A curriculum for Woodfield Primary School

 

At Woodfield, our curriculum is designed to provide a love of learning for all of our children. We strive to deliver a curriculum that will provide them with the knowledge, skills and understanding they need to develop into inquisitive, curious and independent learners, with high aspirations. We provide an inclusive environment that strives for excellence for all our pupils. As a school, we understand that all subjects should be valued, and ensure that our children are able to access and enjoy a wide range of memorable learning experiences. At the core of our curriculum are our values: ambition, belief and courage.

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Our curriculum reflects our local school context, and the children who attend, by addressing typical gaps in pupils’ knowledge and skills. As a school, we are aware that some of our children join us in Early Years with poor physical development, which can in turn impact on their cognitive development and personal and social skills. For this reason, we build in opportunities for all children across Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 to move and explore the world around them through our Forest School provision. Equally, some of our children’s early language acquisition is limited and this is why we believe that providing a language-rich environment with a strong focus on oracy and vocabulary development throughout the school is vital to their success across the curriculum. Equally, we have an amazing richness of diversity at Woodfield. Our choice of texts, and our emphasis on historical interpretation reinforces high aspirations for all our children. We want our children to recognise themselves in successful people, and give them the courage to believe in themselves in fulfilling their ambitions.

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In History and Geography we have placed an importance of an understanding of Wolverhampton. Providing engagement with our community, as well as knowing the history and geography of our community will, we believe, help our pupils better understand and integrate into the place that they now call home. Furthermore, we have given significant attention to developing our children’s local knowledge throughout all areas of the curriculum. Art and sport play a big role in this engagement and we offer many opportunities in these areas.

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In order to achieve this, we have developed a curriculum using the aims and objectives of the EYFS and National Curriculum as a starting point. Subject leaders and specialists, supported by senior leaders, have mapped the intended development of knowledge and skills in each subject, in order to ensure that concepts and knowledge are embedded, revisited and built upon in a logical manner. We have developed schemas of work that provide a clear learning journey for all pupils during their time with us, and staff ensure that access to this journey for all children is a key principle. We provide a range of wider learning opportunities that provide our children with memorable, shared learning experiences.

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Throughout the school, children are encouraged to ask questions to deepen their understanding, thus promoting a thirst for learning and also a culture of being able to challenge a given view in an appropriate and sensitive manner. By the time they leave us, children will be able to communicate and express themselves clearly and confidently, taking into account the views of others. Our curriculum is designed to equip our children with the skills that they need to become responsible and compassionate citizens in the following ways:

 

• Giving them the knowledge of a range of cultures and societies through our teaching of humanities

• Exploring the same topic from different perspectives

• Teaching the language of discussion and debate

• Educating them about sustainability and the immediate and longer-term threats to our environment

 

PSHE (including British values) weaves throughout our curriculum, which draws upon aspects of both local and national guidance. Time is allocated weekly specifically to PSHE and this supports our children’s personal and social development, but also encourages them to consider their roles and responsibilities as part of both local and wider communities. Our RE curriculum has been developed in collaboration with our multi-academy trust, building upon a Diocesan-wide curriculum that considers the wide range of religious backgrounds of our children.

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We have developed close links with our local community (as well as our MAT, which consists of six other local schools) and have drawn on their support in order to provide engaging learning experiences. Our children take an active role in celebrating local and national traditions in collaboration with our wider community. We want our children to understand their place in the national and international community. Our children are citizens of the world, and our international links help them understand this.

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