Curriculum

Curriculum Intent

At Priorswood Primary School, we treat each child as an individual, helping them to develop into proactive, hard-working, aspirational and polite young people. We also have high expectations of our pupils academically and strive to help them achieve in all areas.  We achieve this by providing a curriculum that achieves excellence through inspiring curiosity and developing passion and talents.

In building our curriculum we have considered the needs of our pupils and their families and the social context within which they live. We believe that in order to enable our pupils to learn effectively, they need to have their uniqueness recognised and valued, feel safe in their environment and have the oral, social and emotional literacy skills to support them with the demands of life. We stress the importance of supporting emotional wellbeing and promoting personal development, recognising that many of our pupils do not come to school ‘ready to learn’ but have an appetite to gain skills, knowledge and understanding. 

Our curriculum therefore has a number of key strands:

• To enable every pupil to achieve their personal best

• To inspire enthusiasm and curiosity for learning and a determination to succeed.  This will be developed through our Discovery Work.

• To promote a values-based approach so that pupils take responsibility for themselves academically, socially and emotionally, morally and physically 

• To successfully prepare pupils to become successful and resilient members of their community and lifelong learners 

Our curriculum is underpinned by the teaching of basic skills while providing a range of opportunities through visits, visitors and practical first-hand learning experiences.   Our assemblies and PHSE lessons promote positive attitudes, building a sense of belonging and community. 

Community involvement is a key element enabling the pupils to be visibly contributing to the well-being of others through visits, music and joint learning with parents and carers.

Knowledge organisers are used to make learning memorable and support the learning gateway themes which provide a balance across science and the foundation subjects. They include the key vocabulary that we expect pupils to recall and use in their learning. We fundamentally believe that providing our children with a richer and more varied vocabulary along with core skills will help them to be confident and resilient in the future.

Our curriculum is built upon five key foundations: 

Subject Knowledge 

Through research and quality professional development, our teachers are experts in the  subjects that they are teaching. Their passion and depth of understanding will ensure that  the children are enthused and inspired by their new found knowledge. Each year of  teaching will build upon the prior learning set down. 

Metacognition 

‘Metacognition’ is the process of thinking about thinking. In all our learning, we provide  children with the metacognitive tools (or ‘thinking’ tools) that they need to organise their  understanding. By engaging with our curriculum, we will teach our children to become  critical and resilient thinkers who are not only confident to ask questions, but who are  informed and articulate enough to ask the right questions.  

Polished Products 

Throughout the curriculum, children’s learning will work towards a purposeful final product.  We believe that there is much learning in the process of evaluating and editing. Carefully  considered feedback from adults enables children to make substantial progress when  planning, developing, honing and producing a finished product.  

Oracy and Vocabulary 

A love of language and effective communication is central to our curriculum. We ensure  that our children speak with enthusiasm from their earliest years and rapidly acquire the skills  that they need to be confident, but considered and considerate orators.  

Experiences 

Providing our children with memorable experiences is key to our curriculum offer. We ensure  that every area of learning is supplemented with visits and trips, encounters and adventures  which will equip them with the confidence, knowledge and skills they need for a successful,  happy and productive life.

 

Priorswood Curriculum Map 2021-2023

 

Butterfly and Owl Class

2021-2022

2022-2023

 

Hedgehog Class

2021-2022

2022-2023

 

Otter Class

2021-2022

2022-2023

 

Badger and Stag Class

2021-2022

2022-2023