Intent

“Give children teaching that is determined, energetic and engaging. Hold them to high standards. Expose them to as much as you can, especially the arts. Recognise the reality of race, poverty and social barriers, but make children understand that barriers don’t have to limit their lives. Above all, no matter where in the social structure children are coming from, act as if the possibilities are boundless” Charles Payne (So Much Reform)

Our curriculum is broad and balanced. We follow the national curriculum in all subjects and embedded in our curriculum are our school values, these underpin learning and culture at Stanley Primary School.

We believe in delivering an ambitious and well-planned curriculum, designed to meet the needs and interests of all the children in our school community. As a school we have rising number of children in mainstream with SEN (15%) as well as a rising number of disadvantaged children for whom we receive Pupil Premium Funding (28%). Our curriculum enables all pupils to make progress.

Our curriculum is designed to equip children to be well-rounded, life-long learners as they transition into secondary school and the world of work. We follow our ‘Core Teaching and Learning Expectations’ in all areas.

Each subject has a programme of study which specifies the knowledge, skills and concepts that the children will be expected to acquire as they progress through primary and secondary school. There will be times when these subjects are best taught discretely and systematically, and other times when they will be taught in a cross-curricular way enabling the children to develop their knowledge, skills and understanding in a broader sense. Our curriculum is set out and sequenced so that children know more, remember more and can do more. Each subject area has a clear skills and knowledge progressions map with the intent laid out by the subject leader with relevant vocabulary taking priority (See separate documents)

Our curriculum design and planning supports all learners to access the curriculum by providing support including modelling, scaffolding and additional resources. 

Our knowledge and skill progression maps detail how learning is built on year by year, ensuring pupils reinforce existing learning, and have the foundation for the learning of new knowledge and skills. Units of work are sequenced to support the building of concepts over time, increasing in complexity as children develop their understanding and can start to apply concepts to new learning, whilst also providing opportunities to revisit learning and embed skills and knowledge for all pupils and particularly those with additional needs (SEN).

The resources used to support learning are representative of a range of backgrounds, encouraging our pupils to be ‘outward looking’ and more globally aware of cultures that are both a part of and underrepresented within our school community.  Our curriculum content aims to reflect alternative perspectives and expose children to ideas that may challenge their prior understanding of certain concepts, so that our pupils are well equipped to embrace our diverse world, becoming more accepting of difference and starting their individual journeys towards eradicating prejudice.

Implementation 

Reading is prioritised to allow children to access the full curriculum. We foster a love of reading through a wide range of reading materials and reading opportunities. This enriches children’s vocabulary and allows for increased confidence and shared discussion across the wider curriculum.

We use a number of highly regarded schemes to support the teaching and learning in a number of subjects including:

• White Rose Maths which gives teachers a clear framework for planning (reducing workload) and has also provided some excellent guidance on catch up following the pandemic.
• The Write Stuff (Jane Considine) which following our analysis of pupils' writing needs gives pupils the clear modelling that they need to ensure that they develop writing that is clear and coherent as well as adhering to the quality first teaching used to support all pupils.
• Jigsaw, following a review of our RSE, this provides teachers with clear guidance and coverage to discharge our legal responsibility effectively.
• Cornerstones which provided as starting point for each half terms learning and is used to support teacher in a cross curricular approach where appropriate.

A cross curricular approach is used by our teacher as a starting point for planning and is adapted to ensure learning meets the needs and interests of our learners. Where this approach is not providing the high quality necessary subjects are taught discreetly. Quality first teaching runs through all of our implementation and enables learners from all starting points to access the curriculum including those with SEN.

Year groups plan effective lessons and ensure the implementation of each subject is in line with the intent laid out by the subject leader. All teachers are responsible for the delivery of the curriculum for the classes they teach, as well as monitoring the progress. Ongoing discussion takes place between subject leaders and teachers and, where necessary, improvements to planning and teaching are made. In addition, we bespoke our curriculum by planning opportunities to provide children with a range of experiences, eg. author visits, live stage performances, trips to places of worship, visiting educators, residential trips and school clubs. We make best use of our location to visit various museums, and forge links for learning in our local community.

Retrieval of previously learned content is frequent and regular, this will increase both storage and retrieval strength. Pupils will be given frequent opportunities to review learning from yesterday, last week, last term and last year. The use of talk partners, collaborative group work and peer review partners encourages all children to engage in thinking, talking, and deepening their understanding. Pupils are encouraged to be reflective learners, reflecting on the learning process, behaviour for learning and developing positive learning habits. Pupils learn skills to evaluate and improve their work, always striving to achieve their best. Working closely with parents and other professionals ensures all children are supported to achieve their potential.

Living in Teddington, we are fortunate to have close access to some of the best theatres, historic buildings, galleries and museums in the world, including Hampton Court Palace and Strawberry Hill House and, as such, children develop a rich Cultural Capital. We also recognise the need to broaden our horizons, taking every opportunity to learn about, and celebrate, diverse London and Britain.

Impact

Formative and summative assessment informs our practice and allows us to challenge and support every pupil appropriately. Monitoring and assessment of pupils’ progress is collected regularly following the assessment schedule. This directly informs planning.

Subject leaders carry out subject reviews in order to improve sequencing, content and pedagogy. This monitoring by subject leaders is achieved through analysis of data, dialogue with pupils, scrutiny of pupils’ work, monitoring of planning, lesson observations and dialogue with staff. Through monitoring and evaluation, we have a clear understanding of pupils’ progress and standards, and can address the needs of the children.

Monitoring is on-going and ensures all children receive a high-quality curriculum. Feedback and CPD is given on an on-going basis informally and through staff insets as part of a formal review cycle to ensure standards remain high. By following this structure, the leadership team, subject leaders and teachers know what is being taught, and in what order; they have a shared understanding of the knowledge and skills required in each subject, so that children know more, remember more and can do more.

Pupils leave Stanley Primary School equipped with a range of experiences and skills to help them embrace the secondary school of their choice and with core values to guide them on their life journey.