OUR CURRICULUM
Curriculum Intent
Our vision and ethos for our school underpins everything we do. At Kingsmead, we want all of our children to be well educated, to be useful and kind and make a positive contribution to their own life, the lives of others and the environment. Our curriculum is designed to support the development of attitudes and skills and acquisition of knowledge that enable every child to make their way successfully and ethically in our modern world. We believe that for every child to thrive and enjoy learning, our curriculum must have breadth (go beyond the ‘basics’); balance (art and culture, communication and language, personal and physical development and STEM); and depth (opportunities for children to think deeply and contribute to their own learning).
Through our termly focus on caring for ourselves, other people and the world we have built our curriculum with the development of our children’s intellectual and cultural interests, good character and the achievement of educational standards at its heart.
Our curriculum has been designed to create a balanced, ambitious, connected curriculum. We use a broad theme each term, with many linked to our High Quality Texts in English and an inquiry based approach, where a stimulus or dilemma is used to engage children in learning in a low threat way. A main subject driver is enhanced through meaningful connections with other subjects creating a holistic approach to learning. Where possible, other subjects are linked but some subjects are taught discretely as is most appropriate. Our curriculum leads children out into a fascinating world, making important links between subjects to enrich and deepen understanding. We aim to develop attitudes, knowledge, understanding and skills that are deep, remembered and interconnected.
Our aims:
To develop a useful and kind character.
To enjoy and achieve their best in learning by being curious and active participants in their education.
To develop children’s sense of being one person among many.
To develop their ideas of social justice and develop pro-social behaviour that cares for themselves, others and the environment.
To develop values and attitudes of fairness and equality, participation and respect. (British Values)
To acquire the knowledge and skills that enables them to make their way successfully and become global citizens.
By working together, teaching staff, parents, carers and children too, every child can work hard, enjoy their learning, achieve well and enjoy their success.
Curriculum Map -2 year rolling programme.pdfCurriculum Implementation
Themes are planned over a two year rolling programme, as is progress in foundation subjects, and each term has a focus linked to our ethos of caring for ourselves, other people and our environment.
Teachers will plan:
Using objectives from the National Curriculum
To build on existing prior knowledge
To use a 'hook' for learning to engage, motivate and enthuse children
Make meaningful connections between subjects to deepen knowledge and understanding wherever possible
To link their teaching to the termly focus of caring for ourselves, others and the world to show children the impact of their learning
For example, in Year 5/6 in the Autumn Term (Year B), pupils study the book ‘Star of Fear, Star of Hope’ in our Conflict and Resolution unit. The writing outcome is a story told in flashback. During this term, there are obvious and clear links to History. Children study music of World War 2 in music lessons and learn wartime dance styles in PE. Their design technology unit is a ‘make do and mend’ theme in which children make a teddy bear in a textile unit. Within computing, children make links to the war by learning ‘code cracking’. In art, children create war and peace drawings.
Curriculum Impact
The impact of our curriculum can be seen in the formal assessments undertaken with all children (Early Years Profile, Year 1 Phonics check, Year 2 teacher assessments, Year 6 SATs and teacher assessments) as well as other formal assessments used at the end of each year group such as NFER Reading and White Rose Maths assessments.
In each theme, children revisit prior knowledge, enabling teachers to identify any gaps in learning. Knowledge organisers are used to outline the new key learning for each theme and the key vocabulary they will be taught. Throughout the theme knowledge organisers are revisited to review the concepts, knowledge and vocabulary that has been taught.
The impact of the ‘formal’ curriculum (National Curriculum) and the ‘informal’ curriculum (personal development, attitudes and dispositions) can also be seen in discussion with and observation of the children, as they grow into young people ready to move to the next stage of their learning.