Curriculum Rationale
Aboyne Academy has a unique curriculum designed to meet the needs and aspirations of our young people, their parents/carers and the local community.
Our school is a medium sized state comprehensive secondary situated in Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire. This size and location brings both advantages and some constraints. The curriculum intends to maximise the former and ensure our pupils are not held back by the latter. Our large catchment area offers rich curriculum opportunities.
Our curriculum incorporates policies from the Scottish Government, Aberdeenshire Council and The Northern Alliance. We embrace the principles of Curriculum for Excellence and are strongly guided by How Good is Our School 4 and the United Nations Convention on Rights of the Child. The work of the Education Scotland Inspection team is used to keep our curriculum appropriate and flexible.
Our curriculum is designed to allow pupils to build a range of skills and qualifications that will enable them to access Higher and Further Education and become effective employees and responsible global citizens.
The concept of people spending their working life with one employer or in one profession is largely redundant and our young people need to be equipped for the future. Our curriculum builds on the young people’s primary education and recognises that their time at Aboyne Academy, whilst being one of the most important building blocks for future careers in both further education and employment, is one stage of what will be a lifetime of learning.
We aim to prepare young people to thrive in the 21st Century workplace. We engage with local and national employers to identify what they look for in a young employee and design our curriculum to prepare our young people to succeed in a competitive jobs market.
Our curriculum is not restricted to what can be offered on the Aboyne Academy campus. We cooperate with partner schools/businesses/organisations and North East Scotland College to provide greater opportunities for our young people. We are open-minded and forward thinking about ways to offer a variety of pathways for our pupils. We use local knowledge and expertise from parents, local businesses and community leaders to enrich our curriculum.
Principles of design
- Challenge and enjoyment
- Breadth
- Progression
- Depth
- Personalisation and choice
- Coherence
- Relevance
The curriculum derives from the school’s vision and values. We are an aspirational school in which every young person is valued and where attainment and achievement are emphasised. Wellbeing is at the core of our approach to developing young people at Aboyne Academy.