Our Rationale

Our curriculum has been chosen and designed to support raising standards and improve outcomes for all of our children. It has been developed to meet the needs of all our pupils and enrich their lives, whatever their starting point. To this end, our curriculum is enhanced by an enrichment offer-trips, visitors and hands-on experiences- to bring learning to life for them.

We teach each subject discretely, using the full coverage of the National Curriculum, through adapted schemes.

We plan opportunities for children to practice and return to their learning, through regular retrieval practice, to support our children to understand and make connections in their learning, so they learn and know more over-time, deepening their understanding, knowledge, and skills in each subject area.

We use and refer to working walls in the classroom for recent learning. There are also learning journey walls outside the classroom, which show the learning from the previous term, so children are still supported to retrieve prior learning.

We place a strong emphasis on the development of oracy skills, as there is compelling evidence of the importance of successful early reading, vocabulary development and links to increased educational attainment.

Our curriculum celebrates cultural and individual differences, showing acceptance and interest in the diverse world that we live in. Through celebrating diversity, we ensure that our pupils are truly global citizens.

 

Big ideas

The big ideas are mapped across the curriculum so that teachers can ask children what they remember about a concept from previous years. Children will have the opportunity to explore concept threads in multiple, novel contexts, allowing them to journey from shallow to deeper understanding.

Place and space

Understanding the visual, cultural, social and environmental aspects of different places around the world.

This big idea invites children to explore the visual, cultural, social, and environmental aspects of places in their locality and the wider world. They examine how human activity and social interactions shape places and enable them to discover the unique identities and features of towns, cities, countries and continents. Through this big idea, children develop an appreciation of both the natural and urban landscape and begin to understand the bond between people and place or setting.

Humankind

Understanding what it means to be human and the cause and effect of human behaviour.

This big idea invites children to find out what it means to be human, including the workings of human anatomy and how to keep themselves safe. They explore ways that the human race is interconnected and explore human experience and identities through a range of subject lenses. They discover the cause and effect of human behaviour and develop an understanding of the relationships between individuals, societies, faiths and communities. Through this big idea, children discover the ancient secrets of past civilisations and see the multitude of ways in which they influence modern-day life.

Materials

Understanding the unique and physical properties of all matter and how we interact with them.

This big idea invites children to explore the properties of all matter, including that which is living and non-living. It explores how materials are both formed and change. Through this big idea, children develop an understanding of the uses of materials and their unique physical properties that make them fit for purpose.

Significance

Understanding why significant people, places, events and inventions matter.

This big idea invites children to explore the importance of significant people, places, events and inventions. They examine why things are meaningful to some and not to others, based on their values, beliefs and experiences. Through this big idea, children develop an understanding of key people, places, events and inventions that have changed their everyday lives and the world at large.

Our Intent:

Our curriculum has been designed to provide equity of opportunity for all children, no matter their background. It is intended to build upon their experiences, including those offered by the school, to create a culture where all children can access the curriculum.

Our curriculum is planned to:

• help children to become INDEPENDENT, RESILIENT, ACTIVE learners
• be MEMORABLE, fun and engaging
• to provide opportunities for our children to experience the wider world and gain first hand experiences to inform their learning, through planned trips and visitors
• have a strong focus on our core subjects of reading, writing, maths and speaking & listening, including opportunities to read, write, speak, debate, discuss and question across a range of styles and subjects
• provide a topic based broad, balanced curriculum, making links to prior learning, knowledge and skills so that the learning is meaningful
• provide an inclusive curriculum that all of our children can access
• to support all of our children with their well-being, giving them tools and strategies to support them with being ready to learn
• be flexible and allow us to respond to personal, local and national events

Our Implementation:

Our curriculum is implemented through termly projects which are carefully planned to ensure that knowledge and skills are covered and progression occurs. We explicitly teach key skills and subject specific knowledge and vocabulary and build upon children’s knowledge and skills through a series of lessons.

Wherever possible, the driver project is used to link core and foundation subjects together such as English, history, geography, art and design. Spiritual, Moral, Cultural and Social development opportunities are offered through our curriculum, alongside British Values, to support our children’s personal development and prepare them for life in modern Britain.

We recognise that children have different needs and so teachers make allowances for this in their planning and delivery. We use a range of approaches including practical activities and discussions. 

Teachers are encouraged to broaden the experience of the projects for the children, by using the rich local environment as a basis for learning and also by providing opportunities for outdoor learning and fieldwork, educational visits, visitors into school and shared experiences of the wider school community, e.g. involvement with parents and school links.

We value the diversity of individuals within the school. All children have equal access to the curriculum and are treated fairly regardless of race, religion or ability.

Our Impact:

The impact of our curriculum is monitored throughout the year by the Headteacher and the Senior Leaders. This is done in a range of ways including:

• data analysis
• looking at children’s work and other evidence of outcomes
• lesson observations
• children’s voice
• teacher voice
• parent voice
• Governor monitoring

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