Overview
Larkhill Primary School ensures the learning children experience in school
incorporates the national curriculum and government initiatives. To find out more about the national curriculum, follow the link below.
Intent, Implementation, Impact
At Larkhill Primary School we believe our children can reach higher, go further and achieve more if they:
- Have good literacy and numeracy skills in order to be successful.
- Are good citizens and have a sense of belonging.
- Are good communicators both orally and in writing
- “Do more, know more and remember more” as they move through school resulting in a readiness for each next stage.
- Are “interested and interesting” always curious to find out more and apply their knowledge and skills in new contexts.
In order to achieve this, we have identified 5 Golden Threads that weave through our curriculum and underpin everything we do. This means that in delivering our curriculum we are embedding our school values, developing knowledge and skills progressively over time, rooting our learning in rich experiences and immersing our children in language rich teaching.
Curriculum Intent:
Values based intent:
“Our children will be good citizens and have a sense of belonging”
Our 11 school values are taught explicitly and underpin everything we do within school. These values unite our diverse and frequently changing school community, helping everyone to make their own positive contribution in an ever-changing modern world.
Knowledge and skills-based intent:
“Are curious, aspirational and knowledgeable”
“Have good literacy and numeracy skills in order to be successful.”
We want our children to leave Larkhill with the knowledge and skills needed to equip them for the next stage of their education. We want our pupils to develop as good citizens with the fundamental skills needed to ensure future employability. They must be able to read and write fluently, be fluent in key maths concepts and be effective communicators both orally and in writing. We also want our children, many of whom are transient to Leave Larkhill with a good knowledge and understanding of the historical and geographical significance of our unique location and to be curious to find out more. Where possible, it is our intent that our curriculum provides cross curricular opportunities to teach and embed the required knowledge and skills.
Progression led intent:
Our children will Do more, know more and remember more
We know that children will acquire and retain new knowledge more easily when there is prior knowledge to build it upon and links can be made. It is our intent that our curriculum encourages these connections and builds progressively over time.
Language and vocabulary rich intent:
Are good communicators both orally and in writing
It is our intent that our curriculum provides children with a wide range of ambitious and subject specific vocabulary. This will give them the tools with which to communicate their learning effectively both orally and in writing.
Experience rich intent:
Are interested and interesting
Learning is most effective when it is enjoyable. By making our curriculum relevant and engaging through providing a range of experiences to support the learning we ensure that our children want to find out more are enthused and excited about their learning and have the opportunities to transfer their skills across the curriculum.
Curriculum Implementation
Values based implementation:
11 core values form the spine of our values-based curriculum. Our values are:
Respect, Kindness, Cooperation, Responsibility, Resilience, Friendship, Courage, Self-Belief, Aspiration, Peace, Honesty
We teach these in the following ways:
- Through daily reminders from all members of the school community.
- Staff visibly and explicitly demonstrating the values in their relationships with children and each other
- In whole school and class assemblies.
- Through PSHE and RE sessions
- Weekly celebrations recognise those who have demonstrated one of the values.
- Inviting visitors into school as role models
- Reflecting on the behaviour attitudes of characters in books, in history, science and the arts in relation to the values.
- Whole school displays and in all classrooms.
The following positions of responsibility give children the opportunity to demonstrate the values and learn from each other.
- Pupil parliament
- Reading buddies
- Attendance ambassadors
- Digital leaders
- Climate Crew
Knowledge and skills-based implementation:
The national curriculum is our starting point for deciding upon the knowledge and skills that children will be taught in each year group.
Our curriculum is designed to ensure that, where possible, learning is relevant to our diverse community and rooted in our rich heritage.
Often, cross curricular links are made to make learning experiences more meaningful and to give context to the knowledge acquired and skills taught.
High quality texts are chosen that will motivate learners and provide scope for teaching the appropriate knowledge and skills. Where it is not possible to make cross curricular links, other visual stimuli and experience are used to make the knowledge and skills being taught as accessible as possible.
In maths, science, history and Geography, knowledge organisers are used to set out the core learning for each topic. These are a valuable link between learning at home and at school.
Quizzing is used during a topic to support children in their knowledge retrieval and long-term memory.
Progression led implementation:
The national curriculum is our starting point for knowing what to teach when.
In maths the “Can Do” sequence, manageable steps ensure that children have the building blocks on which to pin further learning.
In writing, exemplification documents and are used to ensure that skills build appropriately across year groups. Within year groups, teachers sequence planning to ensure that children develop skills within a unit and over time in order to produce learning at the required standard.
In the foundation subjects, subject leaders have sequenced units of work to ensure there are opportunities for children to make links. Learning is sequenced to ensure that prior learning can support what comes next.
Language and Vocabulary rich implementation:
In every subject, the key language and vocabulary needed by children to communicate their learning is identified and explicitly identified on planning.
Vocabulary is explicitly taught through a variety of active learning strategies.
Vocab in all subjects is displayed on working walls to support learning and scaffold responses.
Sentence stems are use across the curriculum to support the correct use of vocabulary.
High quality texts are used to provide a wealth of vocabulary and to give context to learning.
Teachers are encouraged to be passionate about language and model effective use of vocabulary within their teaching.
Experience rich implementation
Our curriculum is to designed to ensure that our children (many of whom are transient) understand what it means to belong- to our school community, our local area, and our wider location. Where possible, topics have been chosen that are relevant and meaningful to our school community.
Through our 11 before 11, a series of experiences linked to our curriculum, opportunities are provided for enriching activities that our children may otherwise not experience and which we hope will stimulate a lifelong curiosity in the world around them.
All Topic lessons, Maths Lessons and English units begin with a “hook” This gives context to the learning and inspires learners to want to find out more.
Curriculum Impact
Values based impact:
We want our children to have the skills and attitudes to make a positive contribution as valued citizens within their community. We measure this in the way our children respond to one another and to adults within the school. We also observe the way in which they take on responsibilities, support one another and handle new situations. Our children are resilient and resourceful and have a good understanding of what our values mean.
Knowledge and skills-based impact:
We want our children to be interested in and knowledgeable about the world in which they live and to be engaging in the way they communicate this. knowledge organisers and planning documents show the knowledge and skills being taught. Pupil voice conversations, samples of work and results from quizzes and assessment enable us to measure the knowledge and skills that our children acquire.
Progression Led impact:
It is our intent that our curriculum encourages connections and builds progressively. Our curriculum maps, and knowledge organisers and lesson slides demonstrate this sequence. Planning scrutiny and books looks evidence how knowledge and skills are built up over time.
Language and vocabulary-based impact:
Our children need the tools with which to communicate effectively both orally in writing. We acknowledge the need for vocabulary and language to be explicitly taught. Working walls, planning, knowledge organisers, lesson looks and pupil voice are evidence of tier 1.2 and 3 vocabulary being modelled by adults and used by learners.
Experience based impact:
Learning must be enjoyable and our children are entitled to engaging lessons that bring learning to life. Our 11 before 111 programme of enrichment activities ensures a breadth of experiences during their time at school. Use of artefacts, lesson Hooks, quality texts and visual stimuli are evidence of this happening in classrooms.