News & Events

The College will return on Tuesday 7th January 2020 with a Week B timetable.

We are seeking your views as part of a consultation into the organisation of the curriculum at Tavistock College.

We currently run key stage 3 over two years (Y7 and Y8) and begin key stage 4 in Y9 following an options process. The proposal is to change this to a three year key stage 3 (Y7, Y8 and Y9) and to run GCSE courses over two years only (Y10 and Y11).

The benefit of the current curriculum model is that students are able to choose 4 options in addition to compulsory subjects. By shortening  key stage 3 by one year, we can offer a broader range of subjects. This enables students to have more choice for KS5. The curriculum structure enables us to  include specialist subjects such as Creative Media and vocational courses such as Construction, alongside the more traditional, academic subjects. This model also means that subjects can be taught in depth.

The problem with the current model is that students stop learning some subjects a year earlier, and, whilst we certainly plan to cover the key stage three expectations, the depth of learning is not in place for subjects that students choose not to take forward to GCSE. For example,40% –  50% of students do not continue with a language after Y8 in the current model. In addition, some parents feel that Y8 is too early to make choices for GCSE subjects.

We are interested in your views. If you wish to be part of this consultation, you can comment through this  email address:  consultation@tavistockcollege.org. Please be clear in your comments whether you prefer the current model (2 years at key stage 3 and 3 years at key stage 4) OR the proposed model (three years at key stage three and 2 years at key stage 4).