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Aspire

FORM TIME

VotesforSchool: During Form time students meet with this progress leaders and go through a weekly VotesforSchool lesson. This is topic has a weekly focus on current affairs and allows students to share their opinions and debate with other members of their class. Students will discuss a number of topics around social, moral, spiritual and cultural topics that allow students to discuss their British Values and their opinions around the topics. Students then cast a vote at the end of each session to the question posed to compare their opinions to the rest of the countries.

RELATIONSHIP AND SEX EDUCATION

See details below on the RSE education at MCA. 

YEAR 7

Within Year 7 students will engage in the Aspire curriculum to promote leading a Health and Active Lifestyle equipping them to make the best choices for their life. The topics that the Year 7’s will address over the course of the year are:

  • Healthy Lifestyles

  • Smoking, Drugs and Alcohol

  • First Aid

Each area has an element of Health Education lessons which are all hands on lessons where students are practical in their activities to advance their knowledge on the various topics. During Health Practical lessons students will be engaging in physical activity closely linked with the topics:

Health Lifestyles - Students will be engaging in different ways to exercise other than traditional sports by participating in Rebounding, Zumba and Aerobics lessons.

First Aid - Students will learn a life skill of being able to ride a bike. For some of our students, this is already a skill they possess and therefore they will be using MCA’s facilities on the pump tracks and technical tracks to advance their skills and promote the love of the activity.

Smoking, Drugs and Alcohol – Students learn lead about the impacts they have upon the body and the legal side to S, D and A. They will look at the long term effects that they can have on people’s lives and what draws people to starting using drugs, drinking and smoking.

YEAR 8

Within the Year 8 Aspire curriculum students are looking to further develop the topics addressed in Year 7 to lead a Healthy and Active Lifestyles equipping them to make the best choices for their life. The topics that the Year 8’s will address over the course of the year are:

  • Relationship and Sex Education

  • Emotional Wellbeing

  • Bullying and Stress.

Each area has an element of Health Education lessons which are all hands on lessons where students are practical in their activities to advance their knowledge on the various topics. During Health Practical lessons students will be engaging in physical activity closely linked with the topics:

Relationship and Sex Education - Students will spend 3 weeks Swimming. This is a life skill for students to learn and during this time the focus is not only on aiding the development

YEAR 9

The Year 9 aspire curriculum provides opportunities for students to explore labour market information and develop the skills needed to be successful in the workplace. This is delivered during a full day during the Autumn term and a full week in June. The sessions will cover,

 

  • Wellbeing

  • Finance

  • Employability and enterprise skills

  • Interview skills

  • Work related learning experience, including STEM

  • Post 16 pathways and Labour Market Information

  • How and where to research careers

  • Oxbridge requirements

YEAR 10

The Year 10 aspire curriculum is enriched by a broad range of partners from key and emerging industries in the region, providing students the opportunity to make meaningful contacts with employers. We have particularly strong links in the STEM, Digital and Computer Science sectors such as; Autodesk, Sharp Project, North Coders, Barclays, Lloyds, Sainsbury’s and Manchester Digital

Vex Robotics, University of Manchester STEM ambassadors, Autodesk, BAE Balfour Beatty, BAM Construction, BT Cables, MANTRA, NG Baileys

 

In 2017/18 these partners enriched a programme which saw all students complete an industry recognised qualification. These qualifications add important value to the academic cv and employability profile of our students when they come to progress into post 16 education, training or employment and their future.

 

The qualification gained by year 10 students were as follows;

ASDAN VT award in Enterprise – (60 students)

ASDAN VT in construction - 27 

Basic Food Hygiene – 64 

NMITTP award in Education – 21

Sports Leadership (rugby) – 65

St John's Ambulance First Aid Award – 56 

The Duke of York (Digital Enterprise) award – 24 

NCFE Level 1 in Interpersonal Skills (teens and toddlers programme) – 8

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​This year we have extended the work related qualifications to include Autodesk, Asdan Hair and Beauty, NEFE award in financial planning and the Crest (STEM) award.  All of our students this year have the opportunity to complete the Duke of York award in addition to their work related qualification.

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Crest Award

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Financial Planning

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Autodesk

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Teaching

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Asdan

Hair

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Food Hygiene

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Duke of York Digital

YEAR 11

In Year 11 aspire, it is our aim to deliver an appropriate curriculum that inspires, challenges and supports (appropriate) progression in to the Post 16 pathways of further education or apprenticeships.

 

The key elements to our curriculum include;

  • A thorough investigation of Post 16 pathways and options

  • Establish links and secure encounters with further and higher education including visits to colleges.

  • Knowledge and Understanding of Apprenticeships

  • All students have a one-to-one careers meeting

  • Identify independent guidance providers for the vulnerable and SEN students   

  • Personal Statements, CV writing and Interview Skills

  • To work with key stakeholders to identify and address the needs of disadvantaged able pupils and their futures

  • To support the mentoring of all students to ensure that they have every opportunity to achieve through making informed choices about their future 

 

Partners who support the delivery of this curriculum include;

GM Higher, GMLPN and Career Connect

 

We are also part of the Careers Enterprise Network.

 

We firmly believe that the Year 11 curriculum in Aspire strongly meets the criteria of Gatsby Benchmarks 3 (Addressing the Needs of each Pupil), 7 (Encounters with Further & Higher Education) and 8. Personal Guidance

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