At Chessbrook the curriculum lies at the heart of all we do. It has been designed to ensure access for all students and to provide them with the tools to successfully move onto the next phase of their educational journey, both socially and academically. The curriculum allows for students to be exposed to a range of academic and vocational subjects that engage and challenge, a programme of outside speakers and external educational and team building activities. It has been created to ensure that there are opportunities for students’ personal development to be reinforced throughout every aspect of their daily learning.

The day at Chessbrook starts with the students being greeted at the door to ensure that they are set and ready for a day of learning. Students then go up to breakfast, which allows for positive interactions and conversations with their peers and staff. Students and staff attend a daily ‘Circle Time’, which is an opportunity for students to experience a wider curriculum exposing them to; current affairs, literacy, numeracy, British Values and knowledge expanding their cultural capital.

The classroom based curriculum at Chessbrook consists of 30 lessons per week for students in Key Stage 3 and 32 lessons per week for students Key Stgae 4 students. All students in both keys stages study a 'core curriculum' of English, maths, science, PSHE, RSE, RE and sport.  In addition all students can access one-to-one support from the SEND department where a specific need has been identified.

The remaining lessons in Key Stage 3 are made up of art, music, horticulture, food technology and design. The Key Stage 3 curriculum also incorporates a programme for 'learning outside of the classroom', where students are able to engage in a wide range of educational visits linked to their with their subjects taught in class.

 In Key Stage 4 students are able to choose from a range of vocational and/or academic subjects (please see our Curriculum Brochure for further details) to complement their 'core curriculum'. The breadth and range of subjects allows for all of our students to be able to access post 16 education, training and employment opportunities. Key Stage 4 students are also able to study the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award, which further contributes to their personal enrichment.

We acknowledge the fact that all of our students are individuals who learn in different ways. To compliment the centre based curriculum Chessbrook have a wide range of alternative provisions which provide students access to a different way of learning. To this end all students receive a bespoke timetable that is created to maximise their learning opportunities and engagement.