Curriculum Statement

Our Curriculum responds to the needs and context of the community our children live in. It is therefore a unique plan of what we want our pupils to know and to be able to do, at different stages and by the time they leave school. 

As part of cultural capital, it will define key experiences that we believe facilitate knowledge and skill acquisition.

Our Curriculum is immersed in our VISION to prepare our children emotionally, socially and academically to thrive and demonstrate our school values in the wider world. 

Our core VALUES…

1. Respect
2. Honesty
3. Teamwork
4. Kindness
5. Happiness

…guide our decisions about the Curriculum we have in place.

We will have the highest expectations of all learners.

There will be no ceiling set for the performance of any pupil. We will set ambitious, aspirational targets for the continual improvement of all learners. We will always look for suitable and appropriate opportunities to stretch and challenge every pupil.

We believe in assisting pupils to develop deep, secure understanding.

We will therefore allow them to study at a pace that enables the formulation of a robust understanding of central ideas; key concepts; key bodies of knowledge and fundamental skills. We spend time deepening children's knowledge and understanding as opposed to skimming through content. We will abide by the maxim ‘less is more’ and may cover fewer items, but we will do so in much greater depth. Our aim in doing so will be to ensure that all units of learning have a high impact on pupils’ development.

Pupils will be supported to master fundamental concepts in subjects. The curriculum will not be delivered at an undue pace, with teachers moving on to the ‘next thing’ too quickly. There will be opportunities for children to revisit, reflect and apply.

Our curriculum will be broad and balanced.

We will not allow English and mathematics to dominate the school timetable and the learning time that is available. We will continually look for meaningful opportunities for pupils to apply the skills and knowledge they have learnt in English and mathematics in other subject areas.

Teachers will show flexibility when planning the next learning activities or units. They will not follow a year sequence slavishly, but instead choose what to teach next based on pupils’ interests and teachers’ accurate assessments of what pupils can do.

We connect all learning through high-quality Power of Reading (PoR) texts that link through subjects, so knowledge & skills are remembered and consistently applied.

We will fully utilize the enormous cultural and historical capital that Merseyside offers. Pupils will be given plenty of chances to visit places of interest as part of their learning experience

All staff will seek out relevant and meaningful opportunities to develop pupils’ social, moral, cultural and spiritual understanding when teaching all subjects.

Through our character-based Approach (6Rs Learning Heroes / Behaviour Code / Rights Respecting Schools) and underpinned by our values we foster character & attitudes for learning.

Our IT-based approach ensures that we develop digital fluency and IT-literate pupils to enable safe and informed decision-making and enriching and engaging curriculum content.

We promote a means of acquiring knowledge & skills through collaboration and a strong framework for developing social skills through mixed-ability, heterogeneous groupings. All lessons use KAGAN Collaborative Learning Strategies to maximise social interactions, engagement and optimise outcomes.

We develop fluent, articulate and confident language learners, especially early Communication & Language and Speech & Language (Special Provision & SEND). Speech & Language Therapist (SALT) work / Talk4Writing / ELKLAN work / Power of Pictures (PoP) & PoR approaches.

We increase the range of vocabulary the children are exposed to and expected to use. Forensic exploration of language in all subjects through PoR texts (also RWI, PoP & T4W).

We nurture fluent and skillful Readers who learn to read through a highly effective and systematic approach.

We use Read Write Inc (RWI) for early readers and continue to develop reading through PoR texts. We also support pupils’ reading skills through explicit teaching of reading using the VIPERS domains.

We foster Writers who love the art of writing and its ability to influence and change the world.

Using our PoR texts we aim to write for real audiences and purposes whenever possible, expecting a response.

We instill problem solving skills, including reasoning & number fluency.

Follow the Maths NoProblem approach to Mastery teaching in Maths.

We prepare pupils to develop confidence, skills and knowledge in financial matters to fully take part in society through making future choices that promote aspirations and lifestyle. We are a Centre of Excellence for Financial Education (PFeG) – we integrate our syllabus into Maths, Science, PSHEE and across the wider curriculum.

We enable pupils to practice critical thinking skills, intelligent questioning and rational views by utilising Philosophy 4 Children approaches across the curriculum.

We enable pupils to compare and contrast their own language & culture with another. KS2 pupils learn Spanish and we have an international partnership with CEIP Antonio Fontan in Madrid. Each class is named after a country, pupils learn about that nation throughout the school year.

We engender an experiential appreciation of culture and the arts.

Through employing a Music specialist, we link our themes through Music and offer a wide variety of opportunities for children to experience live music and local/international culture & performance.

We believe that physical and mental wellbeing is an essential part of our pupil’s success.

All children complete structured physical activities every day of the week. We also make sure that all pupils experience outdoor and teambuilding activities every academic year. Where practicable, pupils experience learning outside of the classroom. 

Through our PSHEE Curriculum, P4C lessons and themed weeks we develop resilience and positive attitudes to more complex issues.

We ensure that our Curriculum is responsive and reflects the main issues of the day and supports the children in their understanding and response. Teachers plan in current affairs, environmental issues, refugee crisis and local needs topics.

We will take heed of research findings on homework for primary school pupils. 

In the main, homework tasks will involve reinforcing or practising what has been learnt in the classroom.