Curriculum

The curriculum is innovative and personalised, built around students’ individual needs and based on their ability, capacity and potential. We are responsive to the national agenda thus ensuring that our students can compete robustly with all students nationally.

 A Map of Learning for each subject can be found here. This shows what your child will be learning over the course of the year in each subject area.

On the right-hand side of this page you can find a range of documents which outline the curriculum your child is following in each year group.

The curriculum is innovative and personalised, built around students’ individual needs and based on their ability, capacity and potential. We are responsive to the national agenda thus ensuring that our students can compete robustly with all students nationally. 

The Holland Park School curriculum makes available to all students an ambitious, academically demanding, fulfilling programme of learning that is adapted to individual needs. We aim to deliver a curriculum that is broad, balanced and tailored in such a way as to secure opportunities for every student to excel. We aim for all students to value learning for its own sake; successful students are intellectually curious, inquisitive and are passionate about developing their knowledge and enhancing their skills and capacity. We aim to encourage this through exciting, dynamic lessons and by creating opportunities for discussion and independent thought. We consider the curriculum as the school’s most powerful tool for transformation, and we wish to offer students exposure to the best of that which has been thought, said and created. Seeking to develop students personally, we place value on extra-curricular experiences, for opportunities to perform musically and dramatically and for engagement in physical activity to support the health of our students in mind and body. We promote academic rigour by placing the EBacc at the heart of our curriculum for all students and provide support to ensure this is accessible to all. The National Curriculum forms the basis of our KS3 map of learning and is adapted creatively to suit the needs of our student body. At KS4, we structure our curriculum to enable students to immerse themselves in the deep study of subjects and to carry out public examinations over three years to support the mental wellbeing of students. A wide range of optional subjects are made available to students at KS4 with almost all courses leading to GCSE qualifications, with differentiated options for learners at all attainment levels. In the Sixth Form, all courses are A Level qualifications. 

Key Stage 3 
At Key Stage 3 students in Year 7, 8 and 9 study broadly with a slight emphasis on the EBacc subjects of English, mathematics, science, languages, history and geography. Languages includes Latin and it is studied by our ninety much able students. The importance of the wider curriculum is not forgotten and subjects such as PE, music, DT, RE, personal development, food technology, drama, computing and art thrive. Each year 24 students enter the school through art aptitude and such students contribute strongly to the high profile of art in school. Students are enriched by learning powerful, foundational knowledge across Key Stage 3 that builds into, and prepares them for, Key Stage 4 and 5 courses. 

Key Stage 4 
Our Key Stage 4 curriculum (Year 10 and 11) is diverse and personalised. Most students will, over two years, build up their English Baccalaureate, taking examinations when school considers them to be ready. In this manner, students establish a broad portfolio of subjects; usually in excess of 10 in total. 

16-19 Study Programme 
Our 16-19 study programme combines A Level qualifications with a range of other activities to meet the needs of each individual student and enable them to craft the most promising future possible. All our students have full time study programmes over 600 planned hours. 
All students follow a structured careers programme during their two years of study. This includes – but is not limited to – the following: 

  • the opportunity for work experience; 
  • lectures and visiting speakers; 
  • enrichment classes for Oxbridge and medicine candidates; 
  • careers and academic tutorials with the sixth form team; 
  • the opportunity for volunteering and mentoring both within the school and the in the wider community. 

 
Any students who have not achieved a grade 4 in GCSE English and mathematics are timetabled in lessons to support their study of these examinations until they secure this grade. 

Our Delivery 
Our teachers educate students with the aim of developing subject-mastery over time. All subject teams have their own pedagogical principles that underpin the structure of their lessons (available of subject team pages) but all teachers at Holland Park School are united by the following key features of teaching practice: 

  • retrieval practice through revisiting learning | teachers equip students with the skills to retain information in their long-term memory and recall taught information when needed; 
  • direct instruction | conscious of students’ cognitive load, teachers break down information and present it in small steps. They model methods and use worked examples to support student understanding; 
  • assessment for learning | through asking a significant number of questions, teachers check for student understanding and seek to identify and correct any misconceptions; 
  • independent practice | teachers scaffold independent practice to embed key learning; 
  • review | regular reviews of student work take place to inform future teaching. 

Who can I contact to find out more information about your curriculum? 
If you would like more information about our whole-school approach to the curriculum, you can contact: faye.mulholland@hollandparkschool.co.uk 
If you have questions about a particular subject, the Subject Leader’s email address is available on the subject specific pages opposite. Below is a list of the courses available to students. 

KS3 – Years 7, 8 & 9 

English 
Mathematics  
Science  
History  
Geography  
French or Spanish 
Latin (for some students) 
Art 
Music 
Physical Education 
Computer Studies 

Personal Development 

Drama 

Food Technology 

DT 
Religious Education  

 

KS4 – Years 10 and11 

Core:  

GCSE English 
GCSE Mathematics 
GCSE Science  
GCSE Languages 
Physical Education (for all students) 

Personal Development (for all students) 

Years 10 and 11 Options: 

GCSE History  
GCSE Geography  
GCSE French 
GCSE Spanish 
GCSE Latin  
GCSE Business  
GCSE Computing 
GCSE DT 

GCSE Food and Nutrition 
GCSE Art 
GCSE Photography 
GCSE Textiles 
GCSE Music 
GCSE Drama 
GCSE Physical Education 
GCSE Religious Education 

GCSE Triple Science 

BTEC Creative Media Production 

Videos explaining each option subject can be accessed here – we recommend students peruse these carefully and speak to subject teachers and parents before coming to a decision about their GCSE options.