Our Curriculum Vision

Here is a summary of our curriculum offer. If you require further information about our curriculum, please email our headteacher Mrs. MacLachlan at: jmaclachlan@gloryfarmschool.co.uk

Intent

Our children are at the heart of everything we do. We are ambitious that every child will have the best possible outcomes in all areas of the curriculum by setting high expectations and ensuring that every child is the best they can be.
Our curriculum is designed to ensure children develop a love for learning, a thirst for knowledge and can read widely - both for pleasure and for information. We aim to ensure that our children are always learning more, knowing more and remembering more by having clear progression in knowledge and skills across all areas of the curriculum. We strongly believe in a cross-curricular approach that provides engaging opportunities for children to practise these skills and make links across a variety of contexts in order to inspire them to deepen their understanding.
Glory Farm Primary School offers a diverse range of experiences, providing the cultural capital every child needs to become engaged in the world and make informed decisions about their own life choices. We believe in the value of respect for all and celebrate diversity both within our school community but also beyond into the wider world. We value our children’s interests and opinions and always strive to ensure that the experiences we offer are shaped around these. However, we are not afraid to challenge our children to step outside of their comfort zone and explore opportunities that they would not normally be offered or choose.
Alongside our exciting and aspirational curriculum, we promote children’s physical, social, emotional and mental health needs in order to support their development. We offer a wide variety of support in order to ensure that children are able to access the learning with increasing confidence and resilience. We believe passionately in the importance of inclusion and equality for every child and consistently strive to ensure that these values underpin everything we do. Our teaching and learning spaces are designed to be friendly and supportive, where every child feels encouraged and every voice is heard.

Implementation

Subject leaders ensure that their curriculum area is well taught and resourced across the school. Senior leaders organise regular opportunities for staff to attend training that is coherently planned and personalised throughout the year and that staff share expertise across the school. Each subject leader is given regular time by senior leaders to evaluate and improve their own knowledge and those of their colleagues.
Teaching is adapted when appropriate to ensure that children have clearly understood a new concept or skill before moving forward by: holding regular discussions about learning between children and adults in school; teachers ensuring that learning is linked to real-life experiences; using our clear marking and feedback policy which is constantly being evaluated; focusing on gaps in children’s learning immediately and support staff or teachers within year groups provide booster, interventions and challenge groups to ensure this happens daily.
There are clear skills progression documents in place for each subject area which teachers use to ensure that the curriculum is designed to help pupils link new learning to previous learning and have opportunities to use and apply this learning into larger ideas across the curriculum.
Assessment is used well and is purposeful to ensure that children have fully understood and can discuss their learning and teachers use this to inform their teaching. Activities are provided in all year groups for children to use and apply skills learnt and concepts understood.
Text based learning is used throughout the school to ensure children are engaged and the curriculum is linked to develop knowledge and skills in a coherent way. We use reading across the curriculum.
The teaching, modelling and use of explicit subject vocabulary is a key part of every unit of work in each subject, developed over time.
All resources are clearly labelled in classrooms to develop children’s independence.
Challenge for all is a priority across the curriculum and we use the mastery approach in mathematics to ensure all children have opportunities to exceed their potential.
The teaching of reading is taught daily in each class and the reading skills, which support comprehension, are modelled explicitly by all staff.
Adult reading buddies are in place across the school. This is to ensure that children who do not read regularly are supported more in school.
Teachers regularly read to their class to extend the texts which children have experience of and what they have been exposed to. This encourages a rich language environment.
Banding of reading books across the school ensures that children are challenged appropriately with their reading and reading books match closely to the phonics knowledge of the child.
Termly formal reading assessments take place to identify gaps and ensure that teaching and learning is relevant and purposeful. More Informal assessments (formative) are constantly used to ensure that these gaps are addressed quickly and effectively.
Phonics is taught daily in EYFS and KS1 and continues for the children that still need the support across KS2. Children are then encouraged to continue to use their phonics skills across the school when faced with an unfamiliar word - either when reading independently, in a pair and across the curriculum.
Children are encouraged to speak in full sentences from their start in Nursery and throughout school to encourage development of their language and vocabulary.
Work is celebrated throughout school. Leaders have created subject related boards which display work that teachers and children are proud of.
Visitors, trips and external experiences are used regularly to engage children with the curriculum and expose them to other opportunities.
Inclusion is strong across the school and outside agencies are used where appropriate. Children are supported within their year groups to encourage peer learning as well as some one-to-one interventions when appropriate.
We work collaboratively on a range of projects with the local community and beyond.
We ensure that children’s well-being is a focus for all and use a variety of strategies to support children who are struggling with social, emotional and mental health needs.

Impact

At Glory Farm Primary School the IMPACT of our curriculum is:

Our children leave primary as successful readers ready for the next stage of their education.
Transition between the phases within school is strong and therefore our children are well prepared for the next stage of their education.
Our cross curricular approach ensures that children have the knowledge and skills necessary to engage and inspire them to deepen their understanding.
Our pupils achieve well across the school.
Our children with SEND are well supported which means they reach their potential and develop independence in their learning.
Children have pride in their work across the curriculum.
Our children discuss their learning and they can relate it to real life contexts.
Our children have an awareness of what makes a good global citizen and can make informed decisions about their own life choices.
All children, including our disadvantaged, have high aspirations for their future.
Assessment of the acquisition of knowledge, skills and understandings is conducted through a variety of approaches:
Short quizzes at the beginning and end of a topic - Questioning, Observation, Book looks, Discussions with children, Summative tests
Children are happy in school and are ready to learn.