Wider Curriculum III

Intent

• Our curriculum is for every child.
• Our curriculum is well-balanced, exciting, purposeful and inspiring.
• Our curriculum provides our pupils with progressive skills and knowledge that widen their life experiences.
• Our curriculum is delivered within a caring and supportive environment where community links are actively sought to improve pupils’ understanding of the world around them.
• Our curriculum encourages our pupils to be resilient, to question and to think for themselves.
• Our curriculum supports our pupils to feel empowered, be adaptable and equipped to meet the world.

Implementation

Our Investigative Curriculum Cycle is based on a teaching sequence cycle that allows pupils to get to the heart of what they are learning. Pupils follow a sequenced journey that starts with questioning and enquiry around the area being studied. Pupils then become experts in an area through research, case study investigations and progressive skills and knowledge sessions. Finally, our pupils then tackle an independent reflection piece based on both embedded learning from previous years and newly acquired knowledge and skills from their current unit. Pre and post learning integrated tasks allow pupils’ starting points to be used to adapt planning to individuals, previous learning to be revisited and to ensure that learning is embedded before moving forward.

Our school values run deep within our wider curriculum in addition to reading being encouraged and nurtured throughout all cycles.  To ensure that our curriculum fits the bespoke needs of our community, we have enhanced our curriculum in many ways.

Ambition is met by incorporating our Aspirations Program into our curriculum. Throughout this entwined thread of our curriculum, pupils widen their knowledge of careers and aspirations available to them when they are older. Each unit of learning addresses where what they are learning can be applied, empowering pupils to be ready for the world when they leave education but also building confidence in themselves as individuals with ‘I will’ attitude. Our Investigative Curriculum Cycle develops the behaviours learners need to succeed in the world such as concentration, perseverance, imagination, co-operation, the enjoyment of learning, self-improvement and curiosity.

Community is met by the many links we have with the supportive community surrounding Grange Park Primary School. We have built, and continue to build, links with the elderly in our community, religious groups, businesses and a wide-range of people who are as determined as we are to see our pupils thrive. Our curriculum is full of opportunities for our pupils to explore the wider community themselves within high-quality school visits.* Also, we enhance our links into the community wider by inviting visitors from a range of backgrounds and disciplines to come in to see our pupils and share their knowledge, perform, read, pass on skills and work with our pupils. Our Dojo communication system ensures that the school community is kept up to date and that curriculum experiences are shared and celebrated. A wide-range of After School Clubs, enable the pupils to extend their curriculum knowledge further and have experiences, both with school staff and external coaches/instructors, that they may not usually experience. To add further, the school practises curriculum Drop-Down Days that can be days that we share with the community, such as nationwide celebrations, or involve people or companies from the community coming in.

Mindfulness is met with the encouragement of a growth mind-set approach in all our pupils and staff. Our pupils learn to be independent thinkers with our Investigative Curriculum Cycle; they ask questions, research answers and explore case studies to find links, explanations and reasons. Our PHSCE scheme supports our pupils to be physically healthy, make good choices, be ready for the world and to look after their own mental health. Additional initiatives such as the Friends Program, KidSafe and Helping Hands help support our pupils to be confident, prepare them to be ready for the world and gives opportunities for pupils to explore how to keep themselves safe. The inclusion of our new Forest School in the heart of our school, our ‘Middle Garden’, encourages outdoor learning and investigation. It provides wider opportunities for pupils whilst supporting pupils who have experienced lockdowns, bubble closures and isolations which have restricted outdoor access for our families. Our new project in 2022, OPAL (Outdoor Play and Learning) will further encourage healthy minds to flourish, develop inquisitive approach to play, encourage the independent assessment of risk and further increase outdoor physical learning.

Inclusion is met with our school passion of creating a learning environment where everyone can succeed and bloom. Our Investigate Curriculum Cycle has wide and varied experiences to engage all learners and our mindful, ambition and community links empower pupils to think outside the box, encourage pupils to reach for the stars and build confidence to work both as individuals and as a team. Pupils who require further stretch and challenge are able to think wider and deeper throughout case study, enquiry, research and reflection strands that are the building blocks for our Investigative Curriculum Cycle. Our Nurture Provision in the afternoon offers an alternative setting where pupils still access our curriculum but in an environment where barriers to learning are reduced for specific needs. Recording in our curriculum is wide and varied, encouraging subject specific skills and knowledge to be developed and nurtured. Curriculum knowledge and skills are recorded in curriculum books, class floor books, display, film, photographs, final 2D and 3D pieces, quizzes and within direct observations of child voice to allow all learners to thrive, share their thoughts and ideas and be proud of what they have achieved. 

*Currently restricted due to COVID 19 risk assessment

 Impact

The outcomes from our Investigative Curriculum Cycle are displayed daily for parents and carers through Class Dojo and within different modes of recording by our pupils; are carefully nurtured and developed by subject leaders throughout the term; are qualified through ongoing assessment during three key assessment points during the year. Our Investigative Curriculum Cycle effectively meets the needs of all pupils by creating instant opportunities for teaching and learning to be adapted to address misconceptions, gaps in learning and where further stretch and challenge could be applied.

The impact of the school’s curriculum can be seen in the work, projects and discussions they produce and the outcomes for all groups of pupils within the school. It can be seen in work books, class floor books, progression displays and the many varied ways in which the pupils present their work. It can be seen in the attitude of our pupils toward their learning and towards each other. It can be seen in the relationships between our staff and our pupils. It can be seen in the smiles and laughter in our happy, vibrant and bubbling atmosphere. It can be seen in the loyal and passionate support we receive from the community around us

Everything we do is fuelled by our school vision of ‘Putting Children First!’.

The impact of our curriculum, our school values and our school aims is none the more apparent that in the words of the pupils, parents, carers, visitors and staff: