Curriculum | Wellesbourne Primary School

Learning

Curriculum Intent

At Wellesbourne, we believe that children should develop a deep love of life-long learning through the provision of a bespoke, knowledge based curriculum and through consistently high quality teaching.

Through the content and delivery of our curriculum we will remove barriers to learning so that ALL children, including those with special educational needs or disabilities and socially disadvantaged children, are able to make progress across the fundamental knowledge and skills of Reading, Writing and Maths as well as the wider curriculum. Using the National Curriculum as its core, our school curriculum is tailored to the needs of our children to include knowledge of the local area, an appreciation of our place within the wider regional, national and international community, and learning visits and experiences to enhance their cultural capital and understanding of the world.

Progressively planned learning in all subjects enables children to acquire the intended knowledge and skills and to continually revise prior knowledge and build upon it. Challenging opportunities to further apply knowledge are embedded throughout. Our curriculum sets out the knowledge and skills we expect children to gain at each stage of their education at Wellesbourne. We want our curriculum to inspire children to want to learn more, to provoke children’s intellectual curiosity and to create experiences of awe and wonder. We believe in the power of knowledge to unlock doors in children’s lives and that developing knowledge leads to understanding, and through understanding comes wisdom.

Above all, we aim to ensure that all our children are confident, articulate and effective communicators, are well prepared for the next stage of their education, and have been equipped with the necessary knowledge, skills, attributes and experiences to become well-informed and responsible citizens of the future.

Curriculum Implementation

Leaders and Subject Leaders drive the development of subject curriculums. Professional Development to increase teacher subject knowledge and expertise is fundamental to our approach.

Ensuring the children are able to read with fluency and understanding so they are able to access all subject areas takes high priority, as does the focus on expanding the children’s vocabulary. We are consciously aware of gaps in pupils’ vocabulary and strive, through our planning and delivery of our curriculum, to allow all children to become confident and fluent with an extensive range of subject specific vocabulary. We are aware that this will increase their ability to comprehend and enjoy increasingly challenging texts.

The curriculum at Wellesbourne is designed and taught using strategies to enable children to embed their learning in their long term memories. Clear and well thought out sequences of learning with key assessment tasks ensure that new knowledge and skills build on what has been taught before.

Knowledge Organisers provide the structure to learning, specifying key knowledge and vocabulary that we want all children to understand and use fluently. The content of the Knowledge Organisers is chosen carefully, reflecting on prior learning and always considering what we need the children to know and understand to move on and make connections in their learning. Acting as a planning, teaching and assessment tool, the Knowledge Organiser makes it clear to teachers, pupils and parents what is expected to be learnt and understood by the end of the unit and within lessons. Subject knowledge, skills and concepts are taught as individual disciplines and English and mathematical skills are effectively promoted across all subjects.

The progress of all children, including those with SEND and those in receipt of pupil premium funding, is closely monitored and the curriculum is designed to ensure that any identified gaps are closed. Assessment is used to embed knowledge, inform teaching and produce next steps for children.

Curriculum Impact

The impact for all children at Wellesbourne, including disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND, is that they:

can confidently recall key knowledge from current and previous areas of learning
can confidently apply knowledge to their learning across the curriculum
are confident in using and applying high-level vocabulary
are articulate and confident to talk about a wide range of topics
are well-rounded individuals who understand the importance of Christian values and British values
demonstrate well-developed characteristics of effective learners in that they are curious, independent, imaginative, perseverant, proud and decisive and are able to make links, concentrate and have a go.
meet or exceed age-related and national expectations
are well prepared for the next stage of education