Our Claydon Curriculum
Curriculum Statement
INTENT - Why do we teach what we teach?
At Claydon Primary School we provide a broad and balanced curriculum which builds on knowledge, understanding and skills for all pupils no matter what their starting points. Achievement for all is our priority and to ensure this we balance the drive for high standards in both the core and foundation subjects.
We have high aspirations for all our pupils and with our five core values of character, culture, community, collaboration and curriculum at the heart of this we aim to take the pupils on an amazing learning journey, engaging them in a knowledge rich, purposeful, exciting curriculum in which they are inspired, embrace challenge and develop a passion for learning. Through our Learning Powers we promote a positive attitude towards learning, so that pupils enjoy coming to school, and acquire a solid basis for lifelong learning;
Exposing our pupils to high quality texts is at the heart of our curriculum whilst emphasis is placed on pupils learning the core skills of English and Maths. The driving force behind our curriculum is a clear focus on excellent teaching and learning which ensures we bring learning to life, by making links, giving pupils access to knowledge, skills and experiences that they may not normally have the chance to and celebrating diversity, equality and inclusion.
As staff we are always striving to be the best we can be so that all pupils make exceptional progress and develop the knowledge and life skills to achieve well as individuals in all walks of society, preparing them for life beyond primary school. We truly believe that pupils deserve the very best every day and that in their learning every second really does count.
Our curriculum is underpinned by the values that we hold dear at our school. The curriculum is the means by which the school achieves its objectives of educating pupils in the knowledge, skills and understanding that they need in order to lead fulfilling lives. We value the spiritual and moral development of each person, as well as their intellectual and physical growth - see how this is developed at Claydon Primary here.
Character
- In school we are committed to developing pupils as individuals through instilling positive learning behaviour, encouraging reflection and modelling respectable conduct in order for them to succeed in learning and thrive in the modern world.
- Our pupils will be individuals with the skill set to make good choices, to be kind, caring, honest and resilient.
Collaboration
- In school we are committed to promoting the value of working together as a team within a range of groups and contexts; striving to build and strengthen our learners’ skills of collaboration to help them be successful, promote tolerance, trust and participation.
- Our pupils will understand the importance of togetherness, communication and team work and be able to work alongside others successfully.
Community
- In school we will actively encourage and promote the importance of a caring and supportive community in which every child can flourish. We will provide opportunities for pupils to engage with and contribute to their local community, as well as raising awareness of the ways in which communities can work together to positively impact global issues.
- Our pupils know their responsibilities within the communities which they are a key part of – school, local and global – and contribute positively towards them.
Culture
- In school we will provide opportunities to explore and nurture a respectful curiosity for different cultures through a range of learning experiences, assemblies, theme days and visits that will be reinforced by our pupils' further understanding of the British Values.
- Our pupils will understand the wider world, significant historical figures, an appreciation of the Arts and through this have a healthy respect for differing opinions and beliefs.
Curriculum
- In school we will provide all pupils with a broad and varied curriculum that is designed to continuously develop and build on their key skills and knowledge base. They will have inclusive and aspirational teaching and learning; which includes creative and enriching experiences to inspire and engage them.
- Our pupils develop and master key skills and build their knowledge across a wide range of curriculum subjects in readiness for their exciting future ahead.
Our aim is always to provide inclusive and aspirational environments and learning experiences where pupils thrive and build the cultural capital they need to make aspirational choices about their own futures, overcoming any barriers. In order to achieve this, our curriculum is underpinned by the values highlighted.
What are our Curriculum Drivers?
All stakeholders have worked together to identify six key drivers which we feel must lie at the heart of our curriculum design to build upon our pupils’ strengths and experiences and address any deficits including social disadvantage.
Equality and Diversity
At Claydon Primary School we want our pupils to understand and embrace diversity. This is particularly significant as our school population has a lower than average proportion of pupils from minority ethnic origins. Therefore, it is vital that our children celebrate the achievements and contributions that people from all faiths, races and genders and socio-economic status have made, or are making, to our wonderfully diverse world. This is strongly linked to all of our school values and British Values.
We strive to focus on gender, religion, ethnicity and ability. While some subjects, such as Religious Education, provide specific opportunities for diversity to be celebrated, other areas must be sought out. For this reason, across our curriculum influential people are celebrated and studied, we want careful consideration to be made to include persons from a diverse range of backgrounds as possible, including where it challenges cultural stereotypes. In the books that are studied in English, we are continually cross referencing to ensure that there is a celebration of diversity, that a range of cultural backgrounds are represented and that our strong lead characters include those that do not conform to stereotypes.
We guide our pupils to consider community and school focused questions, help them to appreciate diverse viewpoints and investigate moral and ethical issues. We constantly make the link between our Claydon values and the positive values of the global community.
Language and Communication
Communication is the key to articulating ideas, developing understanding and engaging with others. It encompasses both learning to talk and the vehicle for learning through talk. Claydon Primary is a book-rich and talk-rich environment and we are striving to ensure children understand subject specific vocabulary whilst expanding their vocabulary at every opportunity. Staff are developing high quality questioning, modelling of good use of language and encouraging accuracy and precision in children’s use of language.
The curriculum supports children to take part in purposeful and constructive discussion to enhance their understanding, through cooperative learning structures and we are developing a curriculum in which children have the opportunity to speak in front of an audience both formally and informally.
In all our curriculum teaching, we focus on spoken language acquisition. We prioritised this particular driver because we have noticed, more recently, that the children entering our Early Years setting are less confident when communicating and interacting with each other and the adults around them.
We also know that the ability to communicate effectively is a skill that is important for life-long learning. Ultimately, if our pupils have effective communication skills, they can confidently articulate their feelings and beliefs across all curriculum areas.
In maths, a focus on spoken language and mathematical reasoning supports our pupils to express themselves clearly, talk about a subject with assurance, and use the correct mathematical language and vocabulary when reasoning to support explanations. In English lessons we use drama and role-play to allow children to express themselves and experience the broader world outside the classroom; this in turn raises the children’s language opportunities.
Health and Happiness
At Claydon our motto is ‘be the best you can be’ so every child is recognised and celebrated as a unique individual. Our school promotes a highly inclusive environment and pupils at all levels are helped to access the curriculum so that they achieve their potential.
We want our pupils to have a developing understanding of how to maintain good mental and physical health. Our curriculum, therefore, promotes the importance of health and fitness both for physical and mental health and overall for leading a healthy, active lifestyle. It teaches an understanding of emotions, promotes resilience and encourages an open approach to discussing worries or concerns.
We want our children to thrive. Pupil wellbeing is at the heart of everything we do. We are committed to creating a happy, caring and supportive environment, ensuring that there is a positive, supportive and inclusive ethos where children can flourish and achieve the best they can be.
We want our children to be safe. Our curriculum includes opportunities for our pupils to learn how to keep themselves safe in all areas of life. An important element of this includes safety on-line and when communicating using technology.
At Claydon, we want to ensure children have opportunities they need to develop the key life skills that can often be taken for granted. Our aim is to support the development of the whole child, educationally, emotionally, spiritually, morally and physically in order to support them to live happy, healthy and productive lives.
Challenge
Our curriculum is a curriculum for all which is designed to support and challenge all pupils.
We use Rosenshines Principles of Instruction to support quality first teaching. Learning is focused on revisiting key knowledge and developing skills. Children are given the opportunity to hone their skills through a mastery approach which ensures deeper understanding of key knowledge and skills.
To create resilient learners, our curriculum should be more than just the regurgitation of facts from the teacher and to make sense of information that comes their way, our children have to do something to / with it. Children should make sense of the information themselves and have to use it, requiring them to think and take an active part in thinking and learning.
We include:
- Challenging texts
- Challenging thinking
- Higher order questioning
- Developing challenging strategies
Our curriculum has been tailored to take into consideration the varied backgrounds, needs and experiences of our community and we use the curriculum as a tool to counter inequality and disadvantage in order to expand life chances, and increase social and cultural equity and mobility.
The curriculum helps to ensure that the needs of individuals and small groups are met within an environment of high-quality teaching, as well as within targeted, effective interventions where appropriate.
Our aim is to provide stretch and challenge so that our children develop the skills and knowledge they need to enable them to excel. We believe that the curriculum can support children to; develop greater understanding and tolerance of others by supporting them to see things from different perspectives, to be curious and to question, to better understand and make sense of the world around them and to become active and responsible citizens who contribute positively to the local community and to society as a whole. Through our curriculum, we aim to raise aspirations, engender pride in achievement and provide opportunities for children to discover their own strengths, interests and talents.
Broad Experiences and Possibilities
We know our children are capable of doing great things beyond school. We believe that at Claydon our children learn best when they are offered exciting, memorable and immersive opportunities. We are passionate about ensuring that even from a younger age they are exposed to a range of possibilities - we want to broaden their horizon and influence their aspirations. These fresh and broad experiences are aimed at developing semantic rather than purely episodic memory.
Through our value of Community our curriculum celebrates the importance of the local area, and local history, so the children have pride in, and understand, where they live. However, we also aim to broaden and enrich children’s life experiences, opening their eyes to opportunities beyond their immediate environment, igniting their curiosity and imagination and sparking their interest in all aspects of the world around them.
We have identified the Arts as an opportunity to build on pupils' Cultural Capital. We have already, as a result of our last Arts mark journey, developed our “50 things to do before you leave Claydon Primary School” and now want to take this further with our new application. We wish to develop a diet of opportunity for all children, but especially those of limited experience. We wish to engage with the creative community and engage their services to provide the children with opportunities to learn new skills from experts in the fields of art, music, dance and drama from a wide range of cultures. We want to take the children to theatres, galleries and live music events to build upon their knowledge
We hope that through a planned programme of events, visits, artists, musicians and other creative experts we can broaden our children’s aspirations, horizons and appreciation of the creative arts. We aim for these events and experiences to be planned into our yearly calendar so they become a regular feature of Claydon Primary school life for all children. So that a child, who starts with us in nursery will have a diverse and exciting range of cultural and creative experiences to reflect, draw and build upon by the time they leave us in year six.
Key Skills
To ensure that all our children receive the very best education, all children are equipped with the necessary core skills in reading, writing and mathematics which helps to maintain high expectations and broaden their possibilities and opportunities. This is underpinned by an environment that is rich in language. High quality books and stories are the main driver for the themes and curriculum. We want them to acquire good vocabulary through a love for books which will enable them to express themselves confidently. We don’t want Maths to be seen as a standalone activity but something that can be incorporated into everyday activities, games, stories and conversations. The focus on the basic skills of reading, writing and mathematics will help pupils to acquire secure building blocks, which will equip them with essential life skills. We identify key opportunities to apply both English and Maths skills to foundation subjects. We believe Interdisciplinary studies keep Claydon pupils interested and challenged.
At Claydon the status of all subjects is also high so that comprehensive skills can be developed across the entire curriculum by pupils such as map reading in Geography, Enquiry in Science and collaboration and teamwork in PE. In our Claydon Curriculum, a number of subjects (History, Geography, Art, Design Technology), are taught under a thematic umbrella and by using the natural links between subjects and ideas, the learning becomes real and meaningful to our children. We do not believe in contriving links but in making the most of these where they naturally exist. However, within the delivery of these ‘themes’ we make regular reference to the distinct subjects being developed encouraging pupils to think like historians, scientists etc.
Key life skills are promoted through our Learning Powers
Enriching and Extending Learning
50 Things to do before leaving Claydon Primary School
In addition to the National Curriculum Programmes of Study, the school has a comprehensive programme of enrichment activities encompassed in '50 things to do before leaving Claydon Primary School’
We are committed to helping our pupils to be the best they can be by having a growth mindset - where they think that anything is possible if they apply themselves and have the willingness to accept and take on a challenge, overcoming obstacles that they may face. To encourage our pupils, we have developed '50 things to do before you leave Claydon Primary School’ to enable them to experience a range of things that may be outside their 'normal' classroom learning. The list was developed by pupils, parents and staff and these activities will help pupils to develop various character traits - resilience, confidence, ambition, respect, curiosity, teamwork and much more. Developing these skills whilst having fun completing the activities will help them to thrive in their education at primary school and beyond, and as adults in our society.
Examples of how we enrich and extend learning include:
Residential trips in Year 4 and Year 6
A programme of day trips, visits and visitors in every year group
Clubs and groups that meet at lunchtimes and after school (see the calendar for details of what is currently running)
Small group musical instrument lessons - Spanish Guitar (for which an extra charge is payable), Recorders, Violin and Brass
Cycle training in Year 5 and/or 6
Themed days such as World Book Day and Outdoor Learning Day
Inter-school learning days at Claydon High School such as 'Code Breakers' and 'Arts Day'
Themed weeks such as ‘Rio 2016 Olympics'
Inter-school sports activities with our pyramid primary schools and Ipswich schools
Activities linked to topical events such as a French Day to mark the European Cup in 2016
Productions such as 'Dragon Days' and 'Born in a Barn!'
Each phase (EYFS, Key Stage 1, Lower Key Stage 2 and Upper Key Stage 2) work and plan together to ensure the implementation of a high-quality curriculum is in place.
How does the whole school Curriculum INTENT inform each subject?
Our skilled subject leaders have recently developed clear, ambitious intents for each National Curriculum subject with clear fundamentals/implementation within the classroom – the active ingredients of the subject strategy. Click on the image below to see our subject INTENTs and Implementations being developed.
Early Years Foundation Stage
At Claydon Primary School we believe that our Early Years Foundation Stage is crucial to developing firm foundations to be built upon throughout our school journey and beyond. It is our intent that the pupils who enter our EYFS develop physically, verbally, emotionally, creatively, intellectually and spiritually whilst embedding a positive attitude to school and learning in order for each child to achieve their full potential. We set high expectations throughout all areas of school life and beyond. We believe that all pupils deserve to be valued as an individual and we are passionate in supporting all pupils to achieve their full, unique potential and high aspirations for themselves.
To find out further information on our EYFS Provision Click here
Please see below a downloadable PDF version of the Claydon Curriculum Handbook:
Our Claydon Curriculum Handbook