The Wells Academy Fundamental Ideas Curriculum

At The Wells Academy, we advocate a curriculum that is ambitious, inclusive and knowledge rich. These principles guide the design and implementation of our curriculum.

Ambitious
We believe our curriculum should be unapologetically ambitious so students may gain the highest possible levels of academic achievement. We set high expectations for all students and provide them with the resources and support they need to reach their goals. We teach our ambitious curriculum explicitly through our academy identified Fundamental Ideas, so students may confidently grasp challenging content and ideas.

Inclusive
We believe in a curriculum that is inclusive in terms of what is taught and how we teach it.

• Content: We celebrate difference and champion diversity. We believe our curriculum should reflect and celebrate the diversity of our academy community and the world beyond us.
• Design: we believe all students, regardless of their starting point, are entitled to the same ambitious curriculum. This means that our curriculum is designed to be accessible to all students. The implementation of the curriculum may vary to ensure that all students may access it.
• Reading: we view reading as the gateway to the curriculum. Reading is prioritised within each curriculum area. Students are provided with individualised reading support to ensure that they may access the curriculum fully.

Knowledge rich
A knowledge rich curriculum is one that prioritises the acquisition of knowledge and facts and where knowledge is taught as an end in itself. We believe that knowledge is power which is why our curriculum is based around Fundamental Ideas. Every student, regardless of their background, deserves to learn about ‘the best that has been thought and said’. We view the curriculum as a vehicle for social justice and believe students deserve to have a deep and broad understanding of the world around them.

Our Fundamental Ideas curriculum provides students with a strong foundation of core knowledge. Fundamental Ideas serve as ‘hooks’ upon which to hang smaller pieces of information. They are theories or concepts that are at the centre of a knowledge rich curriculum.  They focus around what it is that we really want students to learn and should serve as the focal point of instruction and assessment. Students are assessed on their mastery of a topic, gaining a secure understanding of each Fundamental Idea as they progress through the curriculum.

Students revisit each Fundamental Idea in growing complexity numerous times throughout the curriculum, repeating their specialist language.  We understand that the sequence in which knowledge is taught is essential and so our curriculum is structured in a way that allows students to commit knowledge to their long-term memory, forming positive habits to achieve success.

We teach students a knowledge rich curriculum and support them to gain the very best qualifications.

If you'd like to want to find out more about our curriculum, please contact Diane Mason (Assistant Principal: Curriculum) dmason@thewellsacademy.org.