Intent
At Blofield Primary we treat each child as a unique individual and support them to develop a love of learning through a rich, ambitious and broad curriculum which encourages them to ask questions and embrace challenge. Our curriculum is inclusive for all learners and is carefully planned and sequenced to build on prior learning and progress towards clear learning goals.
Underpinning our curriculum are our Blofield values - Fairness, Respect, Challenge, Perseverance and Thoughtfulness. With these in mind, we aim to provide children with the skills, knowledge and cultural capital to succeed into the next step in their education and for their futures. When they leave our school, our children know their place in the community and as a citizen of GB, able to forge and sustain positive relationships with their peers and adults. All children throughout their time with us experience visits from authors, musicians and artists and well planned local visits plus a wide variety of clubs and enrichment during the school day and afterwards.
Our learning environments develop creative and independent learners who are motivated, resilient and engaged. Our school is a learning community, in which all children and adults are continuously engaged in developing and extending their own learning. This highly inclusive curriculum enables pupils to flourish in a happy, fun and safe environment.
Design
Our curriculum has been carefully designed and sequenced for clear progression in learning, with lesson planning itself based on our whole school progression documents for each subject.
The curriculum has been designed in order to ensure subject progression of knowledge (concepts) and skills across all areas of the curriculum; with all learning underpinned by strong subject knowledge to ensure teaching is developmental and builds on the prior learning of pupils.
Science, history and geography are now organised around key enquiry questions in order to promote curiosity, independence, self-confidence and ownership over the learning journey. As part of this, our children will be entitled to a variety of experiences to ensure that the learning connects to purpose, context and real-life application. Our children are encouraged to make links across subjects in order to broaden their general knowledge and understanding of the world around them.
Vocabulary development plays an important part in our curriculum structure. We want our children to understand language and specific terminology in context and be able to communicate in a range of settings and situations. Vocabulary is taught progressively and specifically across subjects and year groups.
Implementation
National Curriculum subjects are taught to the children through class led half termly topics based on History, Geography or Science. The overview of these is shared with parents through our Topic Webs, supported by Knowledge Organisers, which are posted on the Class Pages.
We use a mix of teaching techniques including whole class teaching, child-centred learning, and individual and group work. This mixed, flexible approach can be adapted according to the needs of our children. Our teachers have a good knowledge of the subjects they teach and attend regular training, sharing good practice with the rest of the staff.
We present subject matter clearly and in sequence, check prior learning as a starting point and enable learners to integrate new knowledge into larger concepts. Teachers check understanding systematically throughout lessons, identify misconceptions accurately and provide clear feedback.
Teachers use regular informal assessments, such as 'knowledge drops' and quizzes to inform teaching and to gauge when children are ready to move on. As well as these foundation subject assessments, teachers use standardised assessments such as Star Reader, PIRA (Progress in Reading) and White Rose Maths to support the PITA (point in time) assessments made on Pupil Asset (tracking system).
Teachers create an environment that allows our children to focus on learning. Resources and materials reflect ambitious intentions for study and support the delivery of a coherently planned curriculum, sequenced towards cumulatively sufficient knowledge and skills for future learning.
We have a rigorous approach to teaching of reading as we realise the importance of reading fluency to access the curriculum fully.
Enquiry questions are devised for each topic and children are encouraged to ask further questions to support the direction of their learning journey.
Impact
We use regular and robust triangulated monitoring to evaluate the impact of our curriculum design. Subject leaders undertake book looks, talk with our children and provide feedback to move practice forward. We ensure that our children's attainment and progress are in line with or exceeding their potential. We measure this using national data (where appropriate), Pupil Asset data and monitoring evidence. Our curriculum ensures that we develop well-rounded citizens with a clear understanding of our Blofield values. Our curriculum addresses wider imbalances of gender equality, ethnic diversity and negative stereotyping. Through careful planning and use of resources, eg book choices, we promote acceptance, diversity, citizenship, British Values and human rights. Our curriculum enables our children to demonstrate resilience and motivation, and a growth mindset when faced with different types of challenge. They develop attitudes and dispositions to make a positive contribution to the world.
For more information about what your child is learning please see the half termly planning above, or ask your child's class teacher.
In Reception the children follow a curriculum which emphasises active learning through play and exploration. We recognise the importance of creativity and critical thinking in helping children to make sense of their environment and discover new and better ways of doing things. The children lead their own learning through child initiated play, using the resources provided. During this time our Early Years staff use their expertise to develop children’s ideas and encourage them to work together. Observations are made during this time to plan for the children’s next steps for learning. There is also time allocated each day for adult led learning tasks. This includes both whole class and small group activities. Our staff set up and lead activities designed to fulfil planned learning objectives and develop particular skills. Our outside learning environment allows for the flow of learning all year round.