At Crich Church of England Infant school we are proud of our bespoke curriculum.
Intent
Our Curriculum exposes all our children to exciting experiences and at the same time immersing them in progressive knowledge and skills through a carefully planned approach. All children are entitled to a good education and that the term “education“ means more than academic success, but incorporates wider ambitions.
The key ambitions behind the design of our curriculum are for our children to:
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to be curious, confident, independent, resilient and demonstrate a love of learning.
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be kind, showing empathy and compassion whilst valuing diversity
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achieve academically across the entire curriculum
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be culturally knowledgeable about our country and our world and therefore become good global citizens.
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be well prepared for the challenges of the Key Stage 2 curriculum.
"Our Golden Rules" are displayed in each classroom and around the school. These expectations are constantly reinforced throughout the school day and during Worship sessions. These expectations dovetail with our curriculum and form the behaviours and attitudes we believe will help our children to succeed academically and ensure they will be responsible citizens of the future.
Our curriculum content has been designed alongside subject leaders to take account of the legal requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum and the Primary National Curriculum whilst at the same time ensuring it meets the needs of all our children, builds cultural capital and considers the context of our school locally, nationally and globally. Our children are exposed to rich and varied experiences beyond those set out by the National Curriculum to ensure learning is memorable and ignites the children's curiosity so they can do more, know more and remember more, thus equipping them with the necessary skills and characteristics to succeed.
Subject leaders are working together to develop progressive sequences of learning that ensure children are taught, can remember and are able to use the skills and knowledge they need to be successful learners as they move through the school. As part of the developing role of subject coordination, the subject coordinators are equipping themselves with the knowledge and skills to support others and look beyond our own school to seek out current thinking, continued professional development and exploring research-based theories.
As an Infant School our curriculum has a strong emphasis upon reading and language development. Our school believes that language acquisition and reading are fundamental to all our children succeeding. Subject leaders are beginning to set out the key vocabulary that children are expected to know and use as part of their curriculum design.
Subject leaders work alongside the SENCO to ensure the curriculum offer is inclusive and accessible to all children and adapted when necessary.
Implementation
Our creative curriculum is being designed to be ambitious for all our children across each subject area. Through our approach we have created whole school themes for each term and are developing sub themes for each year group. High quality texts are carefully selected and underpin the creative planning process. WOW moments are being used to launch topics creatively and to ignite the children's curiosity and engagement with the themes being covered.
Wow moments are also being used to celebrate the learning that has taken place at the end of the topic. This allows the children to show pride in what they have achieved and evaluate their learning.
Subject coordinators are designing and planning the delivery of their subject for each year group, ensuring clear progression of both skills and knowledge through our curriculum maps and progression in skills development. Subject coordinators are beginning to use knowledge prompts for their subjects to ensure prior learning and knowledge is being regularly revisited.
We recognise the fact that we have children of differing special educational needs, disabilities, special gifts and talents and those learning English as an additional language in all our classes. Coordinators work alongside the SENCO to ensure that their subject has carefully considered the needs of children with SEND and can be adapted as necessary so all the children are able to access learning and experiences that are planned.
Coordinators are also beginning to ensure that experimental learning is prioritised within our curriculum. Visitors are invited into school and educational visits are carefully chosen to deepen understanding of our immediate locality. Our outdoor learning environment and indoor challenges are used to enhance hands on learning experiences.
Foci days/weeks throughout the year ensure that significant events in the calendar are celebrated and the Children understand the relevance of such events in their own lives, Remembrance Day or those days that have historical importance such as the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.
We have high expectations for attendance, academic achievement and pupil behaviour and we are committed to working in partnership with parents/carers. We know that when home and school work in partnership together that we get the best possible outcomes for our children.
Impact
Children leave our school confident and capable learners who are ready for the next stage of their education.
The impact of the curriculum can be seen throughout the school in the work and displays the children produce and through the outcomes for all groups of children by the end of Year Two.
Our learning journals reflect the current topics and showcases the quality of our teaching and learning for all our children. These journals are used to promote discussion and factual recall from previous topics. This will promote discussion and are popular with the children who are able to talk about prior learning with enthusiasm and confidence.
Our children enjoy their learning and this enables them all to achieve, develop confidence and demonstrate good behaviour. Kindness is an integral part of our ethos and our children form lasting friendships and respect towards others, ensuring a positive transition to their next stage of learning.