CURRICULUM Overview and Intent
At Upton Primary School, our curriculum offers children rich, engaging and relevant learning that will help them to thrive and achieve in the modern world. The curriculum incorporates the statutory requirements of the National Curriculum but also develops an understanding and essential value of how they can contribute positively as a global citizen to the world on their doorstep and beyond. The interweaving of Oxfam’s Global Citizenship Curriculum supports children in developing the belief that they too can have an impact and make a difference.
The aim of our curriculum is not only to ensure children learn the required knowledge and skills needed for the next stage of their schooling but to provide rich experiences through a broad and balanced curriculum. This engages children to learn as well as fostering curiosity and a passion for learning so that children aspire to reach their full potential.
Above all else, we aim to ensure that learning throughout the curriculum is both enjoyable and memorable.
To the left of this page please find details of the school curriculum, a description of what we intend to teach all children through the different curriculum areas as well as an overview of the subject across the school.
The school follows the Foundation Curriculum for Early Years (EYFS Framework), and the National Curriculum for the rest of the school, incorporating a creative, coherent and immersive approach that is designed to enable all children to learn and apply the knowledge and skills taught.
This provides the necessary framework upon which we design and map our broad aims for each year group and the sequential progression we want children to achieve over time. We consider carefully how to help all children to build and remember a web of interconnected and relevant knowledge. We believe that an ‘immersive’ approach to learning through thematic topics and core texts, allows children to understand how learning is connected across subjects, topics and core concepts. In the same way, skills are taught and lessons are designed to challenge children to apply their knowledge and skills to solve problems both together and independently.
We also recognise fully the need to ensure that any ‘gaps’ in a child’s learning are addressed and therefore adopt, whenever possible, a personalised approach to teaching and assessment of the curriculum. This, in turn, helps children to understand that they can ‘step back’ and revisit learning to ensure that they are able to progress successfully.
We believe the crucial value of developing children as young citizens of the world, to grow as good citizens, must be firmly embedded in both the culture of the curriculum as well as the chosen content. Our curriculum design ‘threads’ this component of learning throughout both the topics taught but also embedded in the core aspects of:
- Online Safety
- Well-Being and mental Health
- PE & Sport
- Values Education
We deploy a robust, strategic and systematic approach to monitoring the quality of the teaching of the curriculum that leads to strong outcomes for every child. In this way we can continuously check on the quality of the curriculum design, planning for teaching and subsequently review, adapt and improve on our shared practice.
We assess and measure outcomes in line with the starting points of each child, checking that they are taught, supported and challenged to make the best progress possible and to reach at least the expected national standards or beyond.
It is equally our aim to always ensure that no child is disadvantaged in what they are able to learn and achieve, no matter what the barriers may be to their progress over time. We therefore endeavour to adapt both the ways in which we teach the curriculum and ensure that all children share the same opportunities to learn.
Our curriculum aims to develop and encourage every child and to nurture their personal growth through the values of Responsibility, Respect, Aspiration, Achievement, Happiness and Self-Belief.
Through a focus on the wider world, global citizenship and a choice of curricular topics that are relevant to modern living, we aim to enable all children to become increasingly globally and culturally aware.
All children have an opportunity to develop the ability to make confident choices between right and wrong and to understand the ways in which they can make a positive difference to both their local community and the wider world.
The Upton Curriculum Model
As we continuously evaluate the imapct of our curriculum, it is helpful to return to and to build upon our model of curriculum. At present, we can see how our structural intent is to immerse children in learning, through carefully planned structures that predominently ensure that al children progress throughout their time at Upton.
The programme of study for the national curriculum came into effect from September 2014. It covers all of the subjects taught in Key Stages 1 and 2.
We plan the year in half termly blocks based upon a high quality and engaging core text and to a key topic area, such as The Ancient Greeks. Our aim is always to inspire and engage learning through relevant and interesting topics and we discuss what the children want to find out about in their learning, before planning. Our medium term plans (MTPs) provide the journey of learning we aim to take the children on through a progressive build-up of knowledge, skills, practise and application.
Each class send home a topic web at the start of each term. They provide an overview of the work that children will be doing in each subject for that term. We would always encourage family to further support learning and enjoyment of the curriculum at home in any way possible.