C6 Curriculum

Please visit our Curriculum section HERE to view the C6 Curriculum Guides per subject. 

Please click the links below for further information on each department.  To ensure knowledge and skills are developed quickly, each subject area has produced a curriculum and assessment map designed to show how learning builds over the course of a term, a year and a key stage. These form the basis of schemes of work and rigorous, synoptic assessments that allow for a detailed evaluation of student progress at a number of points in the academic year.

The purpose of assessment at Capital is described as follows:

‘Assessment will provide up-to-date, accurate and objective information about students’ achievement to themselves, their parents and staff. Through informing next steps, the process of assessment will help to accelerate progress and improve classroom practice.’

Targets are set for students according to the following principles:

• Targets for students will be aspirational, and allow them to exceed national expectations from their starting points.
• Targets will be shared and the target setting process will be simple to understand for staff, students and parents.
• Alongside current attainment data, targets will allow a thorough and focussed review of progress at regular intervals. This will support teaching and intervention.

In the sixth-form, national subject-specific data is used to set appropriate targets for A Level and BTEC National qualifications, based on each student's average point score at GCSE.

The Academy is committed to ensuring that formative feedback is used to inform teaching and learning. Examples of formative assessment include:

• Using probing lesson questions.
• Questioning techniques to check or stretch understanding.
• Low stakes testing to check knowledge acquisition.
• Using mini white boards.
• Using visualizers to share student work or model answers.
• Scanning the work of students while they are in the lesson to check for understanding and act upon information gathered.
• RAG123.
• Marking student work as dependent on essential or departmental policy.

At three points in each year, students in every year will sit exam-style assessments under exam conditions to judge how well they are progressing towards their target in each subject. These assessments are designed to prepare students for the rigour of the new Level 3 qualifications. Each assessment point is synoptic (ie assessing curriculum from the whole academic year to date). Following these periods of assessment, time is given to departments to effectively moderate assessments in all year groups so that work of the same quality is reported in the same way.

At each of the 3 assessment points, parents will receive information about the achievement of their child in each subject area. Based on the most recent assessment, the grade which the student is projected to achieve based on their current attainment will be reported.

C6 students will be given grades based on the A*-E scale for A-level subjects and Distinction*-Pass scale for vocational subjects.

As well as reporting attainment in this way, we will also colour code each grade to show how well your child is progressing towards their target. From this, parents will know how well their child is performing compared to other children in England with a similar starting point.

An example report can be found here -

Sample Report 2016-17

Subject departments have worked hard to make schemes of learning that challenge students to gain new knowledge and skills quickly. We hope that alongside the reporting of grades, students’ books and assessments will show that what they can and cannot do.

Once per year in each year group, Parents' Evenings allow face-to-face discussions between subject teachers and parents (in the presence of students), based on student progress. Twice a year (once for examination years), parents meet their child's Learning Adviser to hold an academic review of their child's progress across their different subjects. Key actions and targets from these meetings are agreed, recorded and shared with subject teachers.

After each assessment point, data is processed quickly in order to allow an efficient and effective analysis of progress towards an agreed set of key performance indicators. Data is automatically generated into standard templates by the Academy’s Data Manager – we use ALPS and SISRA Analytics assessment packages to support with this. Following this, leaders of all levels in the Academy meet to discuss the progress of students.

In departments, these conversations take the form of structured ‘Student Progress Meetings’ (SPMs) between curriculum area leaders and teaching staff. SPMs focus on the progress of individual students. Key actions from these meetings are recorded, and the information used to define the specific strategies that must be adopted to raise the achievement of those students who are working below their targets.

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