Curriculum Vision
Our school ethos is that 'We are a KIND school. This means that we aim for our pupils to be:
Kind
Independent
Nurturing
Determined
Pupil development is rooted within our KIND values - Kindness is key within all interactions at Scholes School and children embody this with each other, staff and all visitors. Our pupils are encouraged to build Independence - from the first days in Reception, right through to the leadership roles held in Key Stage Two. We Nurture not only one another, but also the talents of every individual where success is celebrated. All staff encourage children to have Determination in their actions - mistakes happen but provide valuable learning opportunities for personal growth.
Curriculum Intent
In this section of our website, you will find our curriculum Intent (including curriculum drivers), Implementation and Impact for all pupils at our school.
Our teachers work hard to ensure the curriculum is as stimulating and exciting as possible, so that the children enjoy learning and are inspired to become lifelong learners. We have many links with the local area as we are lucky enough to have a wealth of resources right on our doorstep and we therefore plan to continue taking the children on as many trips out of school as possible, to excite and interest them in their learning and to create a real life context to learning.
Our aim is to deliver the school curriculum in both a discrete and cross-curricular way. Within each ‘topic’, maximum opportunity will be taken to integrate cross-curricular links, with English, Maths and Science at the core. Our curriculum has been designed carefully so that the learning intent and implementation is strategically sequenced ensuring that pupils can experience a deeper level of knowledge and experience.
Scholes School embraces children as individuals. By recognising and valuing children’s particular strengths and talents, we seek to encourage their full potential. We work hard to celebrate all successes, whenever and wherever they occur, no matter how big or small. Children are encouraged to become well-rounded and sociable. It is important to us that our children believe in themselves and are both confident and resilient. We draw upon our well-established local and school community, to enrich the curriculum and promote mutual respect and a strong moral ethos in every child.
At Scholes, our curriculum is CLEAR
Communicative
We aspire for our pupils to be able to articulate their thinking. Our curriculum is driven through development of oracy skills and learning of vocabulary. Talk is the currency of learning – how we develop and grow our ideas, understanding, thoughts and feelings and share them with others (Speak for Change report, Oracy APPG, 2021). We understand that school closures due to the pandemic have had a negative impact on the spoken language development of children and therefore, place great importance on this in our curriculum.
Local
At Scholes, we draw upon the richness of our local area. Our geographical location drives inspiration and motivation across our whole curriculum. We look to be involved in community projects so that children can build a sense of belonging. We also consider our local context in addressing gaps in pupils’ knowledge and skills.
Enriched
Our curriculum provides children with powerful knowledge that they do not receive outside of our school. They are offered opportunities, experiences, and responsibilities that they do not have access to away from our setting. We support our pupils in developing or discovering interests.
Ambitious
All areas of our curriculum are ambitious for all children. The curriculum is adapted, designed and developed to meet the needs of pupils with SEND, developing their knowledge, skills and abilities to apply what they know and can do with increasing fluency and independence. Work is challenging for all children, but support is there for them to experience success.
Remembered
At Scholes, we define learning as a change to the long-term memory. If nothing has changed, nothing has been learnt. We know that children only remember what they think about. Lessons include frequent forwards and backwards referencing to link learning within subjects, across the curriculum and across year groups. Our way of teaching includes practices which are research and evidence-informed.
Curriculum Implementation
Scholes School embraces children as individuals. By recognising and valuing children's particular strengths and talents, we seek to encourage their full potential. We work hard to celebrate all successes, whenever and wherever they occur, no matter how big or small. Children are encouraged to become well-rounded and sociable individuals. It is important to us that our children believe in themselves and are both confident and resilient. We draw upon our well-established local and school community, to enrich the curriculum and promote mutual respect and a strong moral ethos in every child.
Our teachers work hard to ensure the curriculum is as stimulating and exciting as possible, so that the children enjoy learning and are inspired to become lifelong learners. In implementing the curriculum, staff at the academy consider the following concepts of sequencing and pedagogy;
Our broad and balanced curriculum has been designed by leaders and teachers. The curriculum ensures progression in each subject and this means when a child moves to the next year group, they are building on their previous knowledge and skills. Its intentions are to ensure there are no gaps in learning. This is the vertical progression of our curriculum. Whilst this is pivotal, it is important that the children make relevant connections between the subjects, this is the horizontal curriculum and this enables the curriculum to inspire curiosity and interest and make connections with the world they live in.
Our aim is to deliver the school curriculum in both a subject discrete and cross-curricular way. Within each 'topic', maximum opportunity will be taken to integrate cross-curricular links, with English, Maths and Science at the core. Our curriculum has been designed carefully so that the learning intent and implementation are strategically sequenced ensuring that pupils can experience a deeper level of knowledge and experience.
Vocabulary is taught, explained and revised in order to ensure our children are not deprived of language. This enables them to develop their knowledge an access to new knowledge whatever their ability. The approaches to teaching vocabulary and spaced learning are influenced by educational research. In order to enhance learning further and develop a greater cultural capital through offering significant learning experiences such as visits, residentials, and specialist visitors to the school which complement, embed and extend learning. Our curriculum has been planned carefully to incorporate kinaesthetic experiences which provide pupils with memorable learning.
Formative assessment is intrinsic to the planning and teaching of effective lessons as part of assessment for learning, including the use of spaced learning approaches. We 'summatively' assess our children three times a year and track their progress. With formal assessments in Reading and Maths and use pupil work in all other subjects to make a teacher assessment. Gaps in learning are identified and provision is put in place, monitored and reassessed frequently until children have become secure in the areas identified.
Impact of the Curriculum
For information about our progress in school, please visit the following page: Our Progress