We believe that every child is uniquely created and loved by God and called by Him to fulfil a special purpose. It is our privilege to help each child to identify, nurture and use their talents to build a better world. To this end, we will work in partnership with parents, carers, parishes our community of schools, and with the wider community.

We provide our community with an education which focuses on the formation of the whole person and their vocation and purpose in life.

At Mount St Joseph School, we are passionate about creating a rounded, ambitious curriculum and high-quality teaching and learning experience that enables every student to excel and make rapid progress towards their personal goals, always achieving without limits.

Our curriculum offer enables each student to feel confident, valued, and successful, respecting themselves and others as learners whilst also promoting spiritual awareness, moral and cultural values. It enables students to see their potential and work towards making a positive contribution to the local community and beyond in their lives ahead.

As every student is unique our curriculum aims to offer all students a broad, balanced, and rich experience which will equip them to succeed in a rapidly changing world and to unlock the talents within them.  Our curriculum is knowledge-rich, providing students with the understanding and foundations for a successful life and enables them to apply skills in a wide range of areas. At Mount St Joseph, the curriculum has been designed so that knowledge is sequenced to enable it to be built on over time and revisited to ensure strong foundations for life. The curriculum is enriched with a variety of extra-curricular activities to encourage students to make constructive use of their leisure time. This allows the further development of each student’s character and talents and widens their potential interests. We ensure we create the conditions in which all students can grow and develop resilience and creativity, to make sure that whatever their individual talents they have a happy and fulfilling life and make a positive contribution to society at all levels.

Key Stage 3 Curriculum

Transition from primary to secondary is a high priority for the school and students arriving new to the school in year 7 are initially taught in their form groups, this enables them to develop strong relationships with their peers and a strong sense of belonging.

After the first term and throughout the remainder of year 7 and onwards, students are taught in ability groups, set in three bands (four in year 7), enabling lessons to be tailored to maximise each individual’s potential. Whilst the curriculum focuses on literacy skills and mathematics it is also varied, so students can experience a wide range of subjects.  

Subjects within the Curriculum

In accordance with National Curriculum guidelines all students follow a common curriculum at Key Stage 3 comprising:

Art Citizenship Computing
Drama English Geography
History Mathematics French/Spanish
Music Physical Education Religious Education
Science Technology

In year 9 Students are able to opt for certain subjects after following a core programme to support and guide them with these choices. This allows students to make informed decisions around choosing their subject specialisms for KS4.

Students continue to study the compulsory subjects of the national curriculum across the three years of KS3 ensuring they experience a broad and balanced curriculum that prepares them for not only KS4 but also further education and beyond.

Key Stage 4 Curriculum

In the spring term of Year 9 students opt for their final Key Stage 4 subjects, and it is these they will sit exams in at the end of Year 11. Students continue with these subjects for the remainder of their time at Mount St Joseph.

The curriculum at KS4 is designed to enable students to achieve their best studying subjects they find stimulating and relevant. There are three pathways which students can follow.

Students on the English Baccalaureate pathway study the core subjects of English, Maths, Science, RE, Computing and then either History or Geography and either French or Spanish. They also have the opportunity to study an additional subject of their choice.

Students on our core pathway study English, Maths, Science, RE, Computing and a humanity subject and those who wish not to study a Modern Foreign Language can instead choose two options. Students on this pathway may sit a mixture of GCSE and equivalent qualifications such as BTECs and Technical Awards.

The school has developed programmes with external providers TLG, Edstart, PLC and numerous work-based programmes. A Students’ participation in alternative provisions still ensures they receive their entitlement to statutory education at a partnership project. All programmes provide access to a mixture of GCSE and equivalent Vocational qualifications such as BTECs or Technical Awards.

Subjects within the Curriculum

All students at Key Stage 4 study the core subjects:

English Mathematics Science
Computing Religious Education Physical Education
Geography/History

Optional Subjects

After consultation with parents and staff, students choose further subjects from:

Art Business/Enterprise Computer Science
Drama Health & Social Care Food Technology & Nutrition
French/Spanish Music Photography
Physical Education Design Technology

Our curriculum is constantly evolving to meet the needs of our students and to provide them with the knowledge and skills they need for their future working lives. We regularly take their feedback to see what we could do better and what subjects they may wish to study in the future. To complement the curriculum, we have a wide range of activities that go on across the year from enterprise events and careers workshops, visits by outside speakers and work experiences within the local area. We offer a variety of retreats and ethos events, sports days and celebrations throughout the year.

Support is provided for all students through our tracking of student performance. The curriculum is flexible to allow students to have short-term support and intervention to address any specific learning issue and achieve the best progress possible. The personalisation of the curriculum at Mount St Joseph has something for everyone and encourages all our students to do their very best and reach their true potential.