Curriculum Rationale
Curriculum Intent
Our curriculum puts the child at the centre of our caring, sharing, achieving school, where positive relationships, based on mutual trust and respect are at the heart of everything we do. Our curriculum has been designed to take account of the legal requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum and the Primary National Curriculum. It exposes our children to enriching experiences, immersing them in progressive knowledge and skills; equipping them with personal characteristics required to succeed in life. The creative and performing arts are pivotal to our curriculum delivery and ensure that our children are immersed in vibrant experiences, allowing each of them to express themselves as an individual.
The key principles behind the design of our curriculum are for our children to:
· Be confident, independent and resilient; displaying a thirst for learning
· Be kind; showing empathy and compassion whilst valuing diversity
· Achieve academically across the entire curriculum, meeting at least the national expectation by the end of their primary education
· Be culturally knowledgeable about our country and our world
· Have aspirations for the future and know that these can be reached through hard work and determination
· Be well prepared for the challenges of the secondary school curriculum. Ultimately, we want all of our children, to be the best they can be, making a positive contribution to the world they live in.
Curriculum Implementation
Children are expected to work hard and demonstrate positive learning behaviours to both maximise their own individual learning potential as well as contribute to the school and wider community.
Our high expectations, consistent Behaviour Policy and our school House System allow us to reward the behaviours we strive to develop. We have high expectations of attendance, academic achievement and pupil behaviour. We are committed to working in partnership with parents, as we believe that when home and school work closely together we get the best outcomes for our pupils.
PSHE lies at the heart of the curriculum we deliver to closely meet the needs of our pupils. Our bespoke PSHE framework, focusing on well-being, positive self-awareness, relationships and the wider world, was written after extensive consultation with the whole school community.
Our pupils have access to a wide range of opportunities, which promote personal safety and pupil voice with all children being actively involved in whole school decision making through the School Council and many positions of responsibility.
Our curriculum recognises the importance of pupils’ physical and mental well-being in shaping their long term life-style choices. We believe that our fundamental task is to teach our children to speak clearly and articulately and to read and write effectively. Reading across all curriculum areas is a priority to extend and deepen pupils understanding and use of vocabulary.
We want pupils to develop a love of reading during their time at West Wycombe School and be exposed to a range of classic and contemporary literature. The use of the school library and class shared texts are pivotal to this. In order to raise aspirations and equip children with a real belief that they can achieve anything if they are prepared to work hard, it is imperative that we prioritise experiential learning within our curriculum.
Visitors are regularly invited into school, educational and residential visits are carefully chosen to deepen understanding and we make the most of our beautiful outdoor learning environment and local community to enhance hands-on learning experiences.
Children from across the school have access to a wide range of extra-curricular activities in both sport, music and the creative and performing arts.
Continuing Professional Development for all staff is a priority to ensure they have the necessary skills and knowledge to deliver the highest standards across the entire curriculum. Music, Sports specialists and Challenge and Support Partners from our Academy Trust work alongside teaching staff to enhance curriculum delivery.
Subject Leaders have the necessary expertise to play a pivotal role in both the design and delivery of their subject area; ensuring a clear progression of both skills and knowledge across all year groups, underpinned by a robust assessment system. They can confidently articulate how learning is re-visited and developed year-on-year, to ensure a real depth of learning right across the school.
We encourage children to be brave, be bold and exercise a healthy Growth Mindset in every subject.
Impact
- Our children demonstrate confidence, independence, resilience and a real thirst for learning
- Our children are able to form meaningful relationships based upon mutual respect and trust, recognising and celebrating difference, not only within the school community, but in the wider world as well
- Our children have access to a wide and varied curriculum, allowing each of them to excel as individuals and be the best they can be
- Our children achieve at least the expected standard across the entire curriculum by the end of Key Stage Two
- Our children are well prepared to access the challenges of the secondary school curriculum
- Our children have aspirations for the future and know that these can be realised with hard work and determination
- Our children grow up being able to make a positive contribution to the world in which they live.
Page last updated: 29/09/23