Curriculum

Curriculum

At Wisbech St Mary C of E Academy, we aim for all pupils to be successful learners, confident individuals and responsible citizens.

Overview

We see education as a tool that will bring learning for life.

The curriculum is all the planned activities that we organise in order to promote learning and personal growth and development. It includes not only the formal requirements of the National Curriculum, but also the range of extra-curricular activities that the school organises in order to enrich the experience of the children. It also includes the ‘hidden curriculum’, or what the children learn from the way they are treated and expected to behave. We aim to teach children how to grow into positive, responsible people, who can work and co-operate with others while developing their knowledge, skills and cultural capital, so that they achieve their true potential. 

At Wisbech St Mary, children are provided with opportunities to learn through an engaging, exciting, empowering and inclusive curriculum that allows them to explore and discover how past events have influenced and shaped our world, preparing them for the future! Our curriculum is designed to be: knowledge-rich, valued and specified, and taught to be remembered. We supplement our curriculum with the Primary Knowledge Curriculum (PKC) which has been developed by experts and matches our curriculum vision: the content has been identified as most useful, and is taught in a logical progression, systematically and explicitly enough for all pupils to acquire the intended knowledge and skills. It is sequenced in a way that allows pupils to transfer key knowledge to long-term memory. It is sequenced so that new knowledge and skills build on what has been taught before and pupils can work towards clearly defined end points.

In planning the curriculum, we have sought to recognise that each child is an individual entitled to equal regard and opportunity. Our task is to develop the potential of each child, to provide engaging and exciting learning opportunities that have meaning and purpose and where that child may take increasing responsibility for their learning. This encourages children to become creative, critical thinkers, develop interpersonal skills and building resilience. In this way we hope to develop the whole person.

We recognise the importance of the methods and practice of teaching (pedagogy) we choose to use in enabling pupils to know more, to understand more and to recall more. Our approach to teaching remains rooted in evidence and the key elements of effective teaching, including Rosenshine's Principles of Instruction and how children transfer learning into their long-term memory by attaching new knowledge to existing knowledge (by developing their schema). Teachers consider the most important knowledge or concepts pupils need to know and focus on these. Feedback, retrieval practice and assessment are prioritised.

Our curriculum is built upon the teaching of basic skills, knowledge, concepts and values with the aim to prepare our children for life beyond primary school. We believe that children have the right to have an education that allows them to be happy, investigative and inquisitive, where there are no limits to curiosity and there is a thirst for new experiences and knowledge and time to play. We promote positive attitudes to learning through our therapeutic approach to behaviour management and explicit teaching of growth mindset, supported by the principles of metacognition; this reflects the values and skills needed to promote responsibility for learning and future success.

Community involvement is an integral part of our curriculum, inviting families and visitors to facilitate learning new skills and sharing experiences such as assemblies, curriculum outcomes, open days, family cafés, church services and religious festivals. Through our links with the community, we aim for children to leave our school with a sense of belonging to a tightly-knit community where they have the confidence and skills to make decisions, self-evaluate, make connections and become lifelong learners.


In the Early Years at Wisbech St Mary, we value each child as an individual with a unique potential for learning. By providing a play-based and stimulating environment, both in and outdoors, it will allow children to independently explore and develop their own ideas. Children have the opportunity to take risks, and to be challenged across the prime and specific areas of learning and development. This will be done by fostering theses through engagement, motivation and critical thinking and through facilitating equal learning opportunities for all children.


By using a balance of direct teaching alongside ‘In the Moment Planning’ and immediate teachable moments, children’s interests will be explored, and their next steps will be addressed.


Well established structure, routines and boundaries allow a sense of belonging for the children and promote positive, respectful relationships with both peers and adults alike.


We aim to achieve our curriculum intent by providing teaching and learning in an enabling and engaging environment where everyone is cared for, valued and respected and where learning is valued and specified, taught to be remembered and knowledge-rich.

All children from Early Years to Year 6 follow the 2014 National Curriculum which covers English, Mathematics, Science, Computing, History, Geography, Music, Physical Education (PE), Design Technology, Art and Design. In addition to the National Curriculum, we teach Personal, Social, Health, Education (PSHE), Religious Education (RE) and Latin (KS2).


We promote a love of independent learning and understand the importance of play within children’s development. The indoor and outdoor environments and enrichment opportunities are carefully planned and richly resourced to allow for curriculum coverage to be achieved through a provision-based approach and purposeful experiences. We aim to build upon the characteristics of effective learning which underpin the EYFS and provide our children with opportunities to be critical thinkers and problem solvers. Supporting adults have a deep understanding of how to ensure children's experiences are developmentally appropriate and ensure learning is advanced by the use of careful interactions and open-ended questioning.

For more information about our school's curriculum, please speak with Mrs Bradshaw (Deputy Headteacher).

 

Copies of school policies for any of the specific areas of the curriculum are available on the school website or upon request from the school office.


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