Statement of Intent
Through the teaching of our curriculum we are:

• Ensuring high standards are achieved through curiosity, discovery and partnership between pupils, staff, parents and the community
• Providing an enquiry-based curriculum, developing knowledge, understanding, transferable skills and cultural capital in a purposeful way that will improve the lives of our children
• Creating inclusive and accessible learning environments that are safe, welcoming and enticing
• Using innovative and creative approaches to learning that recognise the importance of equipping children for the future in a rapidly changing world
• Nurturing pupils’ self-esteem, self-awareness, confidence, resilience, health and wellbeing
• Demonstrating a commitment to Equal Opportunities, Multi-cultural Education and promoting Modern British Values

Our curriculum is dynamic and reviewed regularly to ensure it is fit for purpose, relevant to different cohorts and takes account of any changes locally. 

Children’s work is planned to meet their particular needs. It is differentiated to meet the needs of their differing abilities, and where appropriate children are grouped, where appropriate, by ability from Year 1 upwards to facilitate this within Mathematics and English.

We follow the Read Write Inc. approach to phonics teaching.

We practice ‘Echo Reading’ daily (the teacher reads and then the children ‘echo’ it back) to assess the children’s fluency and expression. Children are also heard reading aloud during their English, Maths and even afternoon lessons too! Although in KS2 this doesn’t appear in your child’s home reading record, we are constantly assessing and monitoring your child’s reading progress. Reading books can be changed by the children when they have finished reading them and book bands will be monitored half termly. As always, we encourage you to hear your child read at home too and to note this down in their home reading record - every little helps! We use the Oxford Reading Tree Reading Scheme to teach reading across the school. 

As a school, we have introduced a curriculum model that is closely aligned to the National Curriculum.  The Cornerstones Curriculum is based on inspirational learning activities which take place in a classroom environment that allows children to learn in a way that motivates and interests them. Cornerstones will provide our children with a good level of challenge, giving them opportunities to solve problems, apply themselves creatively and express their knowledge and understanding across the curriculum.

Every year group will experience 6 Imaginative Learning Projects in a year. Each individual project is split into sections, which see children progress through four stages of learning: Engage, Develop, Innovate and Express.

Engage
At the ‘Engage’ stage, children:
 

• gain memorable first-hand experiences, such as going on a visit or inviting a special visitor into school
• enjoy ‘WOW’ experiences
• get an exciting introduction to a topic or theme
• begin researching and setting enquiry questions
• get lots of opportunities to make observations
• develop spoken language skills
• take part in sensory activities
• have lots of fun to fully 'engage' with their new topic.

 Develop
At the ‘Develop’ stage, children:

• improve their knowledge and understanding of the topic
• develop and practise their new skills
• compose, make, do, build, investigate, explore, write for different purposes and read across the curriculum
• research their own questions and those set by others
• follow new pathways of enquiry based on their interests
• complete homework activities that support their learning.

Innovate
At the ‘Innovate’ stage, children:

• apply skills, knowledge and understanding in real-life contexts
• solve real or imagined problems using everything they’ve learnt
• get inspired by imaginative and creative opportunities
• revisit anything not fully grasped at the ‘Develop’ stage.

Express
At the ‘Express’ stage, children:

• become the performers, experts and informers
• share their achievements with parents, classmates and the community
• evaluate finished products and processes
• link what they have learnt to where they started
• celebrate their achievements!

If you would like to find out more about the Cornerstones Curriculum, please visit their website at www.cornerstoneseducation.co.uk

Should you require any further information on the curriculum we deliver in school, please do not hesitate to contact the school office.