Step Up is a flexible and personalised skills-based approach that provides additional literacy support for learners with SEND or those working below ARE. The intent behind Step Up is to equip our learners with the essential literacy, language and communication abilities they need for everyday life, education and employment.
The curriculum is designed to provide a strong foundation in reading, writing, oracy and listening, enabling learners to become confident communicators in various real-world contexts. The programme is part of our wider curriculum and aims to support learners in developing resilience and enthusiasm for learning.
The curriculum ensures that learners can progress through structured steps, gradually increasing their command over literacy and communication. It is designed to be accessible and inclusive, meeting the diverse needs of our learners.
Access the full curriculum booklet, including an overview of our schemes of learning
Access the Year 11 revision booklet, including links to key resources
The Step Up curriculum is delivered to smaller groups of learners who require more personalised support in their learning journey. Through a mix of interactive, practical and contextualised learning experiences, learners are supported to progress through the stages of development at their own rate of learning. Learners have access to creative, challenging and engaging lessons delivered by staff with strong subject knowledge.
At KS3 we focus on the building blocks of literacy development, with a particular emphasis on reading, writing, oracy and vocabulary. We work on developing the key skills that students may have felt challenged by previously; identifying any barriers to progress by tailoring learning to support this.
We deliver thoughtfully designed schemes of learning that strengthen the essential skills students need both in and beyond the classroom. Each unit is crafted to build core literacy competencies—including reading fluency, precise and purposeful vocabulary use, and the effective content and structure of writing—while also reinforcing primary elements such as spelling, punctuation, and grammar.
The literacy skills taught in Step Up lessons are designed to be transferable, enhancing students’ ability to access learning and engage with the curriculum across all subject areas. The focus on literacy in turn supports their overall academic progress.
Across each academic year, students will access a range of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, short stories and play extracts which supports pupils to learn reading comprehension techniques and enables them to understand the meaning of what they read as well as examining writers’ skills. Oral language interventions such as questioning and classroom talk are also utilised to assist pupils in developing their speaking and listening skills and advance their ideas and vocabulary.
In years 10 and 11, students recommence their pathway on Entry Level English. Pupils continue to work on improving their overall literacy skills and confidence as a learner whilst also working towards achieving external qualifications. We offer pupils the chance to sit AQA Entry Level 3 Certificate Gold Step up to English. The curriculum continues to follow a theme or topic that is linked to the Non-Exam Assessment (NEA) such as Ghosts or Holidays. Learners then complete three NEAs under controlled conditions over three terms; each NEA can be broken down into sections which makes them manageable and accessible for all learners; there is also an opportunity for learners to repeat assessments and improve their grade.
Pupils also complete the ASDAN Personal and Social Development Award or Certificate from Entry Level 1 to Level 2 depending on suitability; this qualification benefits learners, especially in preparing them for independence and working life after school and links to the preparation to adulthood goals. This provides opportunities to include activities both inside and outside of school and in non-formal situations; units include managing money, food safety in home and the community, healthy eating and preparation for work.
It started out as a preschool with five students in a church located in the heart of Princeton. Growing rapidly, the school moved into a larger church building on All Saints.
It started out as a preschool with five students in a church located in the heart of Princeton. Growing rapidly, the school moved into a larger church.
It started out as a preschool with five students in a church located in the heart of Princeton. Growing rapidly, the school moved into a larger church building on All Saints.
It started out as a preschool with five students in a church located in the heart of Princeton. Growing rapidly, the school moved into a larger church.
It started out as a preschool with five students in a church located in the heart of Princeton. Growing rapidly, the school moved into a larger church building on All Saints.
It started out as a preschool with five students in a church located in the heart of Princeton. Growing rapidly, the school moved into a larger church.
It started out as a preschool with five students in a church located in the heart of Princeton. Growing rapidly, the school moved into a larger church building on All Saints.
It started out as a preschool with five students in a church located in the heart of Princeton. Growing rapidly, the school moved into a larger church.
It started out as a preschool with five students in a church located in the heart of Princeton. Growing rapidly, the school moved into a larger church building on All Saints.
It started out as a preschool with five students in a church located in the heart of Princeton. Growing rapidly, the school moved into a larger church.
During this year, you will study Unit 1. Unit 1 will introduce you to the Central Processing Unit (CPU), computer memory and storage, wired and wireless networks, network topologies, system security and system software. You will become familiar with the impact of Computer Science in a global context through the study of the ethical, legal, cultural and environmental concerns associated with Computer Science.
During this Study Cycle, you will look at RAM and ROM, and how each contributes to a working computer system. You will investigate different types of secondary storage, as well as why this is required for the long-term storage of files and applications. You will be able to recommend the best storage solution for given scenarios.
During the third Study Cycle of the year, you will look at networking, connections and the Internet. This will involve investigating different connection methods and the performance impact each brings. It will also include an in depth investigation into how the Internet works.
In this Study Cycle, you will look at the security impact of networking computer systems. This will include the possible threats to data security, but also the preventative measures that network technicians and managers can take to help mitigate each of these threats.
During the final taught Study Cycle of the year, you will look at the essay question assessed topics of stakeholder concerns, as well as the small topic of systems software. This will build towards the eight mark questions you will face in your mock exam and formal examination in Year 11.
During the final Study Cycle of the year, you will undertake your formal end of year exam. This will be a full Unit 1 – Computer Systems exam paper and provide you with a formal end of year grade.
During this year, you will study Unit 2. Unit 2 introduces the more practical elements of the course, Algorithms and Programming. You will learn the key programming concepts, as well as how to put these into practice within Python. You will also learn how to program in OCR Reference Language, the language used in the final examination.
During this study cycle you will take a theoretical look at a wide range of algorithms and design techniques. This will include the use of standard searching algorithms and standard sorting algorithms. You will also look at designing algorithms, through flow diagrams and OCR Reference Language.
During this study cycle you will put your theoretical knowledge of programming into practice, learning a range of techniques and a variety of programs in Python. You will look at sequence, selection and iteration as key programming constructs, combining these to create complex, problem solving programs.
In this study cycle you will look at how we can ensure that the programs we create are both safe for use, but also produce the outcome that we expected. You will look at how we can mitigate potential security risks by being proactive as we program. You will also look at logic gates and truth tables as a way of designing circuits.
During the final taught study cycle of Year 11 you will look at the different types of programing language, including high level and low level languages. You will look at translators and compilers, and what each of these does. Finally, you will look at integrated development environments, investigating how these can benefit the computer programmer.
The final study cycle will see you undertake intensive exam preparation in the form of revision tasks and practice exam papers.
