Our Curriculum Intent

Our curriculum is designed to achieve life long learning, community and friendship; reflecting our vision of ‘life in all its fullness’.

When Jesus spoke the words of John 10:10 to his disciples he had a vision for them that went beyond what they could see at that moment in time.

At Kingshill Church School, we have that vision for all our children. We want every lesson, experience, and day in our school to expose children to an education without limits, full of the joy and fullness of life.

Our vision extends to our local community, where we want to see our local community and beyond impacted by the courageous care and vision of our pupils. We believe that by walking through life together, we can flourish together; achieving life- long learning, community and friendship.

Kingshill Church School is an academy school, rooted in the local community. We are an inclusive and energetic school, where every child is an integral part of the school family. We are building a school that impacts the world around us with respect, compassion, responsibility, courage, perseverance and hope.

Introduction

The curriculum is all the planned activities that we as a school organise in order to promote learning, personal growth and development. It includes, not only the formal requirements of the National Curriculum, but also the range of extra-curricular activities that the school organises in order to enrich the experiences of our children.

We teach children how to grow into positive, responsible people, who can work and co-operate with others, whilst developing knowledge, skills and attitudes to learning. We do so with the intent that that they achieve their true potential and have choices and agency in their lives.

At Kingshill Church School, all staff think about curriculum at three levels. The first is the intended curriculum – what we intend pupils to learn. Subject specialists set out this detail meticulously, drawing on their academic knowledge, the national curriculum and experience of what is necessary to flourish in their subject.

The second level is the implemented curriculum; the resources teachers use to deliver the curriculum. An example of these are the medium term planning and sequences of lessons that class teachers deliver in their year groups.

Finally, we emphasise the importance of the enacted curriculum, where our skilled teachers bring all of this knowledge to life in a way that will be meaningful and exciting for the pupils that they know so well. This will include trips, visits, visitors, wow experiences and themed whole school curriculum experiences as well as the opportunity to perform, play instruments and take part in sports competitions.

Our curriculum in its widest sense includes everything that the children experience including assemblies, our behaviour and anti-bullying approach, forest schools and the opportunities children are given to lead such as class representatives and school council members, leading our community groups librarians and out Year 6 charity event leaders.

We are confident that this approach offers a truly broad and balanced curriculum to all pupils. We aim to provide this within an ethos that celebrates diversity, supports mental health, encourages sustainability, and develops respect for the environment and for other people. This then prepares each child for the next stage in their education as they achieve national expectations in end of phase outcomes.

Focus weeks are used to extend the curriculum and are often linked to the school development plan or vision. The school annually holds an anti-bullying week, e-safety week, science week and healthy schools week. National curriculum subject focus weeks are used on a rotational basis to raise the profile of subjects and give children extended opportunities to develop their skills. This ensures the children get a broad and balanced curriculum as they journey through the school.

Vision and Values

At Kingshill Church School we strive to make our children passionate for learning and make their learning engaging, interactive and meaningful. To that end we make best use of our local context and the resources our community and local and regional area offers. We offer children an excellent education in a safe, nurturing, productive and inclusive environment.

We nurture our children on their journey and encourage them to be resilient, reflective, open-minded and independent individuals, respectful of themselves and of others in our school, our local community and the wider world. We take our responsibility to prepare children for life in modern Britain very seriously and ensure that the fundamental British Values are introduced, discussed and lived out through the ethos and work of our school.

Our curriculum promotes respect for the views of each individual child, as well as for people of all cultures, backgrounds and beliefs. We value positive mental health and well-being and the development of each person, as well as their intellectual and physical growth. We organise our curriculum so that we promote co-operation and understanding between all members of our community.

At Kingshill School our Christian values of ‘Respect, Compassion, Responsibility, Courage, Perseverance, Hope’ permeate all areas of school life and support the delivery of our Christian Vison for ‘life in all its fullness.’

Aims

At Kingshill Church school we offer a balanced and broad-based curriculum which enables all pupils to:

• Make progress in academic and personal developments
• Feel successful in their learning and to promote high self-esteem
• Become resilient independent learners
• Be given time to learn new skills and knowledge and have time to practise and develop
• Know what their strengths are and which areas they need to develop
• Build schema and make links between previous and current learning
• Be able to evaluate and assess their own learning
• Develop their meta-cognition and self-regulation
• Learn and practise core skills in English and Mathematics
• Nurture positive relationships promoting working co-operatively with one another
• Become successful lifelong learners who are able to reach their full potential and always be prepared for the next stage in their learning
• Understand and value the importance of truth, fairness, choices and consequences
• Explore their spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development
• Challenge themselves to be the best version of ourselves

Organisation, Planning and Implementation

Our curriculum is delivered using a variety of approaches and resources depending on the nature of the subject being taught and the needs of the children.

Learning is sequential and progressive.

Teachers give careful attention to how the curriculum in each subject is planned to ensure that teaching builds upon what pupils already known in order to support them to both know more, remember more and can do more. Teachers proactively bring this to the forefront in their teaching. It is in this development of the long-term memory that we can be sure that learning has been successful, and progress is made.

The following National Curriculum subjects are taught:

In EYFS/KS1 and KS2 our curriculum is planned on a rolling cycle with an emphasis placed on rich and well-matched experiences, cross curricular links and learning supported by quality texts and other appropriate experiences available in the local and regional area. The curriculum is also developed to support the needs of our current cohorts and the experiences we wish them to have.

Our curriculum is then mapped into progressions and termly pathways, which are shared with parents. The implementation of the learning is based on the best pedagogic approach (for the learning at hand) and to support the development and understanding of disciplinary skills.

The Reception curriculum is also planned on a yearly basis linking to the Prime and Specific Areas of Learning in the EYFS and is guided by the children’s interests.

 EYFS

During the EYFS, we support all of our pupils to develop positive attitudes towards learning, to be ‘school ready’ and so prepared for the next stage in their educational journey.

We prioritise communication and language (including oracy and the development of a wide vocabulary) and personal, social and emotional development as these enable our children to be ready to make the best progress possible both in the early years and beyond.

We also support all children to become full members of our community in which they will discover ‘life in all its fullness.’ A practical, playful approach to learning, based on the needs and interests of our children, is delivered through topic-based planning. This is underpinned by our curriculum progressions and knowledge of child development.

We teach children individually, in small groups and in whole class settings. Through a combination of teacher input and continuous provision opportunities, learning is planned to enable children to develop their learning independently through exploration and challenge.

The ‘Characteristics of Effective Learning’ are at the heart of the Early Years Curriculum. They highlight the importance of playing and learning, active learning and thinking critically. All the learning experiences we plan for the children support them to utilise and develop these skills. Our learning environments, both inside and outside, are stimulating and engaging, and relevant to the needs and age/stage of our children.