We want all students to be able to say;
“At Abbey Grange I was educated, nurtured and empowered to lead a successful, happy and healthy life, flourishing in all that I do. I am aspirational, demonstrating benevolence and treating others with kindness, respect and dignity. Through the opportunities provided, I have been able to explore and expand my beliefs, always striving for excellence in every thing that I pursue. As a young leader, I embrace the power of my voice to engage in courageous advocacy, helping to shape a better world for myself and others.”
Information on this page about our curriculum is currently under review. If you would like to find out any further information about our curriculum, please email info@abbeygrangeacademy.co.uk and address your email to the attention of Ms D Morgan, Vice Principal (Quality of Education).
The curriculum at Abbey Grange Academy is designed to give all learners the knowledge, skills and cultural capital they need to succeed in life. It is ambitious and broad.
Our Key Stage Three both meets and exceeds National Curriculum expectations and Key Stage 4 pathways allow students to pursue the EBACC or develop their interests in a wide range of subjects. As a Church of England Academy, all of our students routinely undertake a Religious Studies qualification at KS4. At Key Stage 5 a suite of over 25 Level 3 (A Level or Applied) subjects are available in our Sixth Form. As students move through school and into a new key stage they are guided and supported to aspire high and strive for excellence.
Our curriculum is designed and sequenced to successfully develop the knowledge and skills that students will apply with increasing fluency and independence. Our ABBEY character, alongside a focus on oracy and reading is integral to our curriculum.
We are a talk-rich school. We support our students to learn through talk and are relentless in development of their oracy skills in order that they may have agency in their lives and be courageous advocates for themselves and others.
We prioritise reading as we believe it is central to the development of informed young adults who have a passion for lifelong learning, a love of discovering new ideas and a desire to experience new worlds.
Through high expectations and expert teaching, students from all backgrounds and starting points will be able to achieve. Our ABBEY Character programme (which includes the PSHE statutory curriculum) and enrichment programme as well as access to a wide variety of extra-curricular activities ensures a genuinely holistic experience for all students, with access to enriching activities and the development of skills that will help them to succeed in further education and employment. We are responsive to the needs of our students and work with them, and listen to them in order to regularly reflect upon and shape our offer.
We have a 5 and 7 (or two years at post 16) curriculum plan mapped out for each subject.
We recognise our wide range of KS2 experiences and build upon these with a carefully crafted KS3, rooted in the National Curriculum and ensuring students have a broad and enriching experience.
Students are supported at the end of Year 9 to choose an appropriate GCSE pathway which allows them to capitalise on their strengths, pursue their passions and reach for their goals. Our orate, aspire, flourish pathways meet the needs of all our students. Whilst all students continue with English, Maths, RS, Science, PSHE/Character the vast majority of our students will undertake 10 GCSEs at the end of Year 11, “opening doors” and maintaining breadth.
Our KS5 students study at least 3 x Level 3 programmes of study alongside enrichment including PSHE and RSE.
A two week timetable ensures maximum and equitable coverage for all subjects.
All lessons at the academy follow the Abbey Grange Learning Cycle. This ensures there is a consistent approach across all lessons.
A spiraled curriculum is delivered and this ensures regular review and revisit. Students are taught the importance of space retrieval practice.
At Abbey Grange, we are proud to be an articulate academy, placing a strong emphasis on developing students’ speaking and listening skills. Oracy, the ability to express oneself fluently and articulately, is central to our curriculum and aligns with the ABBEY Character values:
Aspiration, Benevolence, Belief, Excellence, Youth Leadership, and the idea of students learning to flourish in both their academic and personal lives.
Oracy is about more than just speaking—it’s about being able to express ideas clearly, listen actively, and engage meaningfully in conversation. We partner with Voice 21, a national organisation that champions oracy in education, to ensure our students develop these essential skills. This collaboration enables us to create an environment where students regularly practice speaking and listening across all subjects, helping them to grow as confident and articulate communicators.
Quality First Teaching supports an inclusive curriculum and regular staff CPD ensures this is kept current and actioned. We want all students to be able to access the curriculum and reach their potential. We adopt a flexible and child centred approach to curriculum adaptation and delivery but will always balance a request for flexibility with the need for students to meet standard criteria for accreditation and ensure their curriculum opportunities remain broad.
Home Learning supports our students to know more and remember more.
Assessment is regular and proportionate to curriculum time and staff deploy a range of verbal, peer and self-assessment, written and whole class feedback in order to maximise progress.
All students in Abbey Grange undertake end of year Trust Assessments in years 7 through to 10.
All students in our Sixth Form undertake three Level 3 Courses (A Levels or Applied) and many choose to study for an EPQ or award in Sports Leadership.
University is a planned and well supported pathway for many of our students and we capitalise on contextual offers and support from a variety of high-profile Universities. Increasingly our students are also choosing to access degree level apprenticeships and employment post 18 and are again supported by the 6thForm Team and our experienced careers officer.
