Curriculum Overview

At Youth Challenge Academy, Bolton Impact Trust we believe everyone can achieve, we inspire a love of learning and we transform potential into long-lasting success.

Our curriculum is designed to ensure that we can bring these core beliefs to life in the way that we structure, sequence and plan learning; the knowledge and skills that we deliver, our high-quality teaching and learning and our personalised approach in addressing the unique academic and pastoral needs of each child. Our aim is to inspire every young person to acquire the knowledge, skills and experience necessary, both inside and outside the traditional classroom environment, to fulfil their true potential.

Throughout all of the schools in our Trust the curriculum is designed to:

Youth Challenge Curriculum

At Youth Challenge, we recognise the incredibly important role that PSHE has to play for our students.  Many of our students come to us having already been exposed to some form of adverse childhood experiences within their family life, whether this be bereavement, substance misuse, parental incarceration, domestic violence or family separation.  Consequently, areas such as healthy relationships, mental and physical wellbeing and keeping safe are of paramount importance.  We believe that a Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education is incredibly important because it helps pupils to develop the knowledge, skills and attributes they need to manage their lives, now and in the future. We want all of our pupils to be equipped to navigate their way through the stresses, pressures and influences on their lives and to know how to stay healthy and safe. We will help them to develop their emotional literacy and positive mental health, to find their own voice and to have autonomy in their life and in their choices. Our pupils will be shown how to transform their potential into long-lasting success both in their personal and working lives.

Youth Challenge Curriculum PSHE

We believe high quality careers education, information, advice and guidance (CEIAG) is an essential component of the whole school curriculum and is critical work for the future of our pupils. Our careers curriculum supports pupils to acquire the skills, knowledge and independence they require to successfully transition into positive destinations and their future careers, improving their life opportunities and preparing them to contribute to the economy and wider world.

We want all of our pupils to feel prepared for the ever-evolving world of work, we will give them the knowledge they need to make informed choices about their future careers and to develop the self-management skills they need to ensure that they secure positive destinations. We will expose pupils to a range of career opportunities that will inspire them, raise their aspirations and broaden their understanding of the world of work acquiring transferable skills for their futures. Pupils will be shown how to transform their potential into long-lasting success both in their personal and working lives.

Youth Challenge Curriculum Careers

We understand the significant power that words can have, and how a curriculum which develops pupils’ ability to understand and engage in ideas and emotions, and to communicate their own; fluently and with confidence, empowers our pupils to succeed in the modern world. At Youth Challenge our pupils need to be able to read, write, speak, listen and communicate and to apply these skills effectively to a range of purposes in the workplace and in other real life situations. Our English curriculum ensures that pupils develop these functional skills whilst also developing pupils’ ability to understand and engage in ideas and emotions, and to communicate their own; fluently and with confidence. Through their study of literature pupils will understand what it is to be human and will develop key characteristics like empathy, tolerance and respect for other people, their cultures and beliefs. We understand the significant power that words can have, and how a curriculum which develops pupils’ ability to understand and engage in ideas and emotions, and to communicate their own; fluently and with confidence, empowers our pupils to succeed in the modern world. At Youth Challenge our pupils need to be able to read, write, speak, listen and communicate and to apply these skills effectively to a range of purposes in the workplace and in other real life situations. Our English curriculum ensures that pupils develop these functional skills whilst also developing pupils’ ability to understand and engage in ideas and emotions, and to communicate their own; fluently and with confidence. Through their study of literature pupils will understand what it is to be human and will develop key characteristics like empathy, tolerance and respect for other people, their cultures and beliefs.

Youth Challenge Curriculum English

We believe that a high quality mathematics education provides a foundation for understanding the world. For thousands of years Maths has been the key to finding solutions to the world’s problems and is essential in continuing to solve problems in our world today. At Youth Challenge our pupils need a sound grasp of mathematical knowledge and skills in order to apply mathematical thinking effectively to solve problems successfully. Our Maths curriculum ensures that pupils develop these functional skills to help our pupils in everyday life and to access other subjects like science, art and technology. These skills will also play a significant part in securing their future career and in ensuring their financial literacy. We aim to create a sense of curiosity, appreciation and enjoyment of mathematics for all of our pupils.

Youth Challenge Curriculum Maths

At Youth Challenge our curriculum rationale for teaching Physical Education is to provide our students a platform for participating, engaging and developing physically, socially and mentally. This is to provide them with the tools that will compliment them in a career within the sporting industry or give them the necessary transferable tools that they can use in other walks of life. We understand that some of our children in our cohort have had negative experiences of sport throughout their educational lifetime and our aim is to improve their experiences and re-engage them into the sporting curriculum. We aim to provide pupils with the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of physical activities, whilst developing their understanding, competency and confidence in the core skills that are required to produce effective performances. We want our pupils to enjoy participating in physical activity, to be exposed to a wide range of different activities and experiences that they may not have otherwise experienced, to build their resilience and their ability to work with others as part of a team, to lead, to be competitive whilst gracious in both defeat and triumph and to develop a healthy and active lifestyle, which is sustained in their adult life.

Youth Challenge Curriculum PE

We know that music can be a powerful and transformational tool for children and young people; it can both engage and inspire, assist emotional regulation and facilitate therapeutic self-expression in a profound way. We want to provide our pupils at Youth Challenge the opportunity to express themselves through music and to develop their skills and confidence in self-expression. We want our pupils to develop key musical skills and knowledge and to broaden their cultural understanding as they will listen and reflect upon a variety of music and media forms that have evolved from a wealth of cultural, geographical and historical backgrounds.

Youth Challenge Curriculum Music

We believe that a high-quality art and design education should engage, inspire and challenge pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art whilst developing an understanding and appreciation of great artists and great works of art and how they have shaped our history and culture.

At Youth Challenge we want our pupils to produce work that they are proud of and to develop their confidence in expressing themselves through various media

Youth Challenge Curriculum Art

At Youth Challenge our Humanities curriculum for key stage 3 aims to ensure that the most important core knowledge and skills that are delivered in the National Geography, History, Citizenship and RE curriculums is captured and delivered via this curriculum, so that pupils have a sufficient breadth of foundational knowledge in these important subjects, and are able to access them when or if they return to mainstream school.

We ensure that throughout the Humanities curriculum pupils acquire key knowledge about:

• Britain’s past and that of the wider world
• The complexity of people’s lives, the process of change and the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups
• The world’s diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments
• The formation of landscapes and environments and the Earth’s key physical and human processes
• How to play a full and active part in society

The religions and beliefs which form part of contemporary society

Youth Challenge Curriculum Humanities

The Vocational Development Curriculum rests in our determination that all young people enjoy a wide range of subjects and practical experiences to re-engage and reduce the ‘fear factor’ towards learning. Our Vocational Development Curriculum gives our students a greater sense of purpose as they experience learning as a direct conduit into industry, training and ultimately employment. Students grow in confidence, think independently and creatively through the explicit teaching of knowledge and skills they need to understand in order to master the introductory standards in their Vocational discipline. While providing continual development, students gain an insight into the local and national world of work through frequent encounters with higher education providers and experts from the labour market. For many of our students this is where they experience success and find an enjoyment in education for the first time which supports them to grow as well-rounded and responsible citizens who can fulfil their potential and their ability to play a positive role in society. Our Vocational development curriculum retains a dual-purpose with course specifications (knowledge, understanding, skill) set alongside relationship building and personal development – that is, developing young people into trusting, engaged and responsible members of family units, future education establishments, future workplaces and wider society.

Youth Challenge Curriculum Vocational Studies

Youth Challenge Curriculum Reading