Curriculum Information
Intent
As a Church of England School, our distinctively Christian vision and values are at the heart of everything we do. The vision and values were agreed following a series of consultations involving stakeholders from the school including pupils, parents, staff, governors and church representatives.
Our vision
We are built on Christian foundations where every individual is celebrated as unique. We aspire to be curious, compassionate, tolerant and active in a diverse world. We gather together to build a community that finds each person’s gifts and nurtures them that their light may shine. We hold a vision of success for all.
“Let your Light Shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in Heaven” Matthew 5:16
Our Values
Joy Forgiveness Justice Service Love
Our curriculum has been named “Our Curious Curriculum” and has been developed closely to our vision and values. Therefore, we endeavour to ensure that our Curious Curriculum consists of well-planned lessons providing varied and high-quality, engaging activities to inspire children and enable them to explore key questions in all subject areas for the appropriate key stage. They are able to develop new skills through the variety of interesting contexts. They are able to develop and demonstrate their creativity.
At Icklesham CE Primary School, our Curriculum plays an important role, not only ensuring that our children follow the National Curriculum in an engaging way but, in promoting the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of our children.
As a result of our excellent curriculum, we want our children to leave school as well-rounded individuals ready for the next stage in their lives.
We want children to be curious and have a thirst for knowledge, to know how to learn and work independently while striving to produce their best results at all times. As a school community we hold a vision of success for all children and our curriculum allows this to be achieved.
Through this curriculum our children will be encouraged to become courageous advocates and champion causes which are special and meaningful to them, be it global issues or matters far more personal and closer to home.
Through strengthening children’s understanding of our Christian Values through the curriculum, we aim to empower children to make positive choices and develop themselves as unique, confident and compassionate individuals.
Implementation
The implementation of our intent is carefully planned by staff, using the Cornerstones Curriculum Maestro approach which is a research based approach. We begin lessons with an “I wonder…” which allows children to be engaged, curious learners who ask questions and enjoy finding out more.
The Cornerstones Curriculum Maestro ensures coverage and progression of the aims and objectives from the National Curriculum. Each class, including Nursery begin with an “I wonder…” question and the carefully planned and resourced lessons allow the children to answer this question and further questions that develop through the sequence of lessons. Natural links are made by teachers to include many subjects in the termly topic. This allows the children to make natural links and reinforces “deeper learning that sticks”. This along with a stimulating and challenging learning environment really allows children to become the independent and curious learners we want.
The children learn to become scientists, historians or artists through this Curious Curriculum as the key skills are taught alongside knowledge. These skills will allow them to become lifelong learners who are able to reach their full potential. We focus on making everyday count so we offer support to strengthen and deepen learning so that all our children make excellent progress every day.
We recognise children need to hear, see and experience first-hand experiences from a wide range of sources and encourage the use of the wider school community, offsite visits and inviting experts into school.
During Curious Curriculum lessons, pupils record work in individual books “I wonder” books that demonstrate the intent that children will learn through a variety of activities and teaching methods.
Much emphasis at Icklesham is based on vocabulary development and this continues through the curious curriculum lessons. Key vocabulary is displayed in each classroom and children regularly re-visit new words that have been introduced during a unit to support their understanding and retention.
Teachers will carry out regular assessments of achievement in able to further challenge and support pupils’ learning, ensuring pupils are able to access their Curious Curriculum at a suitable level, whilst at the same time, providing appropriate challenge.
Impact
As a result of our Curious Curriculum teaching at Icklesham we aim to enable pupils to:
- Talk with passion about their learning, showing that they enjoy and are inspired by their lessons.
- Become learners who are able to problem solve, use creativity and are able to communicate effectively.
- Develop a rich and deep subject knowledge.
- Understand the purpose and value of their learning and see its relevance to the past, present and future.
- Know the value of memorable experiences on their learning.
- Develop vocabulary enabling them to express their thoughts and beliefs as well as exploring the beliefs of others with respect.
- Develop their understanding of the idea of advocacy, to know how they can challenge injustice and how they can help to make the world a better place.
- Reflect upon their own learning, identifying successes and aspects they would like to find out more about.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the school’s Christian Values, to know what these look like in practice and to apply this understanding to help make everyday choices.