Our Curriculum
At Kingswood Primary School and Nursery, we have designed a curriculum which is built upon our mission statement: Discover, Believe, Achieve. Our curriculum considers the needs of a 21st Century child and is ambitious in providing our children with the knowledge, skills and learning behaviours required to become successful life-long learners.
Background
The National Curriculum is a set of subjects and standards used by primary schools so children learn the same things. It covers what subjects are taught and the standards children should reach in each subject. This is a statutory document that all schools must follow. Schools have the autonomy to decide on how this content is delivered and what approach we would take to ensure that our curriculum is bespoke to the needs of our children and community.
Intent
At the heart of our school are a set of core values. These underpin our curriculum and the ethos of the school. At Kingswood, we place great importance on a curriculum which develops the whole child. Through our core values, we foster an environment where the emotional, physical, academic,creative, social, moral, spiritual and cultural development of each child is considered. We firmly believe that everyone is entitled to an ambitious curriculum and our curriculum design is accessible for all learners.
Implementation
Implementation describes the way in which we deliver our intent consistently each day. To do this we have carefully designed our curriculum. This is designed to enable learners to acquire relevant subject knowledge which underpins the application of skills which are carefully and progressively mapped across each key stage and subject area.
Knowledge is consolidated and developed to support retention and recall of key facts. Opportunities are planned for children to build upon previously taught knowledge and skills. Children revisit aspects of our curriculum in order to build a deeper understanding of concepts. This ensures that by the time they leave Kingswood, they have learned the key information that we feel is important in order for them to be successful in the future.
Our curriculum is based up the following five words:
Coherence: The curriculum is planned and plaited so that it connects in sensible and logical ways
Credibility: The curriculum is clear about what the children will know and be able to do
Creativity: The curriculum offers every child the right to experience, develop and practise creativity
Compassion: the curriculum allows children to develop emapthy with other points of view and perspective
Community: The curriculum is built with the broader community beyond the school in mind
Enquiry Drivers in the foundation subjects
Knowledge is taught through an enquiry driver. Each topic begins with an enquiry question which the children will be able to answer using their knowledge from a wide range of subjects in a creative manner. Teaching provides the children with the knowledge and skills to provide or demonstrate a response to this enquiry driver and we call this the final outcome or ‘showstopper’. This provides pupils an opportunity to showcase the depth of knowledge that they have acquired. This approach also enables children to independently apply skills they have learnt across the curriculum.
How do we plan for the Knowledge Engaged Curriculum?
Subject leaders are integral to the planning process and understand the pathway that their subjects take. Progression of knowledge and skills is carefully mapped and monitored across Key Stages.
How do we plan for Cultural Capital?
The Government has placed great emphasis on schools developing Cultural Capital. Cultural Capital is the essential knowledge that children need to prepare them for their future success. It is about giving children the best possible start to their early education.
At Kingswood, we see cultural capital as the accumulation of knowledge, attitudes, habits, language and skills that enables individuals to demonstrate their cultural competence and social status. Our school plays a crucial role in developing this through immersing children in dance and music, visiting theatres, galleries and historic sites and by introducing them to literature and art. We ensure children have the opportunity to develop life-long skills such as cooking, first aid, knowing our local area, residential trips, school councils and much more.
Embedding cultural capital into our curriculum is a way of closing the gap between children from differing socio-economic backgrounds by ensuring that all children have the same opportunities in society to achieve their full potential.
Enhanced Curriculum
Our enhanced curriculum aims to run alongside, and compliments, the National Curriculum, but aims to broaden the horizons of our children and links to our school's values. The opportunities offered aim to provide our children with unique experiences outside of the National Curriculum.
We broaden horizons by developing global learners, which underpins all of our values. By planning for opportunities to be aware of the wider world and its current issues; to understand and respect cultural diversity and differences and an understanding of how the world works. Our curriculum encourages participation in the community at a range of levels, from the local to the global. We teach our children to make the world a more sustainable place and to take responsibility for their actions. We do this by providing learning linked to:
-International/Cultural understanding
-Respect for others and our differences
-Community participation (local and global)
-Sustainability and environmental issues
-Challenging stereotypes
-British Values
Impact
Pupils leave Kingswood Primary School with a secure understanding of the academic content; with the understanding of how to be socially, morally, spiritually and culturally responsible and aware; how to make positive contributions to the local community and how to endeavour to be the best that they can be. We aim for all of our children to leave Kingswood respectful, skillful, ambitious and with a thirst for life and all it has to offer.
