The legal requirements
Schools are obliged to provide a broad and balanced curriculum that helps to prepare pupils for the experiences and responsibilities of adult life and promotes pupils' spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development.
There is a legal requirement to provide the ten subject areas of the National Curriculum up to the age of 14:
English
Mathematics
Science
Design and Technology
Information Technology
History
Geography
Art
Music
Physical education
Modern Foreign Languages (secondary schools only)
From age 14, pupils can specialise more in areas that they have a particular interest in and can follow a more vocational area. They do not need to do all the National Curriculum subjects although the essential core subjects remain compulsory.
In accordance with government policy, schools will be giving particular attention to the key skills of literacy, numeracy and information technology.
In addition, all schools must provide religious education. Secondary schools must also provide careers education, sex education and education in citizenship.
Breadth
The curriculum provision in Hounslow schools is broader than the minimum requirements of the National Curriculum and acknowledges the need to value and support the wide range of ethnic, social and cultural backgrounds of the school population. This additional provision might include:
Dance
Drama
Community languages
Work Experience
Residential Experience
Vocational Courses
The curriculum should value pupils' individual experiences and be appropriate to their age, abilities, needs and interests.
Personal, social and health education will be a central feature of the curriculum in all schools. It will be provided through specialist lessons and through aspects of all the different subjects. Schools also provide a range of out-of-school clubs and activities which pupils can take advantage of.