Our Curriculum

Our curriculum is designed to challenge students to achieve, what for them is individual excellence and to be the vehicle for delivering deep social justice. We are fiercely ambitious and our curriculum reflects this passion and to embed the school ethos of respect, responsibility and resilience in the character of our students.

Curriculum Intent

Our intent is that the curriculum offered to our students:

Provides a broad and balanced curriculum that is truly comprehensive an accessible to all students.
Delivers opportunities for students to learn to be successful, to gain transferrable skills whilst also acquiring relevant knowledge.
Enables high standards of academic achievement where outcomes empower students to progress to the next stage of their education.
Affords opportunities for all students to develop the high level of literacy and numeracy required for success in the wider curriculum and in adult life.
Expands students’ perspectives through a range of spiritual, moral, social and cultural opportunities to promote their sense of moral and social responsibility.
Ensures that students are safe and that they understand how to be safe.
Fosters a strength of character, and resilience that will help students to cope with choices and overcome the challenges they are likely to encounter in life.
Provides an appropriate range of opportunities and experiences to inspire students to success in the next stage in their education, training, or employment.
Enables students to take responsibility for their own learning and development.
Develops a sense of respect for themselves and others within the wider community.

Please use the drop down menu to access the subject details.

If you would like further details of the curriculum offered by any of the department please contact the relevant Head of Department.

Extra Curricular

Adding that little extra...

At JSTC we firmly believe that enriching the experience of our students with a range of extra-curricular experiences enables resilience, character, confidence and self- efficacy to develop.

A range of opportunities are offered during the year including trips and visits both in the UK and abroad.

Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme

A DofE programme is a real adventure from beginning to end. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from. You just need to be aged between 14 and 24 and realise there’s more to life than sitting on a sofa watching life pass you by.

You can do programmes at three levels, which when completed, lead to a Bronze, Silver or Gold Duke of Edinburgh's Award.

Sections

You achieve your Award by completing a personal programme of activities in four sections (five if you're going for Gold) - Volunteering, Physical, Skills, Expedition and for Gold, a Residential. You'll find yourself helping people or the community, getting fitter, developing skills, and going on an expedition.

Student Council

JSTC student council members were recently presented with their official badges of service to recognise the important role they play within our school community.

There are a total of 51 Student Council members spread over all five year groups and shows our commitment to ensuring that our student voice is heard and respected as a school community.

Student Council members are expected to be ambassadors for the schools three key expectations and must demonstrate and promote being respectful to each other and staff members and of the school site and equipment, responsible for their own learning and the actions they take and develop resilience to overcome the challenges that they will face during their school years.

Students are asked for their involvement in key school events such as Mental Health Awareness week,

Anti-bullying week and when fundraising for local and national charities.

They give their time and energy for the role freely as they are committed to being role models and upholding JSTC’s excellent reputation within school and in the wider community.

Lunchtime & After-School Clubs

See our full list of extra-curricular clubs for the school year 2022/23

Lunch and After School Clubs

Introduction

At John Spendluffe Technology College, we believe that the curriculum our students study should enable them to become successful young people who are ready to learn, make progress and achieve, whatever their starting point. We want to develop students who are respectful and responsible citizens who make positive contributions to society by better understanding the world in which they live and prepared for the challenges they will face.

We aim to nurture our young people so that they can demonstrate resilience as well as being confident and able to live safe, healthy, and fulfilling lives supported by a love of life-long learning. We aspire for those that we teach to be successful and we hope that they are committed to their studies beyond JSTC through the range of post-16 formal education and apprenticeship routes. We wish to maximise the cognitive development, to inspire, to develop the person and talents of the individual so that JSTC students become active and economically self-sufficient citizens.

We provide our students with a 5-year curriculum that specialises after year 9, with students making well informed choices about the subject they will continue to study for Level 2 qualifications / GCSEs. In Years 7, 8 and 9, all students will study: English, Maths, Science, Music, Art, Performing Art, History, Geography, Modern Foreign Language, Technology (Food, Resistant Materials, Graphics and Textiles), Physical Education, Religious Studies, ICT/Business and PSHCEE including careers education.

In Years 10 & 11, all students will continue to study English Language and Literature, Maths and the Sciences, Physical Education, PSHCEE and Religious Studies together with either Geography or History. Students will then choose the 4 subjects that they wish to continue to study up to Level 2 / GCSE qualification level.

The curriculum offer is rooted within four key principles:

Entitlement – we believe that all students have the right to learn what is in the JSTC curriculum; we have a duty to ensure that all students are taught the whole of it.
Mastery – we want all students to achieve a full understanding of the knowledge specific in the curriculum for each year - differentiated as appropriate, and teaching should not be moved on until this is achieved.
Stability – we will not amend the curriculum unnecessarily; however, we will make occasional adjustments considering feedback, best practice and experience, to ensure that our curriculum remains broad and balanced and meets the needs of our students.
Concepts not context – our curriculum specifies the knowledge that should be taught and provides resources to assist with this and exemplifies successful learning. It leaves the job of bringing the knowledge to life, of providing context and of creating memorable moments to the professional in the classroom, the teacher.