KS4 Curriculum

View details of Morpeth School’s progress and attainment.

At Morpeth, we have a flexible KS4 curriculum which is made up of two parts:

  1. Core subjects which all pupils study
  2. Optional subjects which pupils choose each year.

Core Subjects

All pupils study English, Maths, Science, Religious Studies (RS) and Physical Education (PE) throughout KS4.

All pupils take GCSEs in English, English Literature, Maths and RS. In Science, pupils will either be entered for combined Science or separate sciences: Biology, Chemistry, Physics.

Optional Subjects

Pupils choose two courses of study each year and spend the equivalent of one day a week on each course (Option 1 = Tuesday morning, Thursday afternoon; Option 2 = Tuesday afternoon, Thursday morning). Pupils make their choices in the Spring Term of Years 8, 9 and 10 for the following years.

All courses are of one year’s length and if they are GCSE courses, the exam is taken in the summer of that year. Within their optional courses, pupils may be taught in vertical groups which means that there will be pupils of different year groups within each class i.e. Years 9, 10 and 11 in the same class.

The overwhelming majority of pupils at Morpeth study a foreign language and Geography or History to GCSE.

Most of the courses on offer to pupils are GCSE courses, however, we also have a range of non-exam courses, ‘Pathways’.

Our Pathway courses ensure pupils have access to a broad humanities curriculum in Year 9.

In our experience a balance in option subjects (whether ‘Pathways’ or ‘GCSE/BTEC’) is very important.The following courses are being studied by pupils in KS4 this year:

Pathways

Creative Pathways

  • Art Foundation Course and Humanities
  • Digital Media and Humanities
  • Drama Foundation Course and Humanities
  • Rock School

Foundation Pathways

  • Computing/ICT and Humanities
  • Design Technology and Humanities
  • Additional Maths and Humanities
  • PE and Humanities

GCSE Courses

  • Art
  • Bengali
  • Business Studies
  • Citizenship
  • Computer Science
  • Dance
  • Design Technology
  • Drama
  • Economics
  • Film Studies
  • Food Preparation and Nutrition
  • French
  • Geography
  • History
  • Media Studies
  • Music
  • Music Technology
  • Photography
  • Physical Education
  • Psychology
  • Sociology
  • Spanish
  • Textiles
  • Triple Science

Other accredited courses

  • Music Technology (NCFE)
  • ICT (BTEC)

If you require further information about the curriculum, please contact us by phone: 020 8981 0921, or email: enquiries@morpeth.towerhamlets.sch.uk; or view details for each subject here.