Introduction
We define ‘curriculum’ as the totality of a child’s experience at Chew Stoke Church School, ensuring that they are secondary school ready with the right knowledge but also with the right skills for the next stage of their educational journey.
Curriculum Intent
At Chew Stoke Church School, we value the uniqueness of each individual child, recognising and nurturing their potential for learning. We recognise that not only is each child an individual but also each class and each member of staff, who all have unique interests, skills and talents. Our ambitious curriculum is designed flexibly to meet the needs of these groups. Our aim, through our tailor-made curriculum, is to enable each child to fully participate in current and future society as a responsible, self-confident citizen.
We believe that our curriculum offers a balance between understanding and using knowledge as well as developing and applying skills, leading to better understanding and progression for the pupils.
Our curriculum has been designed with the following principles: it is personalised around what our children need, most importantly reflecting the background and experience of the pupils we have; it is outward-facing, setting learning in local and global contexts wherever possible; it celebrates diversity to emphasise unity and it is rooted in authenticity and context so that learning is relevant, purposeful and sequenced, because we want children to know certain things at certain points of their life
Curriculum Implementation
We strive for children to learn skills alongside knowledge, ensuring that both are developed and intertwined. The curriculum is about how we can ensure that pupils develop both. We do this by having an emphasis on cross-curricular teaching with a strong focus on sequential and progressive skills. We believe that this is important for making the curriculum relevant and meaningful to pupils and for putting knowledge into context.
We believe that it is our responsibility to develop the Literacy and Numeracy skills for all of our pupils. Using the Early Years Foundation Stage Strategy and National Curriculum as a basis, age-appropriate progression and knowledge for each core and foundation subject has been identified. This has been mapped out to ensure coverage of identified knowledge is secured across KS1 and KS2. We carefully select the sequence of when, what and how knowledge is taught and subject leaders work actively to review this regularly
Curriculum Impact
The impact of our curriculum can be evidenced in the following ways:
Children
Children are able to talk about what they are learning both currently and what they have previously learnt, including the skills they have gained and the experiences they have had.
They can talk about how they learn in different subjects and they can identify the characteristics of different subjects.
They can talk about how their learning is part of a ‘bigger picture’ and builds on their prior learning.
They are able to make links between different subjects and lessons.
They make progress in their learning, regardless of their starting point.
They demonstrate good learning behaviours in lessons.
Teachers
Teachers plan and teach high quality lessons which are well structured and follow a clear sequence.
They know who to talk to for support, especially when teaching new or challenging concepts.
They demonstrate clear pedagogical understanding in all lessons.
They are in charge of their own professional development and seek ways to improve their knowledge and skills.
They are confident in their planning, teaching and assessment of learning.
They are confident to give feedback to subject leaders.
Governors and visitors
Governors and visitors give purposeful feedback to subject and senior leaders on curriculum areas.
They comment on the interesting learning they observe and/or are part of.
They comment on the creativity, dedication and relentless drive for every child to succeed.
Parents and Carers
Parents and carers provide us with positive feedback about their child’s attitude towards school.
They share examples and talk to teachers about learning experiences their child has enjoyed or is looking forward to.
Outcomes
Children take pride in their learning, including their written and creative outcomes.
Cohorts achieve above the National Average in all core subjects.
Children’s written and oral work captures their increasing understanding of key concepts within each subject.
Curriculum Design
As part of the curriculum design, we have addressed the following:
Developing sequential, progressional learning, where pupils know more and can do more, building on what they have been previously taught
- Local context and enriching the lives of pupils
- Strong focus on subject disciplines and subject-specific skills
- Considering depth, breadth and curriculum content
- Seeing the curriculum as a progressional model, by reviewing and evaluating curriculum design
- Having a clear purpose for assessment
- Listening to pupil's voice so that this feeds into the curriculum
- Clear curriculum leadership and ownership for all
Christian Values
Chew Stoke Church School is a Values-based school. In order to give our children the opportunity to thrive socially, morally, personally and culturally, we underpin our practice with eighteen Christian Values including six carefully-chosen core Christian Values. Our Values help to build the children's character education.
In choosing our core Values, we consulted with children, parents, all staff and governors to ensure that the final Values reflected the needs of our children.
Each Value is studied in-depth during one term: it is introduced and worked upon in-class and then consolidated and extended in Collective Worship. The Values are not just taught in ‘one off’ lessons, they are linked throughout the curriculum, especially through PSHE and RE. Values can also be seen in everyday events and goings-on in school. They are not just studied; they are lived in classrooms, corridors, on the playground and in the dinner hall.
Our eighteen Values are studied in each and every year group so that, by the time children leave at the end of Year Six, they have a thorough understanding of the Values that we feel build good, whole children, who can go out into the world and genuinely make it a better place.
In actively teaching and promoting our Values, we aim for our children to develop into well-rounded individuals who are ‘confident in learning and caring in life’.
British Values - See British Values Website Page