Curriculum Rationale
The ethos and life of our school is summed up in our vision statement:
Ard Sgoil Aird nam Murchan, coimhearsnachd cruinn còmhla
Ardnamurchan High School, a community together
Our shared vision is to provide a happy, caring and stimulating environment where our young people will recognize and achieve their fullest potential and so, as responsible citizens, make their best contribution to the world we live in.
As such, we believe In fostering the four capacities of successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors through the totality of curriculum, the opportunity for personal achievement and the celebration of wider contribution throughout the community.
At the core of our curriculum lies our belief in high quality learning and teaching. We provide opportunity to share good practice, observe, encourage, challenge and listen to each other, listen to pupil voice, and evaluate our own practice. This is how we aim to improve our practice continually.
Our curriculum at Ardnamurchan High School aims to be relevant to both the local area and the national context. As such, continue to improve our curriculum by taking advantage of local partners and opportunities in the environment and within the tourism and cultural context. Our curriculum reflects our Gaelic heritage and Highland Council’s commitment to continuity of Gaelic Medium Education.
Our curriculum provides progression and takes account of prior learning in our associated primaries. Through sharing of standards and interpretation of the CfE experiences and outcomes, we provide smooth pastoral and curricular transitions from Primary to Secondary. We use new technologies via GLOW to share prior learning between Primary and Secondary and use this to build pupils’ learning through their broad general education to the end of S3.
Pupils experience a revised curriculum based on areas and subjects featuring largely level 3 and 4 outcomes and experiences until the end of S3. Our focus is on both challenge and enjoyment and Interdisciplinary learning features across the curriculum. Personalisation and choice at the start of S3 features a ‘major/minor’ curriculum model which ensures appropriate balance of greater in-depth learning, taking cognisance of compatibility of National 4 outcomes with CfE level 4 for those who chose, with continued breadth of all curriculum areas. The personalisation and choice is appropriate and relevant for prospective learner pathways into the Senior Phase.
For Senior Phase, Our curriculum will maintain breadth and build on current strengths, provide progression and depth, meet pupil need and while taking into account parental and pupil choice, will ensure that national guidance is implemented. As such, pupils will have the opportunity to study up to 6 subjects (mainly at National 4/5) in S4 through appropriate pathway personalisation and choice in S3. (it is expected that course for S4 will largely, but not exclusively, be selected from ‘major’ choices in S3. The new curriculum will focus on application and depth and choice options will be built through negotiating learner pathways with our young people.
Through an integrated Senior Phase, model, the principle of greater choice and flexibility for learners through, e.g. partnership opportunities, or bypassing National 5 to Higher will be considered through learner pathway conversations and personal support.
For the senior phase, we aim to develop further vocational opportunities at 16+. SFW courses have moved to the senior phase and our developing provision with West Highland College, also help provide flexible learning pathways for our young people.
Ardnamurchan High School is a small school and we have prided ourselves in being flexible in meeting pupils’ individual and curricular needs. Taking into account the requirements of the BGE , our aim is to continue to provide broad and flexible opportunities to curricular personalisation and choice, beginning in S3 and developing in senior phase. Our aim is that our opportunities for personal achievement provided through the curriculum, through interdisciplinary opportunity, shows, concerts, sport and sports leadership, inter-house competitions, trips and events, volunteering and other local partnerships, will develop the totality of the pupil experience to that of excellence.
