Curriculum

Principles

The breadth of our curriculum is designed with three goals in mind:

1. To give children appropriate experiences to develop as confident, aspirational citizens
2. To provide links with our local and wider community to make learning relevant and purposeful
3. To provide a coherent and structured curriculum that blends skills and knowledge

Our drivers shape the curriculum, bring about the aims and values of the school and respond to the particular needs of our community:

Communication: we listen, express ourselves, collaborate and perform with confidence

Exploration: we are curious to dig deeper, make links and have new experiences

Creativity: we are reflective and use our imaginations to problem solve and create something new of value

As a Unicef Gold Rights Respecting School and Nurture UK School, we promote children’s rights and the British values of democracy, rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance of others.

Our curriculum is based on research, with two main principles underpinning it:

1. Learning is social. Children learn best when doing so with others. Lessons encourage interaction and collaboration.
2. Learning is associative. Children are encouraged to look for links and build on their prior knowledge.

These principles influence both our planned curriculum and how we teach it (our pedagogy).

Structure

A coherently planned academic curriculum, underpinned by our drivers, sets out:

1. A clear list of the breadth of topics that will be covered including detailed component knowledge/ skills and core vocabulary
2. Criteria for progression through our ‘milestones’
3. Criteria for assessing understanding

Breadth – How we determined our breadth

We determined the breadth of our curriculum by considering the specific needs of our school community and the cultural diversity within it, ensuring learning is relevant and purposeful. All subjects within the National Curriculum are included, with subjects taught discreetly, enabling children to believe they could become scientists, historians or geographers of the future. 

Links and Progression

Links are included in our breadth and are made explicit for the children. These links help children make connections between their prior learning and their new learning. The more links children make the easier it is for them to ‘remember’ new knowledge. Links are made within and across subjects and within and across year groups. The milestone statements, defining the standards for phase, guarantee teaching for progression (knowledge and skills) across year groups.

Planning 

The long-term plan shows the ordering of topics across a year or Key Stage.  The medium-term plan provides the detail (components) for each year group and a clear end point (composite). The drivers – ‘Communicate, Explore, Create’ – implicitly underpin our plans. For example plans, please see downloads at the bottom of the page.

Impact

The intended impact of our curriculum is that children build knowledge, make connections between different knowledge acquired and use it to explore and create. When pupils begin working within a new milestone they are likely to be working at a fundamental stage. By the end of the milestone, most pupils have sustained mastery of the content, e.g. they have fluency in procedural knowledge (skills) and strong, semantic understanding and they are assessed as working at an advancing stage within the milestone. Some pupils demonstrate a greater depth of understanding. Their use of procedural knowledge (skills) is automatic and they use their semantic knowledge to make connection that are not obvious. These pupils are assessed as working at a deep stage within the milestone.

If you would like to learn more about our curriculum please email admin@sgpa.bright-futures.co.uk FAO Curriculum Lead.

Assessment 

Assessment in foundation subjects and Science allows children to show whether they have achieved a fundamental, advancing or deep understanding of each milestone.

Formative assessment opportunities; retrieval questions linked to prior learning, low stakes quizzes. These are used throughout the unit.

Summative assessment opportunities; end of term teacher assessment based on evidence in books and observations of learners in lessons.

Impact is monitored through:

• Teacher assessment
• Assessment data tracking for progress and attainment
• Pupil Progress Meetings (core subjects)
• Lesson observations
• Learning walks
• Work scrutiny
• Staff collaborative monitoring
• Pupil focus groups