Curriculum Intent

At Ridgewood, we want our students to achieve excellent exam results, across a range of high-quality qualifications. However, we also want our students to be happy, self-confident, kind individuals, ready to make their contribution to society. We want them to be creative; it is important to us that all of our students either take part in, or make something beautiful during their time with us. We want our students to be resilient people, who can face challenge, and be thoughtful and articulate.

We are committed to making sure the curriculum we put in place for our students meets these requirements, through both excellent teaching and a variety of extra-curricular opportunities. We are unashamedly ambitious for our students and want our teachers to be dynamic in their practice to help our students realise their huge potential.

Our school motto is: Achieving Excellence Together

We want our students to:

  • Achieve excellent exam results across a range of high quality qualifications.

  • Be happy, healthy, safe and confident about the future.

  • Work hard, play hard and be kind, pleasant people.

  • Enjoy healthy working partnerships with adults and know how to resolve conflict when times get tough.

  • Be resilient, able to cope with struggle and be determined learners. Know what to do when they don’t know what to do.

  • Shake hands with new people, get eye contact and present themselves as thoughtful, articulate young adults.

  • Be selfless learners who contribute to many teams and communities.

  • Be curious about the world around them and have a spirit of adventure.

At Ridgewood our provision is guided by the following principles:

HIGH EXPECTATIONS

showing belief that our students can achieve at a high standard in every arena be it academic, sporting, social

DYNAMIC LEADERSHIP

highly visible and dynamic leadership whose actions have an excellent impact on provision for our students

AMBITIOUS CURRICULUM

an ambitious curriculum and an entitlement to a rich body of academic, social and cultural knowledge and skills

SUPPORTIVE BEHAVIOUR CULTURE

a supportive and optimistic culture which develops the behaviour and attitudes of determined learners using ‘Ready, Respectful and Safe’ and our ‘Determined Learners’ grid.

RIGOROUS PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

well planned and rigorous personal development that supports and challenges every child and helps them acquire a wide range of skills and aptitudes so that they leave us confident in their abilities

EXCELLENT TEACHING

high quality responsive teaching that engages, enthuses and challenges every student in every lesson every day.

CARING ETHOS

a caring ethos which keeps students safe, happy and healthy

For further information about your child’s curriculum, you can contact Mr James Cannon (Deputy Headteacher) in the first instance via info@ridgewood.dudley.sch.uk