The curriculum at Hayesfield is designed to ensure that all students can achieve their personal best and develop their individual character. Academic and vocational qualifications are the cornerstone of educational success, and at Hayesfield we also feel that being ready for work, being a well-rounded member of society and having the skills and attitude needed to lead a happy and healthy life are also equally important.
Our curriculum offer is:
- creative and supportive
- meaningful and contemporary
- rigorous, challenging and questioning
- personalised, motivating and empowering
- collaborative and interdisciplinary
- supportive of a local, national and international dimension
The curriculum is delivered through a two week 50 period timetable and is divided into three broad stages:
- Lower School (Year 7 and Year 8)
- Upper School (Year 9, Year 10 and Year 11)
- Sixth Form (Year 12 and Year 13)
The Hayesfield curriculum recognises and meets the requirements for the English Baccalaureate, promotes British Values and ensures students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) development. Lessons in Dance, Drama, Music, Art, PE, Design and Technology complement classroom-based subjects and provide Year 7 and 8 students with a varied diet of learning experiences. We actively promote an international dimension to our school and the majority of our students study French and Spanish during their first years at Hayesfield.
Students start their GCSE courses in the core subjects of English, Maths and Science in Year 9. The majority of students follow a traditionally academic curriculum and opt to take at least one language and humanities subject to study at GCSE – over 85% of our students take the range of subjects that fulfil the requirement of the English Baccalaureate. We actively encourage our older students to add their own dimension of extra academic challenge. Many choose to take three sciences (Biology, Chemistry and Physics) and two languages to study at GCSE. Latin is also offered as a language choice at GCSE. For our gifted and talented students, we offer Dance as an additional GCSE as well as an A Level equivalent course, Global Perspectives, which promotes thinking outside the box!
“The school’s ambitions for all pupils to excel are clear in the curriculum, which is broad and balanced and matched well to individual pupils’ and groups of pupils’ needs.”
Ofsted, March 2017
Subject Intents
English Curriculum Intent [PDF]
Maths Curriculum Intent [PDF]
Science Curriculum Intent [PDF]
Curriculum Intents and Programmes of Study
Year 7 Curriculum Intent
We are really proud of our Year 7 curriculum offer and in particular how it creates a smooth transition between
the content and skills your daughter covered in KS2 to the challenges and increased aspirations of our Lower
School Curriculum.
As well as identifying and closing gaps in knowledge from Year 6, our Year 7 curriculum deepens students’
engagement, knowledge and passion for each subject old and new. It actively aims to develop a high level of
literacy and numeracy through a culture of reading for pleasure and inspiring maths lessons.
While the curriculum is academically aspirational it is implemented in an environment that inspires enjoyment
and commitment to learning as well as developing for students the skills and confidence to learn.
Year 7 is an exciting time in your daughter’s education. This is the beginning of her learning journey at
Hayesfield Girls’ School and the first steps into developing confidence, new skills and new ambitions for
life-long success.
Please click here for our Year 7 Programme of Study [PDF]
Year 8 Curriculum Intent
Our Year 8 curriculum offer is an important half-way point between our Lower and Upper School curriculums.
Here is where the training wheels begin to come off and we put more emphasis on developing each student’s
confidence as independent and self-motivated learners.
The Year 8 curriculum further deepens students’ engagement, skills and knowledge in all subjects while
beginning to develop more individual passions which will help them make more informed and successful
decisions in the Year 9 Options Process.
The learning environment continues to inspire enjoyment and foster a commitment and love of learning but
here is where the challenge increases and we perhaps take more students out of their comfort zones.
Far from a ‘holding year’ Year 8 is a vital time in your daughter’s education. This is the stage of her learning
journey at Hayesfield Girls’ School where she begins to seek challenges and find motivation for herself which
will become the foundation of her future academic success.
Please click here for our Year 8 Programme of Study [PDF]
Year 9 Curriculum Intent
Year 9 is perhaps the most important year of your daughter’s education so far. She will have now started
GCSEs in Maths, English Science, Languages and Humanities and with that, begun a three-year journey to
academic success in Year 11.
This is the transition year between Lower and Upper School, where we bring to a close some subjects and
open up new ones. Much of the emphasis is on students finding their individual academic pathway while being
guided to build a broad and balanced curriculum that meets every student’s needs and aspirations.
The learning environment remains inspiring and fosters the commitment and love of learning from Lower
School but, without doubt, Year 9 will expect more of your daughter; preparing her for the increased challenges
and demands of GCSE skills, content and assessments. Here is also where we lay the foundation for the study
and examination skills as well as the independence that will serve her at GCSE and promote more enquiring
minds that challenge and question what she is told.
Year 9 is the turning point away from Lower School and into the demands and excitement of Upper School. It
is a gradual turning point however, providing full support and motivation for every student to find her feet and
grow her confidence in Year 10.
Please click here for our Year 9 Programme of Study [PDF]
Year 10 Curriculum Intent
Year 10 is where your daughter begins that two(ish) year journey towards those final exams. She will already
have started her GCSE journey in her Ebacc Subjects but now she starts all her GCSEs, following her own
individual academic pathway.
Some subjects will now be left behind, meaning learning is focused and expectation is high, but every subject
encourages a passion for developing new skills and building new knowledge and expects full engagement in
every lesson.
Emphasis is placed on a strong academic core, delivering content that provides appropriate challenge to meet
aspirational targets while structuring learning to ensure rapid progress for every one of our students.
Challenge is a key concept in Year 10 and students are encouraged, supported and expected to make progress
right from the start. Knowledge and skills are gained and secured throughout through interleaved curriculum
maps, repeater homework and targeted assessment points.
This is also the year where your daughter will set herself up with the independent study skills, organisation and
preparation needed for exam success as well as the resilience and motivation to overcome the increased
demands of GCSE.
Year 10 is a vital year. The challenge, workload and expectations are more but here is where the work is done
to approach her final exams In Year 11 with confidence, ambition and even enjoyment.
Please click here for our Year 10 Programme of Study [PDF]
Year 11 Curriculum Intent
Year 11 is where your daughter completes her journey towards those final exams and shows us what she can do. Learning is focused and expectation is high but the curriculum and its implementation in every subject encourages an ambition and motivation that will lead to certain success at GCSE.
Emphasis continues to be placed on a strong academic core, delivering content that provides appropriate challenge to meet aspirational targets while structuring learning at all levels to ensure high progress for every one of our students.
In Year 11 your daughter will finely tune the study and revision skills needed for academic success as well as strengthen the resilience and motivation to overcome the increased demands of the examination season whilst supporting her emotional and physical well-being.
The challenge, workload and expectations are high, but she will build on her hard work in Year 11 and rely on the backing of a well-practiced system of support and intervention.
Here is where the hard work increases, then fully pays off. The outcome is a confident, capable and academically successful student who will continue her learning journey and take on personal challenges with passion and pride.
Please click here for our Year 11 Programme of Study [PDF]
Upper School Curriculum Handbook
Curriculum Handbook 2021 – 2023 [PDF]
Curriculum Handbook 2020 – 2022 [PDF]
Curriculum Handbook 2019 – 2021 [PDF]
Curriculum Handbook 2018 – 2020 [PDF]
Curriculum Handbook 2017 – 2019 [PDF]
Curriculum Handbook 2016 – 2018 [PDF]
