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Curriculum Overview
At Chelmer Valley High School, our curriculum is designed to give every student a broad, ambitious and coherent education.
We want students to develop secure knowledge, think carefully, communicate confidently and become increasingly independent learners. Our curriculum is carefully planned so that students build knowledge and skills over time and are well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment.
We have high expectations for all students and are committed to ensuring that the curriculum is accessible to everyone, including students who are disadvantaged or have additional educational needs.
Our Curriculum Principles
Our curriculum is built around five key principles.
1. Ambitious for all
We believe that all students should experience a challenging and ambitious curriculum. Teachers support students to access demanding content while maintaining high expectations for what they can achieve.
2. Carefully sequenced
Subjects identify the important knowledge, concepts and skills that students need to learn. Curriculum plans are sequenced so that new learning builds on what students already know and prepares them for what they will study next.
3. Building secure knowledge
Students need to remember what they have learned if they are to use it successfully in the future. Important knowledge is therefore regularly revisited and practised over time.
4. Inclusive and responsive
Teachers adapt their teaching to meet the needs of students while maintaining the ambition of the curriculum. We work closely with our SEND and pastoral teams to remove barriers to learning wherever possible.
5. Preparing students for the future
Our curriculum extends beyond examination qualifications. Literacy, numeracy, personal development, careers education and wider enrichment opportunities help prepare students for further study, employment and adult life.
What Students Study
Students follow a broad curriculum throughout Years 7 to 9, developing strong foundations across a wide range of subjects.
At Key Stage 4, students continue to study a strong academic core alongside subjects chosen through our options process.
In the Sixth Form, students can select from a range of Level 3 academic and vocational qualifications, alongside wider opportunities including enrichment, careers education and independent study.
Detailed curriculum information for individual subjects and year groups is available through our subject curriculum pages.
Sixth Form Subjects and Pathways
Teaching at Chelmer Valley
Our teaching model has three connected parts. Together they create the conditions in which pupils can think hard, participate fully and make strong progress.
1. Climate – Positive Relationships and High Expectations
Pupils should feel known, safe, respected and challenged. Teachers establish calm, purposeful classrooms where participation is expected and mistakes are treated as part of learning.
2. Chelmer Basics – Consistent Classroom Routines
Clear routines help pupils settle quickly, listen, respond, work productively and move between activities without losing learning time. The precise routine may vary, but the outcome should be consistent.
3. The Chelmer Lesson Framework – How Learning Is Built
Teaching follows a continuous cycle:
- Plan – identify what pupils need to know, say, write and apply
- Explain – make new learning precise, structured and accessible
- Model – show pupils what success looks like and how to achieve it
- Practise – provide guided practice before pupils work independently
- Check – check what every pupil has understood
- Adapt – re-teach, re-model or provide further practice when learning is not yet secure
Assessment and Reporting
Assessment helps teachers understand what students know, identify misconceptions and decide what needs to be taught or practised next.
Teachers use a range of approaches including questioning, classwork, homework, quizzes and formal assessments.
Parents receive regular information about their child's progress and have opportunities to discuss their learning with teachers.
Supporting Learning at Home
Parents and carers play an important role in supporting students to develop effective learning habits.
We provide guidance to help families understand how students learn and how they can support learning at home.
Resources include guidance on:
- helping students revise effectively;
- retrieval practice and how memory works;
- supporting reading at home;
- developing effective homework and study routines;
- preparing for assessments and examinations;
- supporting GCSE revision;
- understanding school reports and assessment information.
Supporting Learning at Home – Parent Resources
Personal Development
Our curriculum supports students' wider personal development alongside their academic education.
Through lessons, tutor time, assemblies, enrichment and wider opportunities, students develop the knowledge, skills and understanding they need to become confident, responsible and well-informed young adults.
Our Personal Development programme includes areas such as:
- relationships, health and wellbeing;
- citizenship and life in modern Britain;
- careers education and preparation for future pathways;
- personal safety and safeguarding;
- financial and economic understanding;
- enrichment, leadership and wider participation.
Further information about our Personal Development curriculum, including careers education, can be found on our dedicated Personal Development pages.
Further Information
If you would like further information about the curriculum, please contact the school.
Individual subject curriculum information is also available through the subject pages on our website.
