The curriculum has been designed to ensure that all national curriculum objectives are met across the school; the development of pupils’ knowledge is both contextually relevant and sequentially progressive in all subjects and across all year groups; and that there is equity of access to curriculum for all pupils including the most disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND.

The curriculum planned so that the knowledge and skills pupils will gain at each stage is defined and there is clear ongoing progression from EYFS to the end of KS2. It ensures that all subject leaders across the two schools are planning for knowledge, understanding, skill and progression. This is to ensure pupils transitioning from the infant to the junior school are able to use their knowledge and apply it to new learning.

Each sequence of lessons within a topic is made up of learning questions.

At the start of each sequence pupils are posed a ‘Driver question’, designed to introduce the topic, challenge their thinking and draw upon previous knowledge. Pupils will return to this question throughout the topic as their knowledge and depth of understanding increases. These questions are displayed in classrooms and provide reminders of learning and support pupils to develop understanding of knowledge and skills of the subject area and the cross curricular links made throughout the term.

Each lesson within the sequence also has a focussed learning question. These support pupils to develop new knowledge linked to the focus of the lesson. The accumulation of this new knowledge throughout the topic is used to respond to the Driver Questions.

Curriculum intent

Our curriculum aims to:

• Provide a broad and balanced curriculum for all pupils including the most disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND.
• Ensure clear ongoing progression from EYFS to the end of KS2 in all subjects
• Enable pupils to connect new knowledge to their existing knowledge and develop fluency across the curriculum
• Pupils develop and command a rich vocabulary which is carefully planned for and supports pupils’ higher order thinking and the development of their knowledge across the curriculum
• Ensure pupils know the different subject disciplines they are studying and gain the foundational knowledge required to support their access to the full breadth of the primary curriculum
• Provide opportunities for pupils to apply their interdisciplinary knowledge and skills to approach problems and learning opportunities presented through a range of practical, visual, textual and abstract scenarios
• Provide the essential knowledge pupils need to be educated citizens
• Introduce pupils to the best that has been thought and said so they develop an appreciation of human creativity
• Stimulate our pupils’ natural curiosity and give them the confidence to be curious.
• Use a wealth of relevant resources – in classrooms, outdoors, in the local community and the wider areas including trips and visitors
• Promote personal, social and spiritual aspects of the curriculum including developing pupils’ understanding of fundamental British Values of democracy, individual liberty, the rule of law and mutual respect and tolerance.
• Teach pupils to be aware of dangers they may face as they grow and what they can do to keep themselves and other safe.