At The Willows Primary School, we believe that our curriculum is one that is broad and balanced and is ambitious for all. It is exciting, relevant and meaningful and responds to the needs of the individuals within our learning community, enabling them to shine academically and flourish socially, emotionally, morally and culturally.
We believe that our curriculum should be seen in its widest sense – as the entire planned learning experience, including formal learning opportunities as well as events, routines and enrichment activities that takes place outside the classroom. At our school we strive to ensure that pupils not only become great learners but also responsible and active citizens.
The school’s curriculum is rooted in the knowledge and skills that pupils need in order to take advantage of opportunities, responsibilities and experiences in later life, helping to address disadvantage.
Personal Development is a focus throughout ensuring that all children gain an understanding of the world they are growing up in, and learn how to live alongside, and show respect for, a diverse range of people. No form of discrimination is tolerated and pupils are expected to show respect for those who share the protected characteristics. The curriculum is planned and delivered so that children develop age-appropriate knowledge and understanding of identified protected characteristics during their time at the school.
Our curriculum is designed to allow each one of our learners to:
- Achieve the best possible academic standards, whatever their ability
- Support language development and acquisition at all ability levels?
- Read at an appropriate level for purpose and pleasure
- Explore real world, first hand experiences, so that children can see the relevance their learning has in the real world
- Become mentally and emotionally happy and resilient citizens, ready for the challenges of the 21st Century.
- Develop interpersonal skills, build resilience and become creative, critical thinkers.
- Develop skills and personal qualities for lifelong learning, preparing them to make an active contribution to society
- Actively prepares children for the responsibilities and opportunities that arise throughout life, including those offered by the family and the world of work, within a multicultural and technological society.
The organisation of the curriculum ensures that pupils use and extend the basic skills acquired in the separate subjects such as English and Maths to the wider curriculum. The school fully meets the requirements of the National Curriculum.
Each subject curriculum is planned and sequenced so that new knowledge and skills build on what has been taught before and towards its clearly defined end points. Content is taught in a logical progression, systematically and explicitly enough for all pupils to acquire the intended knowledge and skills
Individual subject sequences are also planned within and linked to a curriculum overview at phase/key stage and whole school level to ensure that sequences support cohesive learning and that children have a wide range of opportunities to apply knowledge, understanding and skills across the curriculum, strengthening learning and adding depth, allowing the children to know more and remember more.
Through detailed planning, implementation and review, we provide a curriculum which:
- contains well planned and creative activities which are enticing and relevant to pupils' needs.
- provides continuity of coherent learning experiences, as well as progression within and across each age range/key stage;
- offers challenge for all - giving opportunities for the highest standards of personal achievement through recognition of individual needs
- assesses the progress and attainment of each pupil:
Children are taught that learning is a journey and that there are steps that we can all take to understand our own learning in order to make progress on that journey. We use the Learning Pit and the 5B’s (learning behaviours) to promote positive attitudes to learning which reflect our school values as well as the skills needed to promote responsibility for learning and future success. Every child will have the chance to shine and will leave us prepared for a future of possibilities.
The curriculum overviews published below will give full details of the content of the curriculum for each subject in each year group. EYFS curriculum details can be found in the EYFS section of the website.
If you wish to know more about our curriculum, please see your child's classteacher or contact the school office for more information.
KS1 Curriculum Overview
LKS2 Curriculum Overview
UKS2 Curriculum Overview