Intent - Our Vision for our Curriculum
We celebrate being a diverse school and have utilised this when developing our curriculum. We want all of our pupils to have big ambitions and high expectations of themselves. We are an outward looking school with a strong sense of community, and we aim to create a curriculum that truly meets the needs of our children. It is our children’s voices that we want to drive and shape that curriculum; a rich, exciting and balanced curriculum that enables each individual child to develop academically, emotionally, creatively, socially and physically. Our curriculum will enable the children to share ideas, express their opinions, and apply knowledge and skills learned in a wide range of meaningful contexts. It will offer opportunities for all children to investigate, question, debate and challenge. It will enable all children to flourish and to be the very best they can be.
To support the implementation of our vision we will create:
- A curiosity-approach, stimulating environment for developing inquisitive, independent and resilient lifelong learners who work hard and strive for excellence;
- A culture of working independently and collaboratively, where we see getting something wrong as part of learning how to get it right;
- An ethos where all children are encouraged and supported, and challenge is fully embraced;
- Exciting and challenging opportunities to promote our children's personal development and understanding of their own emotional and physical wellbeing.
It is important that our pupils are equipped with the necessary skills for the fast-changing world in which we live. This means that they need to be adaptable, able to apply their learning in a wide range of contexts and develop strategies for what to do when they’re unsure. We want our pupils to be active learners, questioning, investigating, challenging themselves and sharing responsibility for driving their own learning. Above all, we want our children to give their very best and to be proud of their achievements. Our School Values of Courage, Forgiveness, Friendship, Honesty, Positivity and Respect underpin these qualities needed for successful learning.Implementation - How do we achieve this?
At the heart of our curriculum are the core subjects of English, Mathematics, Science and Religious Education.
We also truly value our wider curriculum, covering all other National Curriculum subjects. There is a whole-school theme for each term, driven by an area of the curriculum - History, Geography and The Arts. These themes lead to blocks of linked work in order to retain interest and ensure pace. Each half-term is linked to one of our core values: these values act as a gateway to the learning as we explore how the value is linked to the theme. Much of our work is ‘cross-curricular’ learning, where meaningful links can be made with other subjects that help secure prior learning or develop learning further.
All ‘units’ of learning will have an entry-based ‘hook’ to excite and engage the children, and a ‘purpose’ for study so that learning is meaningful and relevant for them.
We recognise the need for kinaesthetic learning in our school, and we encourage role-play and collaborative learning in each class. Where possible, learning is supported and enriched by field study, visits, workshops, artefact boxes, and practical resources.
Progression of knowledge, skills and understanding is carefully planned, reviewed and adapted yearly to ensure that children’s learning builds effectively over time, to ensure children are ready to meet the expectations of secondary school.
Our teaching practice will be rooted in evidence- based research. Teachers will be self-reflective and will enhance their teaching skills and strategies to help raise standards across the full breadth of the curriculum.
Children are involved in the planning stages of each theme, sharing what they already know about the focus area and creating research-style questions to be included through the blocks of learning.
We teach phonics lessons based on DfE Letters and Sounds and follow Power Maths to sequence our learning.
Impact for Our Children
From their different starting points, all children will make good progress academically, emotionally, creatively, socially and physically. Knowledge, understanding, and skills will be secured and embedded so that children attain highly and are fully prepared for the next phase in their learning; and ultimately for secondary school and the wider world.
They will have strong communication skills, both written and verbal, and will listen respectfully and with tolerance to the views of others.
They will take pride in all that they do, always striving to do their best.
They will demonstrate emotional resilience and the ability to persevere when they encounter challenge.
They will develop a sense of self-awareness and become confident in their own abilities.
They will be kind, respectful and honest, demonstrate inclusive attitudes, and have a sense of their role in our wider society.
