Our Curriculum

At Walton we are proud of our curriculum. We believe that it lies at the heart of everything we are
trying to achieve. It is the vehicle which enables our students to learn – that is to say, to acquire
knowledge which will be useful to them not only for their public examinations, but for the rest of
their lives.

Our Curriculum: A further look

What subjects are offered at KS3?

• English
• Mathematics
• Science
• History
• Geography
• A Modern Foreign Language (French or German)
• PE
• Technology (via a rotation through Food, Textiles, Resistant Materials and Graphics)
• RE
• Music
• ICT
• Art

If you wish to have a deeper delve into the subjects offered; please see Our Departments.

What about at GCSE?

We cherish our “free option choice” system at KS4. All of our students are free to choose four options at KS4, without the hindrance of an option block system. In many schools, choices are limited to only two or three options; subject combinations are limited by unwieldy options blocks and free choice is limited by a student’s prior attainment. Unfortunately, in many schools subjects which we consider to be important are not offered at all and have been replaced by subjects which gain the school greater credit in the Department for Education Performance Tables.

The opposite applies at Walton High School: students are free to choose four subjects that they want to study (with the only provision being that one choice must come from the EBacc group of subjects: History, Geography, Modern Foreign Languages or Computer Science).

We then endeavour to make our timetable fit our students’ preferences (and we have an annual success rate of approximately 98%) – i.e. our timetable serves our curriculum, as opposed to determining it.

For more information and for a full list of subjects that you can study at GCSE, please see our options booklet.

What subjects are offered at KS5?

A Levels:

BTECs:

• Applied Science
• Food & Nutrition
• Health and Social Care
• Sports Science

You can view the full course guide here.

How is progress and performance managed?

Students will be assessed at certain key points throughout each academic year. These assessments will be designed to promote longer term learning, which means that students will be assessed on cumulative knowledge, skill and vocabulary over their time at Walton.

In Key Stage 3, specific assessment windows will allow percentages to be collated and reported home to parents and carers. We will measure progress using our in-house ranking system, based upon KS2 SATs scores and Year 7 baseline assessments. For more information on KS3 assessments, please click here.

In Key Stage 4 and 5, estimated grades will be reported three times per year to parents. Teachers will use assessments and coursework, as well as taking the student’s academic approach into consideration, when reporting on estimated grades. Each student will also be assigned a target grade for GCSE and A-Level/BTEC subjects.

If you would like more information, please contact Office@Walton.staffs.sch.uk