The strength of our curriculum is a reflection of our sense of belonging and exploring – to prepare for a world which we do not yet know.

Our school fosters independence and resilience through

 

‘Stepping Forward Together’.

 

OFSTED 2016 identified what the school must do to secure improvement.

 

Leaders and governors should ensure that:

• all pupils are challenged and stretched to reach their full potential, especially the most able, by: developing the mathematical curriculum in Years 2 and 3 so that pupils are provided with a greater variety and depth of number problems and puzzles to solve;

• planning activities systematically and in depth in order to develop pupils’ skills in written composition in Years 4 to 6;

• monitoring activities focus on precise gains in pupils’ knowledge, skills or understanding and align more closely with the priorities set out in the school development plan and training for staff.

 

INTENT

• to stimulate a love of learning, to build aspirations and expectations, to encourage curiosity and critical thinking;

• to plan a curriculum which is founded in progressive skills and understanding, which enables children to make links within their learning

• to enable pupils to access real life and meaningful opportunities where the arts are integral;

to plan for each child-centred unit to work towards a planned ‘destination’;

• to embed a whole school approach towards the teaching and learning of basic core skills - this includes developing and expanding the mathematical curriculum to extend all children, including the most able;

• to provide opportunities to develop writing in a relevant and purposeful way;

• to identify cross-curricular links and enable children to both recognise and articulate these.

 

We ensure that we:

Challenge all children

Build, link and embed learning

Inspire and model a passion to learn

Teach and expect positive learning behaviours

 

English

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It is our aim that our pupils become effective and powerful communicators in the exciting world beyond the classroom. They are taught the inextricable link between writing and reading, reading texts which inform their own writing. We want them to share their love of reading through: timetabled reading periods; lunchtime clubs; shared reading across the school; story, poetry time and our Reading Ambassadors.

Oral development is also central and pupils learn to articulate their thoughts precisely and clearly, developing essential life skills in presentation and discussion.

 

Maths

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It is our aim in Maths to develop a positive and confident attitude to Maths as a fascinating, practical and powerful subject and not just a set of sums and rules. We aim to encourage pupils to recognise the application of Maths in a wide variety of everyday situations, we also aim to develop pupil’s analytical skills and to nurture a spirit of enquiry. We employ teaching methods and resources which will allow all pupils to have equal access to Maths and to experience success and enjoyment in the subject; we also plan for Maths to contribute to other areas of the curriculum where mathematical skills may be relevant.

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Implementation

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Topic webs are produced for each class as an overview which is linked to our bespoke long term planning. Medium plans are then fine-tuned to make opportunities to link to previous learning, future learning and across the curriculum; within this stage, links are also made to our carefully structured Life skills programme which incorporates British Values, Rights Respecting Children and aspects of the Learning Power Approach. Medium plans are a means of tracking knowledge, skills and understanding of concepts which are regularly re-visited in the form of a variety of retrieval exercises.  This regular revisiting enables knowledge to be committed to long-term memory. 

Some of our content is subject specific whilst other content is combined in a cross-curricular approach enabling us to put knowledge into context. 

Our learning is planned in blocked units to ensure depth of understanding, knowledge of skills.

Opportunities for reading, debate and developing vocabulary are considered central and are integrated into learning.

 

The main principles underpinning our implementation are:

• Start from a learner’s existing understanding. 

• Involve the learner actively in the learning process. 

• Develop the learner’s overview, i.e. metacognition – this requires that pupils have a view of purpose, have an understanding of the criteria of quality of achievement, and self-assess.     

• Emphasis the social aspects of learning (i.e. learning through discussion) as these make a unique contribution to learning.  

 

Curriculum organisation and timetabling enable learners’ opportunities for regular recapping of knowledge and skills with well-spaced reviews.

 

 

Impact

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The impact of our curriculum is measured in terms of the extent to which pupils have developed new knowledge, understanding and skills and that they can use and recall this with fluency.  
This will be measured by:

Outcomes in KS1 and KS2 tests

• Assessment tasks – eg quizzes at the beginning and end of each unit

• In school attainment tracking of both core and foundation subjects

• Attendance data

• Attitude and readiness to learn - children demonstrate a resilience

• Engagement in after school clubs

• Route to Resilience activities

• Pupil voice – surveys

• Subject Leader monitoring – Lesson visits, scrutiny of books, assessment, pupil conferencing 

• Governor monitoring

 

Most importantly, we want to instil a love of learning in an environment where children feel safe, celebrate learning achievements and recognise their personal growth. We look at the whole child and work with them to prepare them for the next stage of their learning journey.