The Middle School Team
Head of Middle School 1/Assistant Principal – Mr R Hilditch
Head of Middle School 2/Assistant Principal – Mr C Durkin
Deputy Head of Middle School 1/Key Stage Leader – Mrs K Mason
Behaviour Intervention Worker – Mrs D Boucher
Safeguarding/Early Help Support – Miss I Witton
Middle School Special Project Leads – Mr R Vizor and Mr C Boden
Middle School 1
Middle School 1 (Year 9) is the first academic year of study in the Middle School. Students have had two years to settle into the Academy at this point, having completed the Lower School. By now students have started to establish what their interests are and have a clear understanding of their subject strengths and areas for development – these will be developed and built upon over the coming year.
Middle School 1 is a vital year – students will prepare for GCSE and vocational study in Middle School 2, Upper School and beyond. Students continue to receive a vast amount of opportunities to support them in reaching their full potential. All students are encouraged to engage in intervention projects and curriculum extra activities to support their academic and personal development.
Students complete a programme of activities during House Tutor time each day. These activities support personal development and develop student well-being, careers and aspirations, life skills, citizenship and knowledge of Catholic Life.
During Middle School 1, students will continue to demonstrate the Academy’s ethos, and will learn and grow with the love of Christ at the forefront, in an environment where Gospel values are implicit to expectations and achievement. Students will be provided with every opportunity to develop their moral compass and reflect on how they can demonstrate these values in everyday life. By doing this, the Academy community will work together to live by our mission statement - ‘Together we will emulate the love of Christ and become the people God created us to be’.
Middle School 2
The aim of Middle School 2 is to ensure that all students succeed and have the correct focus to help them develop in to confident and resilient students who have the skills to excel in the Upper School and in life. When a student understands themselves fully it helps them to make better decisions on what they will pursue as a career. In Year 10 we focus on key employment skills, like how to construct a CV, interview technique and work experience. Career wise, the focus is on which of the five routes at the end of year 11 students will follow and what they need to do to be ready to engage in these routes and being work ready. Students receive visits from numerous employers to talk about different career journeys and a pastoral team that is second to none, ensuring that every students time in Middle School 2 is time well spent.
Mrs Boucher is the behaviour and Welfare Mentor for Middle School - she checks Middle School attendance, supports in lessons and is often the first port of contact for parents with any concerns. Students always go to Mrs Boucher for any concerns they need to discuss and she does her very best to solve them. The Middle school office is situated by the Dining Hall.
Safeguarding is a priority for the whole school. Each school-within-a-school team has designated staff who actively manage the safeguarding systems for the Academy. In the Middle School this role is taken by Miss Witton. Any parents who have a safeguarding concern or if there is an issue regarding the well-being of a student then this member of staff will ensure that it is taken care of.
Middle School Vision
When you get your 'Who am I?' question right, all of your 'What should I do?' questions tend to take care of themselves - Richard Rohr
The Middle School vision is to:
- Develop young minds
- Encourage students who know who they are and where they are going in the future
- Develop numerate, literate, well behaved, polite students, who are prepared and equipped for the challenges of Upper School and beyond
Consistent good behaviour… Highly numerate and literate students… Prepared and equipped for life!
Intervention Activities
Below is a list of some of the intervention activities on offer to Middle School students:
Maths Mentor
English Mentor
Science Mentor
Peer Mentors – 1 to 1 support
Academic Mentors
Progress Review Meetings
HA Projects
University Projects
Curriculum Extra
Sports clubs and representative teams
Active Mind
Huggle Pets
Barnado's Counselling
Hair and Beauty/Athlete Mentor
Sports Leadership
Student Council
Sailing Visit
Mock Interviews
Work Experience
Sports College Inclusion Programmes
Careers Workshops and Events
Visiting Speakers
Right Choices Intervention
Duke of Edinburgh’s Award
Curriculum
Middle School 1
During Middle School 1, students study the subjects below:
In Block 1, all students study the subjects listed for the number of lessons specified.
In Block 2, all students study each of the four subjects on a 10-week rotation.
Students select one of the subjects in Block 3.
Block 1 - 40 Weeks | Block 2 – Each subject x 10 weeks | Block 3 – 40 Weeks – One subject studied for 2 lessons |
English x 3 lessons
Maths x 3 lessons RE x 2 lessons PE x 2 lessons MICE (Media, ICT, Computing, Enterprise) x 1 lessons History x 1 lesson Geography x 1 lesson Science x 4 lessons |
Food x 1 lesson
Art, Design, Tech x 1 lesson Music x 1 lesson MFL (French or Spanish) x 1 lesson |
Dance
Drama Sport Psychology Sociology Health and Social Care |
Middle School 2
During Middle School 2, students study the following compulsory core subjects:
- English Language and English Literature
- Maths
- Science (Biology, Chemistry and Physics)
- Religious Education
- Core Physical Education
Students also study one subject from each of the following option blocks:
Option 1 | Option 2 | Option 3 |
Art
Dance Drama ICT Music Sport Sociology Textiles French Spanish Geography History Health and Social Care Business Studies Creative Media Computer Science Psychology |
Art
Business Studies Creative Media Dance Drama Health and Social Care ICT Sport Textiles |
French
Spanish Geography History Computer Science |