Curriculum Approach

CURRICULUM DESIGN PRINCIPLES:

1) Our curriculum content is selected because it is powerful knowledge

2) We teach and assess our curriculum in ways that helps pupils to remember it

Powerful knowledge is important for pupils’ life chances. Knowledge is what we think about and what we think with. Knowledge is also generative – the more that pupils already know, the more easily they are able to make connections to understand new learning.

We therefore make carefully considered choices of the knowledge content and key foundational concepts we want pupils to understand, remember and master for each subject area in our curriculum during their time in primary schooling. Subjects are taught discretely in years 1 to 6, and each is equally valued. Where appropriate, we make wider links between subject disciplines to enrich learning opportunities.

The curriculum at West Wimbledon Primary aims to prepare children to have the knowledge they need to maximise their choices and chances in the next stage of their education. We want our pupils to be equipped to be successful learners and successful citizens, as well as being able to exercise choice as they move forward in life.

We ensure that our curriculum in each subject area is carefully organised and sequenced cumulatively so that new knowledge is built in small steps and linked to prior knowledge, whether from the week before or from previous years, thereby demonstrating coherence and progression. In our curriculum planning, we start from foundational knowledge and concepts upon which later learning depends. The curriculum can be thought of as a spiral in which key concepts and ideas are revisited over time during the primary school years in order to elaborate and refine existing knowledge and understanding in increasingly complex ways. We have a strong focus on vocabulary throughout our curriculum - we think and communicate with words and so words are the building blocks of knowledge.

A successful curriculum needs to be remembered by pupils, and the importance of memory and retention is an everyday part of our approach to the curriculum. We place an emphasis on regular retrieval practice in varied forms to support the transfer core knowledge to their long-term memory. We develop resources such as knowledge organisers that outline this information clearly and enable teachers, parents and students to use them regularly.

Primary school pupils are novice learners and therefore need clear direct instruction and guidance in lessons. Our curriculum is built around teachers using steady, step by step, explicit instruction and detailed explanations of worked examples, and giving students multiple opportunities for deliberate practice, including using use low stakes quizzing to revisit key knowledge and information that we know is vital for children to master. This approach of teaching for remembering is embedded in out Teaching and Learning Framework, which can be downloaded from this LINK.

EARLY YEARS FOUNDATION STAGE

Our nursery and Reception classes make up our EYFS. Children in these classes follow our EYFS curriculum which gives children a broad range of knowledge and skills that provide the right foundations for good future progress through school and life. Our curriculum is language rich and each of our topics uses inspiring stories as starting points.

There are three prime areas of learning which are vitally important and underpin all future learning, which are:

• Communication and Language
• Physical Development
• Personal, Social and Emotional Development

There are also four specific areas of learning:

• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the World
• Expressive Arts and Creative Designs

Children in the EYFS learn by playing and exploring, by being active and through creative and critical thinking which takes place both inside and outside the classroom.

Our Reception curriculum is excellent preparation for Year 1 and beyond. Children develop appropriate independence and learning behaviours. They are taught whole class phonic and maths sessions as well as being provided with numerous opportunities to write.