enquiry@ilsley.bham.sch.uk  |  Call us: 0121 706 4200

Our curriculum vision

At Archbishop Ilsley Catholic School, we believe that all students are able to become experts in the disciplines that they study. Their expertise will be achieved through quality teaching and the teaching of deep knowledge by highly skilled and knowledgeable subject experts. Students will benefit from our ‘knowledge rich’ approach to learning in every classroom, every lesson, every day.

The curriculum for every department emphasises the development and securing of deep knowledge alongside the development of skills. Students will be introduced to and understand, theories and principles that have influenced, continue to influence and will influence in the future, the world in which they live. They will be prepared to fully engage in academic discussion about their learning. Teachers foster a love of learning and a desire to
achieve.

At the foundation of our knowledge rich curriculum, is the use of knowledge organisers and knowledge booklets. Booklets for each subject have been written by departments to accompany sequences of learning; they will be used in the classroom and at home. Booklets contain information to read, comprehension activities, glossaries of key words and diagrams and pictures depending upon the subject/topic. Knowledge organisers will also be completed by students as a way of aiding knowledge recall and training students’ long term
memory recall.

In order for you to further support your child at home and have a better understanding of their curriculum, knowledge booklets for each subject are now available to download on the school website.

 

 

What should students do?

 

Students will be provided with Knowledge Booklets in each of their subject areas.  They may be asked by their teachers to bring booklets home to use for revision or to complete homework tasks in.  Some subjects may prefer to keep booklets in school and in other subjects, booklets will be accessed using Google Classroom. However, these booklets are invaluable; they contain all of the most important knowledge that your teachers want you to know!  You will be working through your booklets in class and completing retrieval practice quizzes and other work based upon the information inside them, so get reading and revising!

What should parents/carers do?

Our Knowledge Booklets are your child’s personal texts books written by your child’s teachers, the subject specialists!  Please ensure your child really does learn the content in these booklets.  They will be set homework on sections each week and complete retrieval practice quizzes and assessments using the knowledge in the booklets.  You could read through the booklets with your child, ask questions about the content, ask them about the things they did in class that might help them remember in more detail.  Above all, talk to your child and take a really keen interest in what they are doing with this knowledge.

 

Talking about their learning and reading each evening will have a profound effect upon their progress.  If your child knows this content and can recall it in their quizzes and assessments, it is likely that your child will do really well as they progress through the year.

 

Finally, if your child tells you that they have no homework, you now have the perfect response!  They can spend time reading and revising any one of the Knowledge Booklets for any one of their subjects in their year group!

If you have any further questions about our curriculum for Year 7 and 8, or require more guidance about how to support your child at home, please do not hesitate to contact the school.