Key Stage 3 – Years 7 to 9

years 7 to 9

The Curriculum 

At Kings’ School, our curriculum is at the heart of our mission of working together to achieve inspiring futures, exceptional character and academic excellence. 

At its simplest, a curriculum is the content taught to pupils in lessons. However, our curriculum extends far beyond the classroom and our extensive co-curricular programme. It is reflected in the relationships, experiences and interactions that take place every day across our school community, where we seek to inspire every pupil to become the very best version of themselves. 

We believe our curriculum should be ambitious and challenging for every pupil, regardless of background or starting point. By introducing pupils to the best knowledge, ideas and achievements within each subject, we broaden horizons, raise aspirations and help prepare young people for lives of opportunity. In taking pupils beyond their lived experiences, our curriculum plays an important role in addressing social disadvantage and opening doors to inspiring futures. 

We believe that academic excellence and exceptional character go hand in hand. Alongside developing deep subject knowledge, we are committed to nurturing confident, resilient, compassionate and responsible young people who are equipped to make a positive contribution to their communities and to thrive in an ever-changing world. 

In constructing our knowledge-rich curriculum, we carefully select and sequence the content taught to ensure learning builds progressively over time. Key Stage 3 provides a broad, balanced and challenging foundation, giving every pupil the opportunity to develop strong academic knowledge before selecting from a wide range of GCSE option subjects in Years 10 and 11 alongside a rigorous core curriculum. 

We have equally high expectations of every pupil. Through carefully designed curricula, high-quality teaching and appropriate support, we ensure that all pupils, including those with additional needs or facing disadvantage, can access ambitious learning and achieve success. 

In short, our curriculum is focused, coherent and learned. 

Focused – it teaches pupils the essential knowledge they need to understand and improve the world around them. 

Coherent – it is carefully planned so that knowledge and skills build logically within and across subjects. 

Learned – pupils learn more and remember more over time through explicit teaching of core concepts, deliberate practice, effective assessment and purposeful feedback that helps them understand what they know and what they need to do next. 

We are proud of our continually evolving curriculum at Kings’ School. It prepares pupils to progress confidently to sixth form colleges, apprenticeships, employment and higher education, while ensuring they are equipped for lifelong learning. 

Whatever a pupil’s dreams are beyond Kings’ School, we want them to leave us with the knowledge, skills, character and confidence to flourish in life and make a positive difference to the world around them. 

Key Stage 3 

Pupils in Key Stage 3 follow inspiring programmes of study in: 

• English 

• Maths 

• Science (Biology, Chemistry and Physics) 

• Foreign Languages (French, German, Italian, Latin and Spanish) 

• Humanities (Geography, History and Religious Studies) 

• Computing 

• Citizenship/PSHRE 

• Expressive Arts (Art, Drama and Music) 

• Physical Education 

• Technology (Design Technology, Food and Nutrition)