Curriculum

Our Curriculum

Intent

We believe learning should:

• Develop enquiring minds that question, explore and investigate.
• Provide opportunities for learners to apply core basic skills in real life situations.
• Involve the whole community.
• Enrich spiritual development so children can philosophise, debate, wonder, and question so they develop their own opinions and beliefs on a variety of issues whilst showing respect for others.
• Ensure all pupils achieve by maintaining high expectations and personalising learning to suit all needs.

  Our Curriculum Statement 

   At Bucklesham Primary School we believe in a curriculum that is designed for the whole community that takes into account the opinions of all stakeholders. We aim to provide all children with an exciting and stimulating learning environment that fosters the development of the whole child, whilst maintaining high expectations and academic success. The curriculum should develop enquiring minds, deep thinking and investigation so children can apply basic key skills within real life situations.

Our Curriculum Drivers 

Communication - At Bucklesham we will develop and nurture every child’s ability and confidence so they can express their needs, wants and choices. We will give children a “voice” using whichever communication method is best for them. We will develop and nurture every child’s potential to communicate emotions appropriately, and support them to ask and answer questions. We will ensure that pupils are able to leave primary school with a rich, cross-curricular vocabulary so they are able to talk about subject areas in depth. We want our children to be able to share their experiences with others; to develop the motivation and ability to communicate with their peers and to develop positive relationships

Wellbeing - One of our key drivers in everything we do in school is wellbeing. We are passionate that all children need to be happy, healthy and able to cope with everything that life might throw at them.  We teach resilience, confidence, positive self-esteem and coping mechanisms to all children in everything we do, as well as through our wellbeing curriculum.  We also want them to develop an understanding of emotions, self-control, good relationships and keeping healthy in mind and body.

Environment – At Bucklesham, we are exceptionally lucky to have access to amazing outdoor spaces. Living in a rural community, we want the children to have the opportunity to learn about the great outdoors first hand. We will encourage the children to be active whilst using the outdoor environment and take great pride in our high quality PE provision.  We also want to foster an appreciation of the environment and an appreciation of environmental issues.

Creativity – At Bucklesham, children will be engaged by a curriculum with rich learning opportunities. We want to excite children’s imagination and advance their knowledge and understanding through a wide range of creative, physical and expressive activities. These activities will take into account their diverse starting points and will nurture their skills and talents, while broadening their horizons and enriching their experiences of life.

 Implementation – How is our curriculum put together?

The curriculum incorporates the statutory requirements of the National Curriculum 2014 and other experiences and opportunities which best meet the learning and developmental needs of the children in our school. A blocked curriculum approach has been implemented at the school to ensure coverage and progression in a number of curriculum areas. This approach enables project based learning, fostering each child’s curiosity and interest throughout each topic and also enabling the achievement of depth in knowledge and skills. 

Progression Maps in all areas of the curriculum are used alongside the Long Term Plan to ensure that progress and knowledge are built upon at each phase from Early Years, Key Stage 1, Lower Key Stage 2 and Upper Key Stage 2. 

The curriculum provides children with memorable experiences, in addition to diverse and rich opportunities from which children can learn and develop a range of transferable skills.  We are using our amazing outdoor areas to enhance learning outside.

The children’s own community, its heritage and traditions are used in studies of the local area and incorporate our village church as the children regularly visit for Services throughout the year.

Staff have developed ‘Knowledge Organisers’ for all topic areas which enable children to focus on the knowledge they need for each topic. Teachers are then able to use these for assessment at the end of topics.

What do we offer?

 There is outstanding use of Sport Premium which enables us to make full use of the skills of a wide range of professionals; throughout their time at the school, children will work with specialist coaches as they learn many sports.  The school has achieved the Gold School Games Award for 3 consecutive years and is now aiming for Platinum. Children in Year 3,4,5 and 6 swim weekly for a term which is beyond the statutory offer. 

A varied timetable for extra-curricular activities is offered by the school, with clubs that support the core curriculum offer, as well as those which develop specialist skills, such as football, whilst also extending the range of children’s experiences.

Meeting the needs of all our pupils as an inclusive school

The school takes pride in providing a highly inclusive environment, where learners demonstrate high levels of enjoyment in their education and most make very good progress in most subjects and areas of learning. Children at all levels are helped to achieve their potential. Those who are most able are challenged and supported through being offered tasks which provide opportunities for greater depth and those who struggle are encouraged and given targeted support to embed skills, to develop at their own pace or simply to learn in a style that best suits their individual needs.

How do we teach the basic skills?

The school uses ‘Power of Reading’ resources to ensure there is a high quality offer of English teaching throughout the school. Where possible the books are mapped onto the curriculum to link with topic areas. Teachers enhance the planning to ensure that there is the right balance of reading and writing for our children. The school uses PIXL as a diagnostic and intervention tool to ensure gaps are filled and children make accelerated progress. In KS1 and EYFS teachers use ‘Letters and Sounds’ as a basis for phonic teaching and add to this with a variety of other resources. As a result, the standard of phonic teaching is high and results are good.

Maths is taught as a stand-alone subject using a variety of resources including White Rose.

The school will measure the impact of our curriculum offer throughout the year and update this section accordingly

What does your child learn at school each day? Find information about our curriculum subjects here.

If you would like further information on the curriculum we teach, please contact the school directly.