Huntington School

Learn and succeed

Our core values: Respect, Honesty & Kindness

Our school is a safe, inclusive and welcoming community that everyone feels proud to be a part of. 

We hold high ambition, positive relationships and mutual respect at the core of our school culture.

Our school develops confidence, resilience and independence for all by delivering a high-quality, evidence-informed education.

 

We celebrate our achievements, learn from our mistakes and support each other to be responsible and hardworking citizens.

 

SUBJECT VISION STATEMENTS

ART

The Art Department at Huntington School nurtures critical thinking and visual literacy through an engaging and supportive creative environment. Our curriculum is designed to develop independence through a range of differentiated and structured projects, where students are encouraged to take risks without fear of failure.

At Huntington, students will develop their technical skill and whilst studying the formal elements of Art and Design. We will experiment with a range of materials and media, refining and reflecting continually. Students will develop a knowledge of a range of artists, designers and craftspeople, from historical and contemporary art.

We love being curious and encourage it to explore new ideas and promote critical and reflective discussion.

Drawing is incredibly important to us at Huntington Art Department, it is one of the oldest forms of human communication. The universal language of drawing is used as a tool for learning, expression and invention.

“Draw lines, young man, many lines; from memory or from nature – it is in this way you will become a good artist” (said to Edgar Degas)  – JEAN AUGUSTE DOMINIQUE INGRES

“The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” –ARISTOTLE

DESIGN TECHNOLOGY

The Design Technology department at Huntington School is committed to delivering an exciting and innovative curriculum that is accessible to all students and provides opportunities for learners to become self-confident and imaginative problem solvers who can thrive in an ever evolving technological society. With creativity at its core, lessons will provide the opportunity to access new technologies and develop traditional skills so that learners can create high quality outcomes that consider the social and ethical responsibilities required by modern day designers. Forward thinking teaching strategies will result in a safe and positive learning environment where students can experiment and investigate without fear of making mistakes and use their own initiative to overcome difficulties, culminating in well informed designers, makers and consumers of tomorrow.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS

The aim of our curriculum is to give students a complete understanding of the world of work and how they integrate into it at any stage of their life. We help to develop the pupil’s deeper pedagogy to broaden their view of modern commerce. A deeper understanding that organisations do a lot more than just sell products. They improve the living standards of the local community, adapt to the ever-changing customer needs and participate in initiatives that benefit society.

DRAMA

In the Drama department we aim to celebrate the diversity of our students at Huntington School. We are an all-inclusive department who embraces every individual’s unique starting point.  Our curriculum, teaching strategies and extra-curricular opportunities are bespoke to support each individual student on their journey through Drama.

We recognise that Drama is a subject in its own right but also is a fantastic tool to explore a vast variety of cross curricular/life skills.  We ensure our curriculum is rigorous in the study of the theory of theatre. We embed subject specific vocabulary and aim to excite students about practitioners, genres and theatre history.  We aim to build individual’s confidence, develop essential life skills and form mature working relationships so that they have the skills to overcome problems.  We aim to inspire creativity where students are challenged in a safe environment where they develop into independent learners and leaders.  Enjoyment and appreciation of the Arts is key through engagement with students and parents.

In Drama our students become performers, directors, theatre makers, leaders, researchers, deep thinkers and solution focused individuals. We strive for self-discipline and control of rigorously rehearsed and refined skills. Team work is key to a healthy working environment where we encourage and support all learners to be the best they can be.

ENGLISH

In English, we foster a love of reading and writing through an inspiring and memorable curriculum.

In lessons, students will connect concepts across texts and to the wider world, developing emotional intelligence, empathy and an inquisitive mind. They will respond thoughtfully to what they read by engaging with key cultural reference points and literary themes.

Students will construct language for deliberate effect with an awareness of register, audience and an extensive vocabulary, ensuring they are prepared for life beyond school.  Our curriculum will give pupils an informed appreciation of the spoken and written word and equip them with the skills to express themselves confidently in a variety of contexts, both in and outside of the classroom.

FOOD AND TEXTILES

We are committed to planning and developing a food and textiles curriculum which provides all students with the broadest possible range of opportunities and acquire the personal skills and aptitudes to thrive. At the heart of this is to deliver a curriculum which is creative and encourages students to take a risk and try new ways of looking at things by combining materials, techniques and ingredients. We want our learners to be:  reflective, independent, resourceful, innovative and resilient – problem solvers who are not afraid to fail. Through teaching and learning we will encourage evaluation, experimentation, investigation and questioning – why did things turn out as they did?  What if I……..?  The curriculum will be accessible to all allowing students to become self-motivated and confident learners, who can work independently and as part of a team and develop technical and practical competencies as well as the wider skills valued by employers.  Students will develop the life skills and knowledge associated with healthy living, food nutrition and cooking with a focus on sustainability with the materials and techniques we use in both textiles and food. Cultural awareness will be embedded throughout the curriculum.

We will encourage a caring, safe, inclusive, tolerant, disciplined and innovative environment which allows students to investigate and experiment in a safe, supportive and positive atmosphere, enabling all students to reach their full potential and feel proud of what they have achieved.

GEOGRAPHY

Our vision is for pupils to appreciate and marvel at the rich diversity that surrounds them.  We encourage them to play an active part in the world they live in and we endeavour to foster curiosity in the ever-changing human and physical landscape.  The wide ranging and ambitious curriculum develops an understanding of the processes that have shaped and continue to shape our contested planet. Geographers are taught to appreciate and empathise with the varied cultures that make up their local and global communities.  Geography is more than just a study of space and place over time – it is about instilling a love of the world we live in and seeing ourselves as stakeholders who will influence the future.

HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE

In H&SC we aim for a curriculum which will be accessible to all students and enable them to become self-motivated and confident learners, who can work independently and as part of a team. We wish to plan and develop a curriculum which provides all students with the broadest possible range of opportunities; at the heart of this is the desire to deliver a subject which has caring for others at its core. We want the students will become resourceful, innovative and capable learners.  Our main priority is for students to be thoughtful but not afraid of making mistakes.  A wide range of skills will be acquired and the knowledge of other subjects, such as science and ICT, will be drawn upon and applied. Students will develop the life skills and knowledge associated with healthy living and caring for others. Cultural awareness will be embedded throughout the curriculum. We aim to encourage a caring, tolerant, disciplined and innovative environment which allows students to research and reflect in a safe, supportive and positive atmosphere, enabling all students to reach their full potential. We aim for all students to make exceptional progress and acquire the personal skills and aptitudes to thrive.

HISTORY

The Huntington History curriculum helps to explain the world as it is by exploring the world as it was, in the most intriguing and ambitious way we can manage. British History from c.1000-2000 forms the main narrative framework used to develop understanding. Some areas of enquiry explore events on global, continental or local scales, emphasising the complexity of the past as well as the constructed and contested nature of History as a discipline. To this end, students develop their conceptual and disciplinary thinking, exploring the past from multiple perspectives and viewpoints. We strive to make our curriculum as representative as possible of the past’s inhabitants, aiming to understand the broadest possible picture and the details that illuminate it. These threads are combined in a carefully sequenced way to craft a rich, broad and structured understanding of the past for every pupil.

Perhaps most importantly, our curriculum aims to produce ‘citizen historians.’ Undoubtedly, increasing students’ historical knowledge, curiosity, critical thinking and communication skills are all key functions of our curriculum. We feel more knowledge of the past helps inform the identity of our young people.  We hope this curriculum with give them both the confidence to defend their beliefs and the flexibility to incorporate new perspectives into their thinking. We hope the History curriculum will help students question, and even change, the individuals and communities around them. Finally, we hope the History curriculum will help change how our young people understand themselves and world around them, as well as their own place within it.

In short, we share the view that our History curriculum exists, within the wider Huntington curriculum, to change the pupil and to give the pupil new power.  We want it to help all our students clamber in to the discourse and practices of educated people, so that they gain the powers of the powerful.

Thoughts, influences and phrases of Will Bailey-Watson, Peter Lee, Sally Thorne, Christine Counsell, Rich Kennett & Helen Snelson. (so far)

ICT AND COMPUTING

In ICT and Computing we aim to support our students to become active members of a rapidly changing digital world. We develop students’ computational thinking and programming skills to enable them to have a positive approach to a real world problems. Our broad curriculum allows students to develop transferable skills in both ICT and computing, including the ability to program in various languages, and use of a wide range of hardware and software and devices. We encourage our students to challenge themselves to create high quality digital products and take pride in demonstrating their skills and creativity. Our teaching encourages students to consider their digital footprint, the impact of their digital presence and the robustness and accuracy of information found online.  We encourage a culture of resilience where learning from failure is the key to success.

MATHS

MEDIA STUDIES

What we want is for our learners to understand the role of the Media in the world in which they live.  We want them to be hungry to know more; developing a desire to critique those that control the media, understanding its incredible power in shaping society and its views.  To this end we offer a broad, engaging and stimulating course of study which offers our learners the opportunity to develop a thorough knowledge and understanding of the media and to develop analytical and practical production skills. Learners study a wide range of media forms and products through the theoretical framework of media, which encompasses media language, representations, media industries and audiences. Media products are also studied in relation to relevant contexts, and learners will study, and apply a range of theoretical perspectives. Learners also develop practical production skills and apply their knowledge and understanding of the theoretical framework to a media production.  By the end of the course our learners will hold an unrivalled understanding of why we should all question the Media. Alongside this they will have a thorough appreciation of the Media’s wonderful potential to change and shift our world for the better; be this through political means, or the beauty of aesthetics.

MUSIC AND MUSIC TECHNOLOGY

In Music and Music Technology we aim to the nurture and inspire enquiring and creative minds, alongside teaching the rigours of academic study and formality of practice. In the curriculum we teach how Music works, and from day one everyone is treated as a musician regardless of their starting point. Playing and singing together beyond the classroom is one way in which students can become part of our school community. Public performances allow parents and friends to see the difference that being part of the Music family makes to students in forming mature working relationships and lifelong friendships. In addition to being musicologists, composers and performers, students become Music mentors, coaches, arrangers and rehearsal directors as they make their way through the school.

At the core of what we do is the development of students’ skills in self-discipline, creativity, and intellectual inquiry.

MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGES

In MFL we aim to nurture open-minded, inquisitive mind-sets in all students, regardless of their background. In the words of a Chinese proverb, “To learn a language is to have one more window from which to look at the world”. We want to liberate our pupils from insularity, to encourage them to be open to cultural difference and to relish every opportunity to engage with people who speak a language other than English. We hope to promote a thirst for understanding of how language works, to enable pupils to draw comparisons between English and other languages, and to be open to the possibility of learning additional languages as they grow older. We want to develop resilience in pupils, to nurture confidence in them to “have a go”, and to be able to see making mistakes as a necessary part of the learning process and an opportunity for deeper understanding. By giving them the skill of being able to communicate in languages other than English, and the confidence and joy gained from engaging with their peers who speak them, our pupils will leave school equipped to thrive in the modern world.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

In the PE department, our vision is to inspire our students to want to take part in life long physical activity, through delivering a curriculum with depth and breadth accessing a variety of experiences and allowing us to capture their enthusiasm. We want to create a teaching space where students feel comfortable yet challenged, where they feel a true sense of belonging and where they can discover confidence in their own skills, abilities and skins. Our goal is for our students to understand the benefits of regular physical activity on physical, mental and social health but also to gain those benefits by being people who regularly participate. We aim for them to be able to begin to understand just how wonderful the human mind and body is and that looking after it will only help aid in their successes. We want students to have endless positive experiences with physical activity and exercise and for them to know what hard work truly feels like. This in turn will develop into a work ethic and be transferrable into all aspects of their lives. We will develop and expand on the life skills necessary for any and every success; determination, resilience, motivation, teamwork, self-discipline, communication and respect. We will do this not only through being athletes and performers but through alternative roles such as coach, analyst, leader and official. We will insist on great sportsmanship and sports etiquette to instil great values to give each student and their experiences a real sense of purpose. And finally we wish for those students who have a true love and passion for our subject to pursue our PE courses and eventually go on to have careers within the sports industry.

POLITICS

In an age of misinformation and polarisation, the Huntington politics curriculum will help students to form a well-balanced and highly informed understanding of the world in which they live.

Students will learn to scrutinise political processes and structures in detail.  They will develop the skills of critical source evaluation.  They will be able to make well evidenced comparisons between the political systems of the US and UK.  Finally students will gain an understanding of a broad range of ideologies underpinning the study of politics.

Through regular discussion and debate, politics students at Huntington will be given the opportunity to develop, articulate and defend their political opinions.  Alongside this they will be able to listen to, understand, and appreciate the different views of others.  They will form the habit of always asking critical questions of the information they receive. Our curriculum and teaching aims to produce politically aware, informed and engaged citizens who understand and promote the importance of democracy.

PSHE (PERSONAL, SOCIAL, HEALTH AND ECONOMIC) EDUCATION

At Huntington School, we believe that developing happy, healthy students is central to all aspects of their learning and development.​

Through PSHE lessons our students are equipped with the knowledge they need to make decisions, strengthen them personally and contribute to building their character. This provides them with the knowledge and life skills they need to enable them to lead confident, healthy, safe, happy and independent lives. They have an awareness of their rights and responsibilities as individuals and as part of a diverse society.​

We believe that our students should acquire the ability to make informed, healthy and moral choices in their lives and recognise that they should play a positive role in the school and their wider community.​

In order for PSHE to make the maximum impact on the lives of our students, it stretches far beyond the walls of the classroom, extends into the corridors and out into the school and wider community. Assemblies, form time, Tutor Time Read, extracurricular clubs, trips, visiting speakers, fundraisers and charity events are just a few examples of how it happens.

RELIGION, PHILOSOPHY AND ETHICS

We aim to empower our students with the ability to interpret the stories, symbols and values that are at the foundation of humanity.  Students will learn how different cultures have answered the ultimate questions of existence and become comfortable engaging with disagreement and uncertainty.  They will ultimately live a more examined and reflective life as they are forced to confront important ideas concerning meaning, morals and mortality.   Our vision is a response to this short letter:

Dear teacher,

I am a survivor of a concentration camp. My eyes saw what no person should witness: gas chambers built by learned engineers. Children poisoned by educated physicians. Infants killed by trained nurses. Women and babies shot by high school and college graduates. 

So, I am suspicious of education.

My request is this:  Help your children become human. Your efforts must never produce learned monsters, skilled psychopaths or educated Eichmanns. Reading, writing, and arithmetic are important only if they serve to make our children more human.

SCIENCE

The science department at Huntington School will have a curriculum which creates learners who will thrive in a changing world by giving them the knowledge to:

• Confidently and accurately work scientifically and solve scientific problems;
• Think creatively to overcome and tackle problems with resilience and an open mind-set;
• Appreciate and enjoy the uniqueness of science as a discipline;
• Seek further knowledge and skills independently, based upon a fascination of learning;
• Achieve great exam results that allow our students to progress to the next steps in their lives as scientifically informed citizens.

We will develop this in our students by:

• Using purposeful practical activities with an emphasis on understanding scientific ideas rather than participation.
• Highlighting the relevancy of science to the modern world.
• Assessing pupils starting points and their progress by using effective questioning.
• Creating a true multi- disciplinary approach to science where scientific skills are deployed confidently across all three sciences.
• Using guided practice and modelling to scaffold student’s problem solving abilities.
• Being reflective practitioners who constantly evaluate and improve our practice.

SOCIAL SCIENCE

Our passion is for all students to be self-motivated and resilient learners. We want them to have the confidence to seek challenges, so that they can develop the skills necessary to be successful life-long learners. We endeavour to promote enquiring minds within our lessons, so that students have an appreciation for current research but are also able to discuss the implications of findings and critique the research process. We are committed to provide creative and stimulating lessons, which engage students with real-world issues in order to develop their understanding of the social sciences and so that they can see the relevance of the topics studied and how these relate to possible career paths. Finally, we aim to develop student empathy and raise awareness of mental health and other issues facing people within society so that they can become active and reflective citizens in a changing world.