Our Curriculum Vision

There are four main strands to our curriculum vision at Hewett Academy - promoting a knowledge-rich curriculum, with a focus on literacy, the development of cultural capital and creativity.

We work closely with Subject Specialists in The Inspiration Trust Curriculum Centre to build and enact a knowledge-rich curriculum from Year 7 onwards. This means we deliver a curriculum which is about more than passing GCSEs in English and Maths. We offer students the opportunity to study a variety of academic subjects on the basis that these will equip students with the knowledge of our culture which will empower them to have success and be flexible in an ever-changing world. We enable our students to stand on the shoulders of giants by knowing what has gone before, a far more reliable standpoint than trying to predict the specific skill set they might need for the future. We believe the best and most reliable way to tackle social disadvantage is through a robust and academic curriculum leading to good educational outcomes. This is then used to achieve places at high quality post-16 provision and, from there, who knows where it might lead our students?   

Our aspiration for our students doesn’t stop there; we are determined to ensure that whoever they are and whatever they leave school with, Hewett students have the literacy skills to be able to be a success in modern Britain. We have an aspiration that every student leaves school with a reading age in line with their chronological age, for example. This means that the promotion and development of reading and writing is a major aspect of our work and you will see this in class, through the teaching of vocabulary and through the use of our school library.

Each department is expected to contribute to the cultural capital of our students, this is known as ‘The Hewett Entitlement’. This cultural capital could be considered hinterland knowledge and perhaps something that helps students develop their awareness of the disciplinary knowledge of each subject but these activities would be considered as opportunities every student should have access to and in doing so they bring a richness to a students’ education. These activities are incorporated into the academy calendar and may be supported through the use of the Pupil Premium Fund. Our library facility and the inclusion of enrichment lessons are a significant part of ‘The Hewett Entitlement’. 

Once students have acquired the knowledge and cultural capital, what they do with that is crucial. Hewett has a long and proud history of excellence in the creative arts, supported by our fantastic facilities but also the strength of the creative industries in Norwich. We ask our curriculum leads to consider what creativity looks like in their subject - and what the students can do when they are really excelling in the subject.  Beyond just art or drama, creativity is about academic expression.

To find out more about our curriculum, contact our Curriculum Lead, Nina Torin.