Curriculum Overview

Curriculum Intent:

Our curriculum lies at the heart of building a school that drives achievement and belonging for everyone.  Intricately woven with our ‘work hard, be kind’ ethos and PROUD values, it creates a strong foundation for student success – empowering students to take pride in their identity, their school, and their community. 

Our Life at Lathom curriculum offer is intended to give every student a wide range of learning experiences which take them beyond their own everyday experiences and enable them, regardless of background, to be socially mobile, culturally aware, and well equipped to succeed in life. We believe that true dedication and care are demonstrated through the challenges we set – encouraging everyone to work hard, be kind, and strive to be the very best they can be.

At Lathom, we celebrate achievement in all its forms and create an inclusive culture where individual and collective success is recognised and valued. Through high expectations, a consistent approach, and strong support, students develop confidence in their abilities and a deep sense of belonging. We foster an environment where every individual feels seen, supported, and inspired to achieve their full potential.

As recognised by Ofsted (June 2022):

Leaders, staff, and governors are ambitious for all students.

Pupils in key stage 3 have more time to study a range of subjects in sufficient depth. In key stage 4, the subjects that make up the English Baccalaureate are at the heart of the curriculum.

The Lathom curriculum encompasses the academic and personal development of students, so that they hold a positive role and make meaningful contributions to their own lives, their own families, their school, their own communities, and life beyond Lathom.

At Lathom, the curriculum students experience:

• is fully inclusive and enabling for students through continuous evaluation to ensure it meets the needs of our students and prepares students for modern life and for life after Lathom, whether that be locally, nationally or internationally.

• is mapped to meet the breadth and ambition of the National Curriculum, so that students have the essential knowledge that they need to be educated citizens in the modern world.
• is mapped at a subject level to ensure that knowledge is carefully sequenced and builds on prior learning, including from Key Stage 2, so that students deepen their understanding and become increasingly knowledgeable within each subject area as they progress through school.
• builds upon a strong foundation of knowledge, enabling students to develop and master the essential skills within each subject.
• develops the cultural capital of students from a personal development and subject base, stretching to enrichment and extra-curricular experiences, so that students can access the cultural and academic code of the modern world in order to thrive.
• integrates foundational knowledge across the curriculum from numeracy to handwriting to the reading and communication policy, with a strong emphasis on oracy, to ensure that students develop the ability to read fluently, express themselves clearly in writing, and communicate effectively through spoken language.
• has essential core subjects alongside a breadth of option subjects, so that students can access both academic subjects, vocational subjects, and subjects that enable an appreciation of human creativity.

The Curriculum at Key Stage 3 runs on a two-week timetable of 52 periods (periods per fortnight in brackets):

The Curriculum at Key Stage 4 runs on a two-week timetable of 52 lessons (periods per fortnight in brackets):

*Students can opt to study more than one humanity subject.

Students with sufficient knowledge of other languages are supported to complete GCSE qualifications in the language as applicable.

Subjects under review for Options 2026:  Citizenship, GCSE Business Studies, GCSE Drama.