Curriculum Summary

Our curriculum is driven by our vision: Nurture. Grow. Shine. We aim to help our children reach their full potential, no matter their starting point. Our curriculum is the greatest tool we have to facilitate this and, in every subject, we have a clear end point - a 'what do we want children to leave Year 6 with' - so that we are focussed on how we nurture the children so that they grow and shine in every subject.

Aims (INTENT) - Our curriculum will:

  1. Be firmly based on our children and their present and future relationships with the locality and wider world

  2. Be rich, broad and balanced and meaningful

  3. Consider the well being of the children as a whole

  4. Enable all children to reach their full potential in all areas of the curriculum as well as developing individual talents and interests

  5. Encourages children to ask and answer questions about important issues and events

  6. Develop highly functional, independent, flexible learners for now and the future

 

Principles - In order to achieve these aims, we will plan learning experiences that:

1. Are firmly based on our children and their present and future relationship with the locality and wider world:

  • Use contexts based where possible on the local and extending to the national and global

  • Respond to current events or issues at a local and wider level

  • Provide opportunities for children to make a positive contribution to the community, both locally and in the wider world

  • Place the school at the heart of our community

2. Be rich, broad and balanced and meaningful:

  • Meet and go beyond the requirements of the National Curriculum

  • Make links within and between subjects.

  • Include a variety of stimuli, contexts, types of activity and means of expression that are relevant to the children and have a clear purpose

3. Consider the well-being of the children as a whole:

  • Have social, moral and spiritual and cultural aspects embedded within all areas

  • Promote a healthy lifestyle (mental and physical)

  • Enable children to develop the personal skills needed for happy and successful future lives

4. Enable all children to reach their full potential in all areas of the curriculum as well as developing individual talents and interests:

  • Are challenging for all

  • Provide plentiful opportunities for children to apply what they have learned in other contexts

  • Respond to the needs and interests of the children

5. Encourages children to ask and answer questions about important issues and events:

  • Inspire - through exciting and relevant topics with engaging starters, memorable events and motivating outcomes

  • Use 'Big Questions' to stimulate children's interest and encourage them to think about topics in a broader and more significant context

  • Encourage children to question and hypothesise

6. Develop highly functional, independent, flexible learners for now and the future:

  • Embed core skills in mathematics, literacy and ICT across the curriculum

  • Teach key life skills

  • Encourage children to be adventurous and regard mistakes as opportunities for learning

  • Teach children how to learn as well as what to learn, so they are prepared for whatever they may need to learn in the future

  • Provide opportunities for children to take control of their own learning

In order that our topics should meet these aims and principles, we have developed curriculum maps for each subject. In the Foundation subjects, each topic will be based around a 'Big Question' that will place the learning in a context that is relevant for our children. Our maps also show a clear progression in skills and make it clear why we have chosen to teach that particular topic at that particular time and what the benefits are for the children. This also enables us to be more flexible in our planning so we can respond to the needs and interests of the children and recognise events of local, national or global significance.