Curriculum

Our curriculum overview

The curriculum at Pioneer Secondary Academy is underpinned by our core values of Respect Aspiration Integrity Seva and Equality (RAISE) and our British Sikh ethos. 

It is our mission to 

  • educate the whole child and to support them in becoming productive, selfless and ethical members of society.  We will do this:
  • by creating successful learners who enjoy learning, make good progress and achieve their potential
  • by providing our students with the widest range of experiences possible, building cultural capital and inspiring and enabling them to make a lasting and positive contributions to those around them

We continually seek to improve the way in which we enable our students to flourish.  As such, our academic and co-curriculum is inclusive, rich and ambitious.

Inclusive

Our curriculum is accessible to all students and is planned to ensure everyone can enjoy their experiences and make visible progress no matter their ability. We equip our staff with the resources to ensure that barriers to learning are removed and all students are suitably challenged and supported. The promotion of Literacy is prominent within our curriculum as this provides a gateway to acquiring core knowledge.

Rich

Our curriculum draws upon the rich Sikh cultural traditions and British values to reflect and celebrate diversity. Equality is a central tenet of the Sikh faith and our personal development curriculum emphasises this. Through our planned personal development and co-curriculum, we seek to develop young adults of strong moral character. We organise educational visits and develop the depth of our teaching to enhance the quality and enjoyment of the learning both in and outside of the classroom. We provide a range of extracurricular opportunities to support the development of our students’ character and prepare them for life as balanced, happy well-rounded individuals, who can succeed in whatever they apply themselves to.

Ambitious

Our curriculum is knowledge led, enabling students to know and remember more. It is designed with both vertical (within a subject) and horizontal (across subjects) integration. This consistency enables students to develop a deeper understanding of the knowledge learnt, encouraging students draw out conceptual links between subjects honing their analytical, literacy and numerical skills.  We expect all our students to strive for excellence in all that they do. Our ambitious and integrated careers curriculum supports students in developing long term goals and in maintaining long term academic and co-curricular commitments.

In Year 7, 8 and 9, students follow the National Curriculum subjects set out below.  Our curriculum provides an excellent grounding in the core subjects such as Maths, English, Science, Computer Science, Religious Education, PE and Learning for Life (sometimes known as PSHCE) as well as the Arts, Humanities, Modern Foreign Languages and Design and Technology.  

In the Spring Term of year 9, students will be supported in choosing what they will study further at GCSE and Level 2 in their Year 10 and Year 11 journey. 

Our offer at Key Stage 4

In addition to core subjects and programmes required in the National Curriculum for Key Stage 4, our students will sit a GCSE in RE and choose other GCSEs from a range of subjects.  These include, Art, Business, Computer Science, Design and Technology, Drama, Food Studies, Geography, History, Music, Panjabi, PE and Spanish.

We also offer a broad range of vocational qualifications and these include BTECs in Digital Information Technology, Enterprise, Health and Social Care and Travel and Tourism.

Our offer at Key Stage 5

We are pleased to announce that our first cohort of Year 12 as Pioneer Secondary Academy will commence their study in September 2023.  Please see our Sixth Form page for more information or our Prospectus.

 

For more information on our Curriculum, please email office@psa-bucks.com and type Curriculum Information in the subject line.