CURRICULUM INTENT STATEMENT
The curriculum at Wild Bank intends for each pupil to experience a wide breadth of study and have long-term memory of an ambitious body of procedural and semantic knowledge. We strive to provide our children with the opportunities to become life longer learners, with the skills they need to grow and thrive.
Curriculum drivers shape our curriculum and the schemes we have chosen to follow. They are derived from an exploration of the backgrounds of our students, our beliefs about high quality education and our values (SPARKLE). They are used to ensure we give our students appropriate and ambitious curriculum opportunities. Our four key drivers for our school curriculum are:
RETENTION OF LONG-TERM KNOWLEDGE
Learning is a change to long term memory. Cognitive science tells us that working memory is limited and that cognitive load is too high if students are rushed through content. This limits the acquisition of long term memory. Cognitive science also tells us that in order for students to become creative thinkers or have a greater depth of understanding, they must first master the basics, which takes time. We have regular revisits for all subjects, ensuring that children are building on previous knowledge. The schemes we have chosen to follow incorporate a spiral curriculum model, ensuring that pupils revisit and develop their understanding of key themes and concepts as they progress. This approach allows them to make meaningful connections, reinforce their learning and achieve mastery over time.
VOCABULARY
Explicit teaching of vocabulary and terminology is at the heart of our teaching and learning. Our lesson format ensures that crucial vocabulary is introduced at the start of each lesson. By introducing and explaining new vocabulary, children learn to use words verbally in context which allows them to experiment with language in their own writing. Children will be given multiple opportunities to apply this new vocabulary in a variety of ways so that the new language is retained and stored in their long-term memory. Repetition of vocabulary is planned for throughout topics.
Vocabulary is also displayed around the room, so that it is shown to have high value and can be constantly referred to.
ORACY
Our children need to be given the opportunity to verbalise their thoughts and enhance their social, emotional and interpersonal skills. They need the skills to be able to communicate in a wide variety of situations. In every lesson, children are given the opportunity to talk in pairs or groups. Group work skills are taught and children are given regular opportunities to complete group work in all areas of the curriculum. With this regular practice children will leave Wild Bank with the oracy skills they need in the wider world.
CULTURAL CAPITAL AND LIFE SKILLS
Cultural capital is defined as the accumulation of knowledge, behaviours, and skills that a student can draw upon and which demonstrates their cultural awareness, knowledge and competence; it is one of the key ingredients a student will draw upon to be successful in society, their career and the world of work. We have chosen our schemes and topics to build children’s cultural capital. For example, in geography, an appreciation of physical features which influence human activity (farming) or in history, an understanding of how past societies have shaped today (democracy). We also plan in cultural experiences, such as trips to the theatre, museums or hatching chicks in class.
Implementation
What will you see in our lessons?
Our children thrive on repetition. We have ensured that the format of the majority of our lessons is the same throughout school (Years 1-6 and adapted for EYFS).
- Revisit (increases both storage and retrieval strength)
- Learning objective
- Vocabulary (vocabulary driver)
- Lesson content
We use Kapow for a number of our subjects (Science, History, Geography, Art and DT) and other carefully selected schemes which are consistent throughout school (see subject specific pages/policies for more detail). Because of this, children know what’s expected of them, it gives them a sense of order and security, and helps them learn. Structure can make children’s lives feel safer and more dependable. As we are a small school with some mixed age classes, we have adapted long term curriculum plans to ensure all children have access to the whole curriculum. This is evaluated on a yearly basis.
We are committed to ensuring that all pupils, including those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), can access the learning taking place in class. We do this by identifying and removing barriers to learning and making reasonable adjustments tailored to individual needs. This support may take many forms, such as ensuring pupils are ready to learn (for example, by checking they have had breakfast), providing alternative ways to record work, offering scaffolding, or supplying appropriate resources. Our approach is flexible and responsive, adapting to the unique needs of each child and informed by our knowledge of them as learners.
Impact
Because learning is a change to long term memory, it is difficult to see impact in the short term. We do, however, use assessments based on deliberate practice. This means that we look at the practice taking place to determine whether they are appropriate, related to our goals and likely to produce results in the long run. We use comparative judgements in a number of ways: in the tasks we set, questions/answers in class and in comparing a student’s work over time. The lesson style will match the depth of expectation. We also have set end of unit learning. This is knowledge that we want the children to know at the end of each topic. We assess whether the children have met this learning and for those who need it we plan ahead to remove the barriers.
Academic achievement is only part of the vision for our school. We have our Hidden Curriculum. These are our values we expect every child to show in every lesson. We expect every child to SPARKLE. To show:
- Self-Belief
- Perseverance
- Aspirations
- Respect
- Kindness
- Love of learning
- Empathy
Children will be rewarded for showing these values through Dojo points and knowing that they are doing the right thing. These values weave through every subject and we look for them in the people we study.
If you wish to discover more about the curriculum or have any queries, please contact our school office at admin@wildbank.victoriousmat.org.