Curriculum Statement
CLIFFORD ALL SAINTS C OF E PRIMARY SCHOOL
POLICY STATEMENT FOR CURRICULUM
To be reviewed: September 2024
Reviewed by: H Crackwood
Vision Statement
‘Clifford All Saints Primary school is a welcoming, inclusive community inspired by the love of God, modelled in Jesus Christ, where we aspire to learn, to serve and to live life to its fullest.’
Children’s Version:
‘Learning, serving and aspiring together motivated by the love of God’
Our School Values
.png)
Curriculum Design
When designing our curriculum we looked at three main areas; Curriculum Intent, Implementation and Impact.
Our Curriculum’s Intent
Reflecting on John 10:10b, and Jesus’ offer of “Life in all its fullness,” we embody the Church of England’s vision that: “Schools are signs of fullness of life for all, as they educate children for wisdom, knowledge and skills, for hope and aspiration, for community and living well together, and for dignity and respect. We consider how we can live out our school vision statement through every area of the curriculum.
Our curriculum intent sets out the aims that we have as a school community for the programme of education that is followed at Clifford All Saints. We decided what the main priorities or drivers for our curriculum would be:
.png)
Our curriculum is aspirational. We want it to be exciting, engaging and promotes high standards in all areas of the curriculum, particularly in reading, writing and mathematics. We deliver the national curriculum to all children and ensure they all receive their curriculum entitlement.
We value high quality, immersive learning opportunities that provide first hand experiences and want to develop a sense of awe and wonder in our children
We want to promote preparation for and an appreciation of life in modern Britain. We want to develop their understanding of fundamental British values and equip them to be responsible, respectful citizens. We want to ensure our curriculum is inclusive as well as being exciting and engaging.
Our curriculum is inclusive and strives to ensure all children with appropriate scaffolds can access all subjects.
We want our curriculum to reflect the diversity of our school and to prepare our children to live harmoniously in their multicultural community and in multiracial Britain with a strong understanding of the world beyond.
Our curriculum is relatable and context driven to help children make strong, meaningful links between all subjects and enables them to transfer knowledge and skills across areas of learning.
We want our curriculum to be relevant and creative to ignite the enthusiasm of all children so that they recognise the importance of all learning in their own lives.
We want to make sure that every child sees themselves in our curriculum. We will endeavour to provide meaningful role models to every child.
Our curriculum is special and unique to Clifford and provides children with the opportunity to recognise God and his work in all areas of our ever-changing world.
Our curriculum is a clear and coherently planned progression of knowledge and skills. and sequenced so children can embed and use their knowledge and skills and that there are opportunities to build on prior learning fluency
We want our curriculum to be built on the interests of our children through providing challenging learning opportunities for every child to develop and discover their character, interests and talents.
Reading is a high priority in school. We ensure every year group’s curriculum topics are underpinned by a high quality text that will engage and challenge the children. We are relentless in our mission for every child in school to leave us as competent, confident readers who love reading.
We are inclusive. There will be equal access to the curriculum for all children regardless of sex, race, creed, race or disability. By means of careful planning and assessment, the children will be assured of progression and continuity as they develop through the school and this will enable them to realise their true potential.
High standards of work and behaviour are expected and encouraged throughout the school. Within this structure, we aim to increase the children's confidence and self-esteem. We want to ensure our curriculum is thorough and not rushed and encourages ‘quality over quantity’. Clifford All Saints encourages positive attitudes, which help the children to become responsible members of society.
Our Curriculum’s Implementation
We have carefully considered our approach to how our curriculum is designed, planned and taught in every subject. Clifford All Saints aims to give all its children access to a broad, balanced stimulating and exciting curriculum. It will provide a breadth of experiences for the children including visitors, visits and residentials. At the centre of this curriculum will be the National Curriculum for KS1 and KS2 and the EYFS curriculum. The curriculum will be relevant to all children and will deliver personalised learning for individual children at whatever stage of development they have reached. The curriculum is sequenced so that children can develop their knowledge and skills in a way that means they build on prior learning.
- We ensured that the national curriculum was fully covered across every subject. This is the framework for our ambitious curriculum.
- We then planned the whole school curriculum which maps out learning in every subject across every year group. We use the EYFS framework and development matters to underpin our EYFS curriculum.
- Every subject leader has then mapped out every subject and planned out a clear progression for disciplinary and substantive knowledge. To support the children to learn and remember key knowledge, skills and concepts, knowledge organisers for each topic are created. These will be shared with children and on display in classrooms.
- Teachers and subject leaders have then planned clear medium term plans for every subject every half term. An example of these are available to view.
- Teachers then deliver lessons to their class and ensure there are appropriate scaffolds in place to support all learners. There is an adaptable lesson structure that teachers use alongside their professional judgement when planning lessons.
Teaching Sequence for individual lessons
We adapt lessons depending on the intended curriculum outcome for the children’s learning. Research such as Rosenshine’s principles underpins this lesson structure.
Retrieval and Reactivate
Review of prior learning and vocabulary related to the previous lesson or expected prior learning (at the start of a new sequence of learning).
Teach
Sharing key vocabulary and planning the teaching input-
Present new learning related to the lesson’s objective. Direct instruction with quality questioning and opportunities for children to experience guided practice. Present the material in small steps.
Provide model for expectations for the task along with scaffolds for difficult tasks where appropriate.
Apply
Children are given the opportunity to complete the intended task
Check children’s understanding throughout the independent task to ensure there is a high success rate. Tasks should be meaningful and directly linked to the learning objective.
Plenary opportunity for reasoning or extending thinking
Review the children’s knowledge and understanding of the learning objective. Provide opportunities for assessment questions through checking for any misconceptions. This will be supporting planning for the next lesson. At the end of a block of learning, this may be an assessment such as a knowledge quiz, a self-assessment, etc.
Our Curriculum’s Impact
We continually assess how pupils have gained knowledge and skills through the whole curriculum.
Assessment opportunities with the curriculum
The teacher’s role is central to ensuring quality assessment within schools (Wyatt-Smith et al., 2010).
- We use formal assessments to assess children’s learning in reading, writing and maths. This assessment information is then tracked through our assessment model- PITA (see our assessment policy)
- We use knowledge organisers and quizzes as opportunities for revisiting key knowledge and concepts which have been taught to the children.
- We monitor and evaluate children’s knowledge through pupil discussion, through book looks and through learning walks. This process is carried out by every leader in school.
- Assessment for learning through questioning and short activities is used in every subject. will support the children to learn more, remember more and do more.
Our Curriculum and the Equality Act (2010)
The Equality Act provides a single, consolidated source of discrimination law, covering all the types of discrimination that are unlawful. At Clifford All Saints Primary School we wprl hard to ensure we consider how we treat pupils and prospective pupils, parents and carers, employees, and members of the community. Everything we do in school must be fair, non-discriminatory and not put individuals or groups of people at a disadvantage.
In our curriculum design we specifically work to not discriminate, harass or victimise a pupil or potential pupil in relation to:
- Admissions.
- The way it provides education for pupils.
- How it provides pupils access to any benefit, facility or service.
- Excluding a pupil or subjecting them to any other detriment.
We also take account of how to avoid:
- Direct discrimination
- Indirect discrimination.
- Failing to make reasonable adjustments for disabled pupils or staff.
- Discrimination arising from disability.
- Harassment related to a protected characteristic.
- Victimisation of someone because they have made, or helped with, a complaint about discrimination.
In our curriculum we look for ways to actively promote disability, gender and race equality. We also strive to have due regard for:
- How to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation.
- Advance equality of opportunity.
- Foster good relations.
This is an ongoing process and is at the forefront of all curriculum design and adaptation.
We hope that this overview has provided insight into how we structure our wider curriculum offer (intent), how we implement it (implementation) and how we measure impact (assessment).
Clifford C of E Primary School EYFS Curriculum Map
Our curriculum is in line with the EYFS statutory framework from September 2021. We have built our curriculum using guidance from Development Matters.
The framework sets out three prime areas of learning that underpin everything in the early years:
- Communication and Language
- Physical Development
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development
The four specific areas cannot be developed alone, and rely on the skills gained in the Prime Areas of Learning. The specific areas are:
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding the World
- Expressive Arts and Design
All areas of learning and development are important and inter-connected. The characteristics of effective learning weave through all of the children’s learning experiences enabling them to become more powerful learners and thinkers. These characteristics develop as they learn to do new things, acquire new skills, develop socially and emotionally, and become better communicators. Development Matters sets out the pathways of children’s development in broad ages and stages.
However, the actual learning of young children is not so neat and orderly. The main purpose of these pathways is therefore to help teachers assess each child’s level of development. Accurate assessment helps practitioners to make informed decisions about what a child needs to learn and be able to do next.
Our curriculum recognises the value of play in our children’s learning and development. Through play children can practise new ideas and skills, take risks, show imagination and solve problems on their own or with others. The role that our practitioners have in this is crucial. Practitioners provide time and space and appropriate resources. They observe play and join in when invited, watching and listening before intervening. At Clifford All Saints we provide safe but challenging environments that support and extend learning and development.
.png)
Years 1 to 6
Children in Years 1 to 6 follow the National Curriculum. The National Curriculum provides pupils with an introduction to the essential knowledge they need to be educated citizens. It introduces pupils to the best that has been thought and said, and helps engender an appreciation of human creativity and achievement. The National Curriculum provides an outline of core knowledge around which teachers can develop exciting and stimulating lessons to promote the development of pupils’ knowledge, understanding and skills as part of the wider school curriculum.
The Core subjects are:
- English
- Mathematics
- Science
The Foundation subjects are:
- Art and Design
- Citizenship (including personal, social, health and economic education)
- Computing
- Design and Technology
- Foreign Languages (French)
- Geography
- History
- Music
- Physical Education
- Religious Education