ASPIRE
Year 7 Curriculum Outline 2025-26
Introduction:
Students joining Belvue School in Year 7 come from a range of settings including specialist settings and mainstream primary schools with additional resource provision. To support their continued development and to help them integrate into a larger secondary school community, we utilise our Carr Road site solely for the provision of our Year 7 students. This allows us to deliver a curriculum that can be tailored to support the needs of our students at different points throughout the academic year.
Our Year 7 curriculum is structured to help support cognitive, emotional and social development, providing opportunities to support students in developing positive self awareness, the social skills to form positive relationships and an interest in learning. These are all vital for our students to effectively access their learning.
Here is an overview of how the academic year is structured for our Year 7 students:
Thematic Approach:
Our thematic approach for Year 7 students at Belvue School provides children with exciting and engaging contexts for beginning their learning journey in secondary school. There is a key focus on developing core skills and a prioritisation on personal development, to help support their independence and transition. Themes act as umbrellas, under which all major subjects are covered, helping to prepare our students for subject specific lessons in KS3 & 4. It is an effective and inspiring way to learn, enabling our students to link concepts between subjects and better understand the world around them. Class teachers are responsible for the delivery of the Thematic approach, and are supported by subject specialists. Where appropriate, English and Maths knowledge and skills are taught both in discrete lessons as well as being re-enforced across the wider curriculum. Themes begin with a ‘Launch’ event, include an ‘Enrich’ event at an appropriate point within the journey and end with a ‘Celebrate’ event to showcase the learning that has taken place.
Launch
Enrich
Celebrate
Enrichment Experiences / Links with Parents and the Community:
Teaching staff are encouraged to broaden the experiences for the children within themes through educational visits, visitors into school and shared experiences of the wider school community, for example, involvement with parents and cross-school links etc.
Children’s achievements are celebrated regularly through displays in classrooms and shared areas, and in assemblies where children are encouraged to share their knowledge and skills with the rest of the school.
In addition to this, we aim to involve parents and the wider community by informing parents of key information about the theme at the start of the term. Members of the community and parents are invited to share experiences related to our themes.
Enrichment Days are held each academic year where the whole year group engages in an activity that involves learning outside the classroom.
Skills Builder:
For our Year 7 students at Belvue School we introduce them to the different Core Skills through the curriculum. Confidence in these skills is then encouraged as part of the delivery of all subjects across the year. Students are encouraged to become familiar with using the language associated with each of the core skills, and will work towards being able to give examples of when they might be able to demonstrate these skills both in school and in their everyday life.
