We have used the three Is (Intent, Implement and Impact) to produce a curriculum that is both inclusive and creative. These have been used as a touch stone for developing a yearly curriculum for Reception and a rolling two yearly curriculum for Year 1 – 6 to accommodate our split age classes.
Alongside our own curriculum, we use a number of schemes to help us provide high quality, progressive and challenging learning.
- For phonics we use Read Write Inc.
- For Maths we follow the White Rose Curriculum.
For the wider curriculum we use a project-based approach, balancing knowledge rich learning alongside explicit development of skills, as we believe that this supports children in making strong prior knowledge links without overloading their working memory, and supports new learning sticking to their long term memory.
Children are at the heart of our curriculum design. We have chosen to use Curriculum Maestro, because it supports teachers in planning, resourcing and tracking the National Curriculum, and offers breadth and depth through the project cycle: Engage, Develop, Innovate, Express. It provides children with a progressive, integrated and exciting curriculum with a sense of community. Each lesson we ensure children know whether they are being historians, geographers, designers or artists.
Engage, Develop, Innovate, Express
The four cornerstones of learning provides the structure for every project. We call these Engage, Develop, Innovate, and Express. We believe this pedagogy reflects the best way children learn and is rooted in a variety of different educational approaches and research.
- Engage – hook children in with a memorable experience.
- Develop – allow children time to gather the skills and knowledge they need to develop a deep understanding.
- Innovate – offer creative experiences that allow children to apply their skills, knowledge and understanding.
- Express – provide the space and time for reflecting, evaluating, and celebrating learning.
| Humankind | understanding what it means to be human and how human behaviour has shaped the world |
| Nature | understanding the complexities of the plant and animal species that inhabit the world |
| Processes | understanding the many dynamic and physical processes that shape the world |
| Place | understanding the visual, cultural, social, and environmental aspects of places around the world |
| Creativity | understanding the creative process and how every day and exceptional creativity can shape the world |
| Comparison | understanding how and why things are the same or different |
| Investigations | understanding the importance of investigation and how this has led to significant change in the world |
| Significance | understanding why significant people, places, events and inventions matter and how they have shaped the world |
| Materials | understanding the properties of all matter, living and non-living |
| Change | understanding why and how things have changed over time |
Through the use of Curriculum Maestro, the implementation of subjects centres around ‘big ideas’ to sculpt and shape the curriculum. These ‘big ideas’ are the foundations of each subject and ensure progression, breadth and balance.
For English, Maths, R.E, PSHE, Computing, MFL, Music and PE, we have chosen a subject specific approach, to ensure that breadth and depth are achieved in these fundamental areas of learning.
We will measure the impact of our curriculum through:
Attainment and progress data
Attendance rates
Behaviour
Extra-curricular registers
Pupil questionnaires
Pupil voice
Parent questionnaire
Lesson observations and book looks
Curriculum review and sharing good practice with peers
Curriculum areas
- Art
- Design and Technology
- Computing
- EYFS
- Geography
- History
- Literacy
- Maths
- Modern Foreign Language
- Music
- PE
- PSHCE
- Religious Education
- Science
