Our Curriculum

As part of Turner Schools we have a curriculum-driven school improvement approach, believing that what we teach – and how we teach it – is central to ensuring that our pupils overcome our context of coastal isolation and any other barriers they may face, ranging from disadvantage to illiteracy.

We also believe our purpose is to discover and nurture the talent of our pupils and develop them to be  confident, ambitious and successful by experiencing a broad and enriched curriculum. We also want to develop them as active citizens making a contribution to their community. Above all we want them to achieve Level 3 qualifications so that they have meaningful choices and opportunities in their futures.  

Curriculum Introduction

Curriculum Planning

At DCCA we take a four tiered approach to curriculum design in order to ensure that our curriculum has the level of detail and complexity required to have maximum impact on student learning.

Tier 1: Long Term Plans; outlines the overarching intentions of the disciplinary curriculum 

Tier 2: Mid Term Plans;  the core thematic content of the curriculum distributed over the course of each half term

Tier 3: Short Term Plans; also known as schemes of work - the lesson by lesson content and proposed implementation activities

Tier 4: Lesson Plans; the teacher’s adapted approach to teaching the curriculum content based on learners need and prior knowledge 


Curriculum information for each subject can be found here:

Curriculum Intention

At Dover Christ Church, we aim to provide students with a curriculum that is broad and balanced. Our curriculum meets the criteria stipulated in the National Curriculum guidance whilst also intending to provide our students with opportunities to develop their confidence, resilience and sense of communal responsibility. At DCCA, we intend to provide our students with the opportunity to study a wide range of subjects from KS3-KS5 as well as the opportunity to develop wider academic and personal skills via our wider enrichment offer. Our personal development curriculum promotes the spiritual, social, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of students at the school while also seeking to prepare them to undertake opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life. As well as providing students with the skills and knowledge to be successful within subject disciplines, these values and opportunities for personal growth are integrated into our disciplinary curriculums in order to nurture well rounded students with a sense of self and social awareness.

Curriculum Implementation 

At DCCA we utilise a shared language and framework in our approach to curriculum implementation. In order to ensure that students are able to embed key concepts, to retain and utilise knowledge with fluency and develop an expert understanding of their subjects, teachers use the trust of expert teaching principles to plan and deliver lessons. Our disciplinary curriculums are sequenced to allow for key concepts to be taught using a connected and thematic approach which allows for the frequent review of prior learning in order to secure knowledge in the long term memory. Staff are provided with the tools necessary to implement the curriculum in a way that is adapted to the needs of our students including vulnerable students and those with specific barriers to learning. Ambitious endpoints are pre-determined by the curriculum design which allows all teachers to track student progress towards these outcomes and adapt resources and approaches to teaching as necessary to allow all learners to make progress. DCCA ensures that all staff have dedicated time to review and refine the implementation of the curriculum through collaborative work with peers, Heads of Department and Cross Trust Curriculum Leads.

Curriculum Impact 

At DCCA, we use multiple methods to evaluate our curriculum and ensure that the curriculum is having the impact that we set out to achieve. These processes include, but are not limited to: