Curriculum

The Curriculum at St John Fisher Catholic High School

Our curriculum is built on the following principles:

Academic excellence for students, inspiring all to achieve.
The education of the whole person which recognises the uniqueness of each student
Moral principles linked to a strong faith experience.

The St John Fisher curriculum is founded on our Catholic values of justice and equality and we learn together as a community in Christ. Our ambitious curriculum is tailored to equip ALL of our students with the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to become well-rounded, highly educated individuals, able to succeed and make significant contributions to the wider world. We provide a broad, sequenced curriculum that allows our young people to thrive and flourish as they are exposed to many culturally enriching opportunities both within and beyond the classroom.

As well as our ambitious and broad taught curriculum, we offer a varied and exciting extra curriculum too. At St. John Fisher, we believe that learning begins in the classroom but extends far beyond it. All pupils have opportunities to enrich their school experience, encouraging them to learn new skills and use their God-given talents. This includes a variety of clubs, trips abroad, sporting activities and performing arts shows. Visit the extra curriculum link to see the range of events this term.

Curriculum Structure

GCSE Results and Exam Information

Year 9 Options

Extra Curriculum

It is our goal to ensure that all pupils at St. John Fisher Catholic High School are provided with a wealth of opportunities to engage with an exciting, diverse, and purposeful extra-curricular programme. Research shows that pupils who engage with the extra-curricular life of a school make more progress than those whose learning exists only within the confines of the curriculum, and so it is our duty to provide a platform for all pupils - from all backgrounds - to do so in order for them to reach their God-given potential.

Each term, we publish a timetable of activities delivered by our dedicated staff. Additionally, we regularly invite guest speakers, coaches, theatre companies, and specialist workshop providers into school to enhance pupil progress and accelerate learning.

Rewards

Acknowledging and celebrating the achievements of our pupils is at the heart of our ethos.

Day to day, lesson by lesson, all pupils are given opportunities to accrue rewards points by exhibiting the key character traits that we are so keen to foster in the young people in our care:

F – focus in class

I – integrity in all that we do

S – service to the community

H – a conscientious approach to homework

E – effort in all that we do

R - demonstrate resilience when the going gets tough

Every half-term, pupils in each year group are presented with gift vouchers and certificates for achieving the highest points tallies.

Alongside this, pupils are rewarded for maintaining excellent attendance and punctuality records, and for consistently demonstrating excellent behaviour for learning. We also have whole-school rewards trips to the cinema at Christmas time, and to local attractions in the summer term; and we have an end of year presentation ceremony and summer barbecue event.

Departments also celebrate the achievements of pupils in a variety of ways, including Star of the Week ‘shout-outs’ on social media, prize draws, and showcasing outstanding work on Instagram.

Teaching and Learning

‘Learning Together as a Community in Christ’

Quality First Teaching and achieving Academic Excellence are key priorities at St John Fisher Catholic High School. Staff and students are expected to excel in their work and in their contributions towards building a successful learning community. Teachers have high expectations of learners, and we are proud of the positive working relationships that establishing to allow learning to take place effectively in the classroom. Staff plan engaging lessons which build on students’ prior knowledge and are sequenced to enable students to know more, remember more and do more as they progress in their learning. Retrieval practice, reading, effective questioning and powerful modelling techniques are developed regularly into lessons.

The information and the video series highlight some of the great work being done in school, building on evidence-based research including Rosenshine's Principles of Instruction.