Introduction

Vision and Mission

At The Charles Dickens School we wish to nurture and develop all students and to provide an environment rich in opportunities for learning and for the development of individual gifts and talents.

We aim to inspire our students to be global citizens prepared for the exciting opportunities and challenges of today’s world. They will be encouraged to develop thinking skills that can be applied across disciplines, to learn languages which will allow them to communicate with confidence, and to develop the skills of leadership, collaboration and self-knowledge essential for happiness and personal fulfilment.

Each student at The Charles Dickens School is unique and our programmes are designed to support the developing needs of our students. The Gifted and Talented programmes are created to ensure the very best success for those students identified as having a particular gift or talent but are also open to all students who wish to aim high and achieve the very best in their academic and personal development.

Our partnership with Barton Court Grammar School will allow us to share ideas, resources and best practice to ensure all students have access to opportunities to stretch and challenge in all subjects to encourage academic excellence, and with individual talents in Art, Music, Drama, Dance, Sport and Design Technology. 

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Curriculum

In Years 7 and 8, almost all students to follow an academic pathway.

Students study an academic curriculum making sure they are stretched and challenged across a wide range of traditional subjects, which includes a Modern Foreign language. This programme provides ideal preparation for the EBacc programme at KS4.

In Years 9 – 11, all students start their GCSE courses and there is an opportunity for students to study the traditional EBacc programme. This is the most prestigious learning pathway offered and will lead to the English Baccalaureate qualification. The EBacc provides students with a broad range of academic subjects upon which to build any future career options. It is expected by this Government that all students, at KS4, follow this pathway and it is recognised as a highly prestigious pathway by school Sixth Forms, Colleges, Universities and employers and is ideal preparation for Post-16 study.

To achieve the EBacc, students must gain a GSCE grade 9-5 in six subjects. These subjects must include:

• Mathematics
   
• English Language
   
• 2 Sciences (2 from Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Computer Science, Combined Science (2 GCSEs))
   
• 1 Humanity (1 from History or Geography)
   
• 1 MFL (French)

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Additional Opportunities

Students gifted or talented in a specific field or subject are provided with opportunities within and beyond the classroom to achieve their own personal excellence. They are consistently challenged to push themselves further and given opportunities to share their ability with others through leadership and challenging learning tasks. The success of our students is widely celebrated as we celebrate a culture where gifts and talents are nurtured and appreciated.

Extra-curricular opportunities, visits, competitions, exhibitions, events, concerts, productions, are widely available and students are encouraged to take part with as many as possible to extend their skills further and to broaden their learning.

Gifted and Talented students in Year 7 and 8 complete a programme within Tutor Time which is focused on developing key learning strategies which will support their ability to push and challenge themselves in lessons and become the most confident learners possible. Students in Year 9 and 10 are given the opportunity to complete the Extended Project Qualification. This GCSE course gives them the opportunity to research into a topic of personal interest and complete an academic piece of writing on it. Whilst completing the project they develop a range of transferrable skills including research, organisation, problem solving and communication. Year 11 students are supported to develop the strategies required to achieve the highest possible grades in their GCSE examination through effective learning and revision strategies. Students are also given the opportunity to be part of the ‘Brilliant Club’ scheme which gives them the opportunity to work with a PhD graduate to complete a series of tutorials and finally produce their own academic piece of writing.

The Charles Dickens School also works very closely with local universities to support our Gifted and Talented students. These opportunities push students to take their gifts and talents to a higher level and have experiences to support their passion for life-long learning. Some of these opportunities are summarised below

 

Year 7	Year 8	Year 9	Year 10	Year 11
BioScience Degree in a Day	Build a Student	University Life	GCSE Revision Skills	E-Mentoring
Transition Project	BioScience Degree in a Day	TechGirl Challenge	Science Day	Inspiring Minds
Build a University	More than One Direction	Medical Fayre	Inspiring Minds	GCSE Revision Skills
Narrative Literacy Project	Narrative Literacy Project	I’m a Scientist	I’m an Engineer	Summer School
University Visits	Peace Festival	Study Skills	Summer School	University Visits
Maths Challenge Project	University Visits	Ethics – Degree in a Day	What Happens Next	Subject Specific Days
	World Languages Day	Presentation Skills Workshop	Presentation Skills Workshop	Revision Subject Support
	Dynamic Dialogue	Debating Development	The Benefits of Student and University Life
	Science Extravaganza	University Visits	University Visits
	Source Skills Project	Confidence in the Classroom	Confidence in the Classroom