Purpose of the Curriculum

The curriculum incorporates the statutory requirements of the National Curriculum, enriched by other experiences and opportunities, to allow children to explore their place and role, both within their own and the global community.  It is coherently planned and sequenced to be ambitious for all pupil groups and ensures breadth, depth and balance.

The aim of our curriculum is to instil a love of learning in our pupils enabling them to gain the requisite skills to be successful, independent and motivated learners, in readiness for their next stage of education and beyond. 
 

How the Curriculum is Put into Effect
Our teachers have good knowledge of the subjects they teach and, as a result, present subject matter clearly, promoting appropriate discussion about the topics they are teaching. They check learners’ understanding systematically, identify misconceptions accurately and provide clear, direct feedback. In doing so, they respond and adapt their teaching as necessary, to enable the highest possible outcomes for all pupil groups. 
 
Teaching and planned opportunities for revisiting prior learning are designed to help learners to remember in the long term, the content they have been taught and to integrate new knowledge into larger concepts.  

To inform planning and enhance pupil progress, teachers and leaders use assessment well, identifying gaps, checking understanding and helping learners to embed and use knowledge fluently. School leaders understand the limitations of assessment and do not use it in a way that creates unnecessary burdens for staff or learners. 

Teachers strive to create a rich and safe environment to allow all pupils to focus on and enjoy learning. The resources and materials that teachers select reflect the school’s ambitious intentions for all children and clearly support our intention to develop skills for future learning and employment.  

Our rigorous approach to the teaching of reading develops learners’ confidence and enjoyment in reading. At the early stages of learning to read, reading materials are closely matched to learners’ phonic knowledge. 
In Reception, we follow the Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework. The children’s learning experiences are planned to enable them to develop and achieve the early learning goals, through play and investigative learning experiences. In EYFS, learning is cross-curricular and continuous, both in and outdoors, promoting all aspects of the children’s development. 

Our curriculum is inclusive and, from Year 1 onwards, integrates the requirements of the 2014 National Curriculum with enrichment opportunities. All class teachers are responsible for providing a curriculum that is suitable for all pupils in the class, including those with Special Educational Needs or Disabilities (SEND) with support from the SENCo. We have high expectations for all pupils and are committed to ensuring our curriculum complies with the Equality Act 2010 and the Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014. Our Equality and Diversity policy emphasises the importance of providing an inclusive learning environment for all pupils including those with SEND. Additional information on this can be found in our Special Education Needs Information Report and Equality and Diversity Policy.

It is designed to meet the needs of our children as future citizens, and equip them with the foundations for life. Alongside the National Curriculum we follow the Devon and Torbay Agreed RE syllabus and promote positive mental health and well-being through our PSHE lessons.  

As well as our academic curriculum, we ensure learning is supported by relevant educational visits and visitors, overnight residential visits, assemblies, charity days and responding to events in the news. The outdoor environment and the local community are considered an opportunity for active learning for all our pupils. A range of clubs and enrichment activities such as choir visits, sports matches, celebration assemblies, and celebrating the arts are regular occurrences. These are a vital part of the children’s development as lifelong learners and ensure individual talents are nurtured and celebrated. 

Our strategy for successful implementation of our intended curriculum is to create a culture where collaboration and professional dialogue between subject leaders delivers a curriculum that builds on prior learning, deepens knowledge and enhances skills that foster learning and achievement. We engage in a constant cycle of review and evaluation. 
 

Impact
The main source of impact will always remain the quality and breadth of work seen in pupils’ books and the learning environment. As an academy we are striving to raise the expectation of learners and the quality of work they produce from a rounded and connected curriculum. We ensure there are always opportunities for application of learning within and across subject disciplines. The impact of our curriculum should also be measured by assessment procedures which allow us to measure outcomes against all schools nationally: End of KS2, % of children working towards or at the expected standard and at greater depth in reading, writing and maths.   

We use rigorous triangulated monitoring throughout the year to gauge the impact of the curriculum design. Alongside senior leadership and core subject leadership, carefully crafted curriculum teams across the School monitor individual subjects: reviewing learning, evaluating pupil voice, providing individual feedback to move practice forward, celebrating positives and highlighting areas of development. Our whole school teams strengthen our ethos and vision as we work together to reflect upon our curriculum and share outcomes driving forward next steps. We don’t confuse coverage with progress when assessing, as learning is measured through careful analysis of the application of skills across the curriculum; showing how acquisition of knowledge is enhanced dramatically by expectations to evidence quality thinking and demonstrate individual understanding. We believe our children possess unique talents, skills and qualities. As such, they have the right to succeed, the right to recognise their own greatness and the right to develop who they are in a respectful and nurturing environment. Our school ethos is firmly rooted in our values with a love of learning being the foundation of everything we do. 

You can find out more about the National Curriculum by clicking the link below: