“It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well.” Rene Descartes
The vital concept which animates our curriculum is ambition…
Ambition for our students:
- to ignite a passion for learning
- to learn a progressively challenging body of knowledge in every subject each year
- to understand a range of increasingly sophisticated key concepts in every subject each year
- to appreciate content and conceptual links between subjects
- to be inspired to pursue their curiosity through extra-curricular and enrichment opportunities
Ambition for our staff:
- to be active participants in the design and review of schemes of work
- to be reflective practitioners as they teach the curriculum
- to be critical analysts as they monitor assessments and scrutinise outcomes
- to both support and be supported in their ambitious curriculum practice
Ambition for our school:
- to honour the legacy of those who founded our school in 1907, providing a home for girls’ academic education
- to inspire our current community to achieve their individual and collective best
- to progress our educational inheritance through curriculum innovation
- to create a new chapter of curriculum excellence for future generations
Our curriculum is distinguished by…
Breadth…
- appropriate coverage for our able students across the family of subjects
- Arts: Art, Drama/Theatre Studies and Music
- English: English Language and English Literature
- Health: Physical Education and Personal, Social, Health & Economic education (PSHE)
- Humanities: Geography, History and Religious Studies
- Languages: Classical – Latin; Modern Foreign Languages – French, German (Yrs 11 & 13), and Spanish
- Social Sciences: Economics, Politics and Psychology (all KS5)
- STEM: Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Further Maths (KS5), Mathematics and Physics
- KS4 Academic Project: Higher Project Qualification (HPQ)
- KS5 Academic Project: Extended Project Qualification (EPQ)
- Innovations: CCHS Philosophy (Yr7), CCHS Design (Yr8), OCR FSMQ Mathematics (KS4), Edexcel Russian (GCSE extra-curricular, KS5), OCR Ancient History (GCSE extra-curricular, mixed year groups) and CCHS Enrichment & Wellbeing Programme (KS5)
Balance…
- appropriate apportioning of curriculum time
- access to all subjects for each student
- progression through KS3, e.g. with Philosophy (for Children) in Yr7, then Latin in Yr8; sciences in Yr7, then Biology, Chemistry and Physics in Yrs8-9
Challenge…
- CCHS Challenge Model
- Scheduled: habitual challenge
- Extension: amplified challenge
- Enrichment: deep challenge
- Overarching: cohesive challenge
- Excellence: examination challenge
- Ancillary: complementary challenge
- Innovation: novel challenge
- number and range of subjects at KS3 (x14 Yr7; x16 Yrs8-9;)
- CCHS KS3 Curriculum (Content, Concepts, Connections and Competencies)
- GCSE options structure to realise the EBacc (core, humanities, languages, additional and open choices)
- A-level options structure to realise access to competitive courses at selective universities
Professional curriculum engagement
- Membership of Subject Associations and participation in subject-related social media fora
- Engaged locally with Mid-Essex Secondary Heads (MESH) and Association of Secondary Heads in Essex (ASHE)
- Engaged nationally with the Grammar School Heads Association (GSHA), Successful Selective Girls’ Schools (SSGS), Prince’s Teaching Institute (PTI), National Association for Able Children in Education (NACE)
- Engaged globally with the International Coalition of Girls’ Schools (ICGS)
