Every little child that is born into the world … is one of the heirs of all the ages that have gone before.

Robert Tressell, The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists (1914)

At Brook Mead, we believe that knowledge is power and access to powerful knowledge is the right of every child.  Our scholars enjoy the riches of an ambitious curriculum, inheriting all the rich knowledge from the past to better shape the future.

We aim to give our scholars access to “the best which has been thought, said, written and created in every field of human endeavour so that they are knowledgeable, critical, enriched and well poised to lead fulfilling lives.” (TMET curriculum statement). It is our firm belief that education should be about broadening horizons, enriching minds, passing on and creating new knowledge. Scholars are taken on an exciting journey through each National Curriculum subject, leaving with a treasure chest of knowledge and skills which is theirs forever to use for the betterment of themselves and the world.

We keep the curriculum broad for all scholars, enabling them to study the English Baccalaureate subjects of English, maths, science, history, geography and a modern foreign language to GCSE level. Religious Education will also be studied to GCSE, befitting citizens in our diverse city. This is augmented by enriching provision in the arts, computing, design and music. Sport and physical education also features to unearth talent and set scholars up for healthy lives. Where scholars have additional needs, the curriculum is adapted to enable all to meet the same high expectations and have access to a rich and broad curriculum.

The primacy of knowledge and critical thinking is emphasised throughout. Reasoning skills, deduction, inference and critical thinking about received wisdom or content on websites and social media are key skills for 21st century learners as they, more than any other generation in history, have access to huge amounts of unmediated information. However, they need to be prepared to be evaluative, critical and open minded, qualities which Brook Mead Academy nurtures and encourages. Opportunities are also created for the practical application of knowledge.

We take a research-based approach to the planning of our curriculum, using findings from cognitive science to inform our thinking, sequencing and shaping of lessons. Topics are thoughtfully sequenced to foster connections to be made within each subject and across subjects. This way, new learning connects to previous learning and foreshadows learning to come. Topics are revisited to prevent forgetting so our scholars are mastering content as we go along. They are able to recall and apply knowledge and skills with growing ease. Parents and carers are able to support this approach at home with our clear tasks set for recall and consolidation of what is learnt during the school day.

At Brook Mead Academy, we want scholars to have a strong understanding of chronology and developments in each subject and how different periods, historical and literary figures, scientific and mathematical concepts and musical traditions have evolved over time. Teachers interweave topics so that references and connections are made between different periods, subjects and figures, weaving compelling and memorable narratives for our scholars.

To ensure scholars are well set up for life in modern Britain, there is well thought through provision for personal and social education. A well-planned programme of careers education is undertaken from Year 7- 11 with students guided to further and higher education and high-quality apprenticeships.

A list of our curriculum leaders can be found here.