Our School Curriculum

Changes to the curriculum during the COVID-19 pandemic

The aims, vision and values of our curriculum have remained constant throughout the pandemic, and have guided our planning throughout.

During the time of school closures, we had to make significant changes to our methodology in delivering this while the majority of children learned at home.  However, we have maintained consistency wherever possible and worked to build on familiar ways of learning.

In our planning for 2020-21, we have aligned our curriculum wherever possible to the best online resources available, such as National Oak Academy units.  This will enable us to move smoothly into home learning should a Tier 4 situation arise.

We use Google Classroom to manage our remote learning, and we will continue to deliver some school lessons via this to keep children's skills sharp.

Intent

To develop characteristics of effective learning in all children:

Playing and exploring

Children investigate and experience things, and ‘have a go’

Active learning

Children concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter difficulties, and enjoy achievements

Building bodies of knowledge

Children must have a secure knowledge base from which to draw

Creating and thinking critically

Children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas, and develop strategies for doing things

To promote our three core values in our teaching:

Readiness 

Responsive teaching for each unique child

Respect

Positive relationships

Responsibility

Enabling environments encourage independence

To foster Christian distinctiveness through key strands:

Vision, Wisdom, Character, Community, Dignity and Worship

Implementation

Enabling environments

Readiness

• Warm, loving and confident adults
• Consistent routines and classroom rituals
• Appropriate stimulating resources/starting points

Respect

• Application of behaviour strategies including IBPs
• Evidence of listening to children’s explanations/reasoning
• Evidence of respectful challenge of thinking

Responsibility

• Opportunities for independence/challenge selection
• Appropriate time balance to allow for play, problem solving and independence
• Time for reflection

Teaching and learning

Readiness

• Structured planning including interleaving of knowledge
• Retrieval of prior knowledge
• Modelling, including vocabulary

Respect

• Responsive teaching eg observations, marking, questioning, mini plenaries
• Focus and control of who is speaking
• Adaptation eg change of direction/approach, additional questions to deepen thinking

Responsibility

• Time and support for independent practice and play
• Children responding to feedback
• Children reflecting on how successful learning has been

Subject specific curriculum maps that tie the curriculum story together for English, maths, science, RE, history, geography, art, design, PSHCE, SMSC, music, PE, computing and languages.

Bespoke interventions for children falling behind or needing additional challenge.

A rich programme of events which enable children to develop children through our values towards their personal development through five themes:

• Leadership and higher calling
• Inclusive participation
• Self care
• Presentation and advocacy
• Personal responsibility

Impact

Children's work is assessed in a variety of ways:

• Classroom feedback
• Recorded work
• Responsive marking
• Pupil voice
• Diagnostic tests and question level analysis
• Case studies
• Summative progress tracking