Curriculum
Bedford Academy vision:
The BA Way is the foundation of our curriculum. At Bedford Academy we strive to ensure every student becomes a young person who is:
Community minded: a responsible, thoughtful and independent member of society that takes ownership of their own actions and decisions
Driven: a confident individual that achieve their full potential and work towards success, without excuses or compromise
Aspirational: have high expectations of themselves and others, always aiming to improve, succeed and excel
Bedford Academy prepares students to make a positive contribution to society in their next steps outside of school and in the future careers.
Bedford Academy intent:
The BA curriculum is broad, balanced and inclusive. Traditional academic subjects are allocated a significant proportion of curriculum time to reflect the profile of our school community. This enables us to raise aspirations and develop students’ self-belief that everyone can achieve. We offer a diverse range of academic and vocational courses to provide individual pathways that reflect the interests and strengths of our students. The breadth of these pathways supports the building of aspirations and has clear and purposeful links to our post-16 offer.
All students are encouraged to complete the demanding EBACC qualifications in order to study their choice of A-Levels and aspire to achieve a University place. For students who wish to follow a different pathway we offer extensive guidance and a range of vocational qualifications at KS4 and 5. This offer is supported by our strong careers provision and our Sixth Form Sport and Dance Academy.
We believe in a seven-year curriculum model, spanning from Year 7 to 13.
Key Stage 3 is broad and balanced, ensuring students are well-prepared for modern life. This includes building skills, knowledge and confidence for Year 10 where the first assessed qualification is gained.
Our two-year Key Stage 4 allows students to study a range of optional subjects alongside their core offer (Year 10 and 11).
Key Stage 5 (Year 12 and 13) is two years of Level 3 study on an A-Level, vocational or blended pathway. Students also have an option to be part of our growing Sport and Dance Academy offer, which is proving to be increasingly popular with external students.
Provision Map
| Community Minded | – The embedding of the BA Way and its links to maturing into a responsible and respectable member of our wider community – Personal cultural development lessons support the delivery of SMSC and the British Values agenda Social interaction/skills development with our ‘phone free environment’ at BA – The variety and amount (usually 9) qualifications that students have gained when they leave BA – Extensive and varied enrichment opportunities are made available for all students to access throughout their time at BA |
| Driven | – Greater emphasis on the core at KS3 and beyond to ensure fundamentals are secure in English, Maths and Science – All students receive DEAR (Drop everything and read) sessions 2 times a week to improve their literacy and reading skill development – Students receive quality first teaching across the curriculum and are supported with high impact intervention where appropriate – Students are challenged to perform at their best throughout their time at BA, with high expectations and positive relationships insisted upon by all |
| Aspirational | – Broad and balanced curriculum offer throughout the seven-year pathway – Students leave us with appropriate qualifications that suit their next steps – Ebacc option (Spanish, History, Geography and Computer Science) is offered to all students that wish to study a traditional academic route – Varied curriculum pathways that match student aspirations and academic profile (Vocational, Triple Science, GCSE, Sports Academy, A-Level and Level 3 vocational) – Our outstanding careers offer ensures students are well informed and highly motivated to pursue a pathway that is aspirational. Students are equipped to achieve success with the knowledge and guidance they receive |
Year 7
| Subject | English | Maths | Science | Geog | Hist | Spanish | R.S. |
| Lessons per fortnight | 8 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| Subject | Comp Sc | PE | Art | Music | Perf Arts | Food/Tech | PCD |
| Lessons per fortnight | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Total 50
Year 8
| Subject | English | Maths | Science | Geog | Hist | Spanish | R.S. |
| Lessons per fortnight | 9 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
| Subject | Comp Sc | PE | Art | Music | Perf Arts | Food/Tech | PCD |
| Lessons per fortnight | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Total 50
Year 9
| Subject | English | Maths | Science | Geog | Hist | Spanish | Comp Sc |
| Lessons per fortnight | 8 | 8 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| Subject | PE | RS | Art | Perf Arts | Food/Tech | PCD | Creative Media |
| Lessons per fortnight | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
Total 50
Year 10
| Subject | English | Maths | Science | Option A | Option B | Option C | Option D |
| Lessons per fortnight | 8 | 7 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Subject | PE | PCD | |||||
| Lessons per fortnight | 4 | 2 |
Total 50
Key Achievement Information for Year 10
Year 11
| Subject | English | Maths | Science | Option A | Option B | Option C | Option D |
| Lessons per fortnight | 7 | 8 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Subject | PE | PCD | |||||
| Lessons per fortnight | 4 | 2 |
Total 50
Teaching & Learning
Our ‘Community Minded, Driven, Aspirational’ values mean that learning is considered to be a partnership between students, staff and parents. We aim to create an environment based on encouraging students to aspire for excellence as a result of the delivery of high quality teaching and learning across the school.
The teaching at Bedford Academy is designed to be engaging, exciting and challenging. We want all our students to be fully prepared for their futures by providing them with a range of academic opportunities and developing their character so that they leave us as well-rounded, employable young people.
At Bedford Academy lessons last for 1 hour. Our staff work hard so that all students are challenged and supported to make sustained and substantial progress in all aspects of their studies. This is achieved through:
Consistent High Expectations
The high expectations underpinned by The BA Golden Five mean that lessons are conducted in a positive working environment that is conducive to high quality teaching and learning. Teachers use the information available to them to plan lessons that meet the individual needs of the students we teach.
Stretch and Challenge
All lessons contain a variety of learning activities and tasks to ensure that students are engaged and challenged. Teachers employ a range of strategies that offer the opportunity to transfer, reinforce and extend the knowledge and skills of the students they teach. This includes a focus on high quality questioning, and modelling and scaffolding to support learners in completing more complex tasks.
High Quality Feedback
As we look to foster a love of learning in our students and develop independent and resilient learners, our students will receive high quality feedback that provides students with clear next steps on what they need to do to improve and develop the quality of their work. This feedback is provided through a range of marking strategies including written and verbal feedback, to ensure that this is meaningful to all students.
