Curriculum Statement
Intent
The curriculum is the total of all learning experiences that Holywell Primary School provides for the children in its care. Our vision is to create a curriculum that promotes ‘Learning, Developing and Achieving Together’. High expectations underpin our work and we strive for academic excellence and outstanding personal development.
At Holywell, we aim to provide a broad and balanced curriculum for all pupils at all stages of their development so that they are able to progress to become articulate, numerate and literate individuals who are independent, curious and confident. We want all of our pupils to be successful learners who maximise their potential and have high aspirations and an enduring love of learning. We wish our children to be empowered by their understanding of how success can be gained through resourcefulness, reflectiveness, awareness and resilience.
Through our curriculum, we seek to support, guide and inspire in order to engage, excite and motivate our pupils as they progress through their learning journey. We wish to expand our pupils’ horizons by enriching their learning experiences and offering wide-ranging opportunities within and beyond the classroom.
Within our curriculum, we reflect and celebrate the diverse nature of our school family. There is a high focus on developing children’s moral, spiritual, social and cultural understanding. We want all children to be fully prepared for life in modern Britain and be aware of how they can contribute to and understand their local community. All pupils at Holywell are encouraged to see themselves as rights-respecting global citizens who understand the importance of fairness and social justice. We want our children to have well-developed social skills showing care, consideration and tolerance of others. We value our school’s rich heritage and through the curriculum, we aim to ensure that every child is able to make a contribution to Holywell. We want pupils to be proud of themselves and their school.
Implementation
The curriculum at Holywell has been designed around the statutory requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework 2021 and the National Curriculum 2014 and includes a range of experiences and opportunities which support and enhance the learning and developmental needs of the children at our school, as well as broadening their life experiences.
Each curriculum area is led by a subject leader who works within and is supported by a curriculum team. By working collaboratively expertise can also be shared across phases. All subject leaders are given training and the opportunity to develop their own subject knowledge, skills and understanding, so they can support curriculum development and their colleagues throughout the school.
Curriculum maps and skills and knowledge progression maps for each subject ensure coverage and progression in each subject, allowing skills and knowledge to be developed and mastered over time. Medium-term plans are developed from the programmes of study highlighting the learning objectives, tasks and intended outcomes.
At Holywell, we empower all those who deliver the curriculum to organise lessons in a way which meets the needs of the learners through a combination of daily sessions, blocked teaching, cross-curricular links or a series of weekly lessons.
The Curriculum Map for each year group builds on prior learning and the fluent development of skills and knowledge which are repeated within the year and year on year. Children are taught a sequence of skills and knowledge that are the components of a composite outcome. Topics are creative, fun and engaging whilst teaching the skills of each subject discretely. The use of inspiration and finale activities are complemented by ‘T days’ which enable the children to be fully immersed, as well as have a ‘voice’, in their learning. Enrichment activities are carefully selected to enhance the learning experience and the school's outdoor environment is used to support varied and memorable teaching. Wellbeing, SMSC and RSE are threaded throughout the curriculum.
Quality first teaching is integral to our practice through:
The organisation of the learning environment is adapted to the children’s learning needs. Classrooms are vibrant with displays which share and celebrate the achievements as well as support their learning. The use of learning resources and ICT has been developed to allow children to work independently and successfully.
Planned, timely assessment is used to take account of the children’s progress and attainment in order to inform teaching and learning to secure good progress and close attainment gaps. A combination of daily, periodic and summative assessments is used. ‘Assessment for Learning' is evident within classrooms through the use of objective-led lessons; learning outcomes, success criteria, and self or peer evaluation in conjunction with teacher feedback and marking.
Impact
Pupils leave Holywell with a secure understanding of the academic content and how to be socially, morally, spiritually and culturally responsible and aware. The children understand how they can make a positive contribution to their local community and how to endeavour to be the best they can be. We aim for all children to leave Holywell as independent, resilient, confident and compassionate individuals with the knowledge and skills that will enable them to continue to achieve their full potential.