At Half Acres Primary Academy, we believe that a good education can positively transform children’s lives. A strong academic education is at the core of what we do, but we also know that education is about so much more than this so that the whole child is nurtured and prepared for later life. Our curriculum is designed to develop the whole child with our curriculum aims threaded throughout each year. We are passionate that ‘Values are the heart of every that we do’.
At Half Acres Primary School, we will:
Our curriculum has been designed to cover all of the skills, knowledge and understanding as set out in the National Curriculum. We then enhance the National Curriculum by making cross curricular links where appropriate and providing a range of opportunities for visits, visitors and engagement within the locality. This includes developing an appreciation and understanding of the cultural heritage of Castleford.
To ensure that pupils develop secure knowledge, skills and understanding that they can build on, our curriculum is organised into a progression model that outlines the skills, knowledge and vocabulary to be taught in a sequentially coherent way in each year group. All aspects of the curriculum are carefully mapped out to ensure that pupils build on secure prior knowledge so that they can make meaningful connections. Each subject taught has its own progression grid, designed by the curriculum leader for that subject.
When covering each subject, the progression grids will be carefully organised by each year group team through a long term plan. Knowledge, vocabulary and skills will then be planned for at a greater level of detail. All subjects are delivered through subject specific teaching organised into units of work under a theme. Meaningful links with other subjects are made to strengthen connections and understanding for pupils.
All learning will start by revisiting prior knowledge. This will be scaffolded to support children to recall previous learning and make connections. Staff will model explicitly the subject-specific vocabulary, knowledge and skills relevant to the learning to allow pupils to integrate new knowledge into larger concepts.
Teachers support children to practice new learning, questioning for understanding, checking for misconceptions and giving clear and appropriate feedback. This moves children from supported practice to independence at the correct pace for them, ensuring all children are challenged.
Learning will be supported through the use of knowledge organisers that provide children with scaffolding that supports them to retain new facts and vocabulary in their long-term memory. Knowledge organisers are used for pre-teaching, to support home learning and also as a part of daily review.
Consistent learning walls and washing lines in every classroom provide constant scaffolding for children. Tier three subject specific vocabulary, based on the research by Alex Quigley, is displayed on the learning wall along with key facts and questions, and model exemplars of the work being taught.
Weekly curriculum quizzes are used to review learning and check that children know more and remember more. Learning is reviewed also on a termly basis, after a period of forgetting, so that teachers can check whether information has been retained.
Assessment is ongoing throughout the relevant cross-curricular themes to inform teachers with planning lesson activities and differentiation.
Our children will be given a variety of experiences both in and out of the classroom, where appropriate, to create memorable learning opportunities and to further support and develop their understanding and language acquisition.
At Half Acres Primary Academy, the impact of our curriculum is shown in several ways. In core subjects, impact is shown through the progress and outcomes of pupils in national testing. In addition, pupil voice and the quality of work in pupils’ books demonstrates the deeper impact on pupils knowing and remembering more. In the wider curriculum, pupil voice shows that pupils are confident and able to talk about what they have learnt using subject specific vocabulary. Pupil voice also demonstrates that pupils enjoy and are able to recall their learning over time. Pupils work demonstrates that the curriculum is taught at an age appropriate standard across each year group with opportunities planned in for pupils working at greater depth.