The Nexus Gifted Programme curriculum is the only one of its kind in the UK.
Best practice in teaching the most able comes together in a learning experience that gets the very best from gifted learners. Expert staff deliver engaging and challenging content that ensures learners make excellent progress in their lessons, while developing independence and critical thinking.
We provide challenging learning in a supportive environment, set in a wider context. We also offer an extensive co-curricular programme to engage and excite the Nexus students.
The curriculum within lessons is compacted and much of the repetition is removed, which makes space for students to explore the application of the knowledge they are gaining, and to experience how these concepts are applied in the world of work and industry.
Outside the classroom students have the opportunity to enrich their studies through academic lectures, trips and an extensive co-curricular programme.
“Breathtaking”
The Gifted Programme is unique in the UK, and was described as ‘breathtaking’ by the former-CEO of NACE, the UK charity for the most able children in education.
KS3 students follow a broad curriculum which includes Nexus Liberal Arts (NLA) and STEM subjects. At KS4, students are able to select from a largely STEM or NLA selection. However, students are encouraged to study at least one subject from both pathways at GCSE, since together they prepare our young people to be confident, informed and capable to take an active role in the global conversations around them.
Nexus Liberal Arts (NLA)
The term ‘liberal arts’ has its roots in ancient Greece and, at its heart, was concerned with a “desire for a universal understanding”; it was considered to be fundamental for shaping a person to play an active and significant role in society. Today, it is the name of a highly regarded degree which enables students to pursue multiple passions through a variety of disciplines within arts and humanities. Here at Nexus, the Liberal Arts invites students to be creative, critical thinkers and to pursue their interests in an atmosphere that prioritises academic rigour and ignites their curiosity.
The Nexus Liberal Arts encompasses the subjects of English, Modern Foreign Languages, Religion, Philosophy and Ethics, Geography and History. We recognise the need for our students to become highly literate, culturally enriched and effective communicators in order to achieve at the highest level across the curriculum and in their future pursuits.
Our rigorous and challenging lessons sit alongside a rich co-curricular programme that enable students to flourish – both in pursuing specialised fields of interest and broadening their understanding of the world and some its most complex issues.
Nexus STEM
STEM – which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics – is vitally important for preparing young people for a future where strong analytical, mathematical and scientific skills are needed to be able to engage in societal topics such as global warming, space travel and even self-driving cars.
Science is everywhere in the world around us. Technology is continuously expanding into every aspect of our lives. Engineering covers the basic designs of roads and bridges, but also tackles the challenges of changing global weather and environmentally-friendly changes to our home. Mathematics is in every occupation, every activity we do in our lives. By exposing students to STEM and giving them opportunities to explore STEM-related concepts, they will develop a passion and hopefully pursue a job in a STEM field.
Students at Nexus face challenging lessons that encourage them to think deeply and grapple with fundamental concepts of the natural world as they develop as scientists, mathematicians and engineers. Students at Nexus are inspired through the amazing STEM offer in the co-curricular programme, with opportunities for independent research, 3D printing, engineering and computer programming, amongst many others.