About Us
Aims & Ethos | Partnership | Learning | Opportunity | Sixth Form | Ofsted | School Day | Uniform | Partners | Celebration of Achievement | Examination Performance | Policies & Financials
Our students follow a core of subjects which allows them to pursue their learning through creative, practical and technological activities. We provide a curriculum which offers students of all abilities, a traditional base of academic learning. We are innovative in how we use technology to enhance student learning. To this end we have developed a Virtual Learning Environment which enables students to access their school work from home and communicate with their teachers via email. The School strives to recruit the very best teachers and then provides them with the support they need to inspire the students they teach. Our teachers aim to engage, challenge and stretch young minds and create an enjoyment of learning.
Learning
An advanced target setting and continual assessment programme is used throughout the School to ensure that each student reaches his or her potential. Students are mostly taught in lessons with others of similar ability, which provides them with an environment in which they feel secure in their learning, but also challenges them to achieve their best. The set groups are not fixed and students can move between them throughout the year, in line with the progress they are making.
We continually review the curriculum we offer to ensure that it gives our students the very best chance of success.
The structure of the School day is set so that the majority of learning takes place in the morning, which research and our own experience shows, is the most productive time of the day for learning.
Please use the School Day link to view more information on the School day at Denbigh.
Key Stage 3
Students follow Key Stage 3 in Years 7, 8 and 9. Students have 25 hours of teaching during the week broken down as follows:
- English, Mathematics, Science, Humanities & Languages (including Citizenship) - 3 hours
- Design & Technology, Information Technology & PE - 2 hours
- Music, Drama, Art & Denbigh Brain Training - 1 hour
Students will also experience “Curriculum Days” during which they will develop thinking and other generic skills through a cross curricular approach to a topic or challenge. Some students will also start GCSE equivalent courses.
Key Stage 4
Students follow Key Stage 4 in Years 10 and 11 and work towards their GCSE examinations which mainly take place at the end of Year 11, although work towards some GCSEs starts in Year 9. The majority of subjects also have controlled assessments throughout Years 10 & 11, the results of which contribute directly to GCSE examinations.
The majority of students follow a core curriculum including English Language, English Literature, Mathematics, Science, Design & Technology, Physical Education, Modern Languages and either History or Geography. In addition there is a large range of option subjects from which students can choose including Art, Business Studies, Computing, Drama, Health and Social Care, Media Studies, Music, PE, RE, Sociology, Psychology and Engineering, which enables personalisation in the Curriculum.
Students will typically have 25 hours of teaching during the week. An extended curriculum is available for our most able students allowing them to extend their studies in Science, Mathematics, Languages and Humanities. For example, students can undertake AS Level study in a Humanities subject.
Homework
Homework forms a vital part of the learning ethos at Denbigh and our students are expected to complete all homework set. Parents will receive regular progress checks on their son or daughter’s homework record.
PSHEE and Citizenship
Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHEE) is taught across the Curriculum, supplemented by a programme of special events as well as activities in tutorial. Throughout their time at Denbigh, students set themselves targets, assess their personal and social development and plan their futures. Citizenship is taught through Humanities and across the Curriculum, including Tutorial. Enterprise and Active Citizenship opportunities are available to students in every area of School life. Denbigh employs a careers advisor who gives students guidance that focuses on the individual aspirations of each student. The School has close links with a number of local businesses and students undertake a work experience placement in Year 10 to give them an opportunity to experience real life work situations.
Collective Worship
A planned programme of contemplation, which takes the form of assemblies, provides students with the opportunity to consider spiritual and moral issues and to explore their own beliefs. Parents have the right to withdraw their children from these sessions.
Supporting Learning
As a school we identify students who, through their aptitude and talent in particular subject areas, can be identified as ‘Most Able’. Our experience, together with educational research, has shown that these students need to be stimulated and challenged both in and out of the classroom to ensure that they stretch themselves and maximise their learning potential.
Individual Faculties identify students within their subject areas and provide both in-class strategies and out of class events and visits to support and inspire them in their learning.
Students are given access, often through the Virtual Learning Environment, to computer based tutorials, websites, advanced level textbooks and exemplar coursework to allow them to demonstrate higher level skills. We use our close links with universities to allow these students to attend courses at universities. We are very proud of our STEM lecture programme through which experts visit Denbigh to give lectures on a range of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematical issues beyond the classroom.
Accelerated learning also means that students can take their exams when they are ready, rather than be limited by age. Sixth Form students can take the Extended Project through which a dissertation or investigation on a topic of interest to them. The Extended Project is the equivalent to an AS Level and is highly sort after by universities.
The School's Student Support Centre is dedicated to supporting students with emotional, behavioural, social, communication and learning difficulties as well as those with physical difficulties. The Centre offers a programme for those students who have identified special learning needs.