Curriculum Intent

All children have the right to a broad, balanced and relevant education that provides continuity, progression and allows them to flourish in areas of their natural talent whilst developing the understanding of concepts, knowledge and skills that will serve them throughout their lives.  We plan our curriculum in ways that inspire, motivate, and meet the social and emotional needs of our children taking into account individual differences to ensure success. We ‘breathe life into learning, to be the best we can be’. Here is an example of our Year 1 curriculum overview planning, which we have place for all year groups. Visit the Year Group Zones to view them all.

We believe in the value of key concepts in each subject – concepts making up a combination of knowledge and skills. By focusing on concepts, knowledge and skills, we have ensured that pupils secure a solid base to build on as they move through the school and into Key Stage Three and beyond. The progression of our concepts, knowledge, and skills has been carefully sequenced across the school to enable links to be made between subjects but also to ensure that the learning is retrieved and is progressive year after year. The curriculum is also designed to ensure that children develop a strong vocabulary base and an extensive understanding of the world.

The curriculum promotes long-term learning, and we believe that progress means knowing more and remembering more. As pupils learn the content of the curriculum, they are making progress. We are developing a curriculum built on current research regarding how memory works to ensure that children not only have access to ‘the best that has been thought and said’ but are taught this in a way that ensures children can remember the curriculum content in future years. Below is an example of our medium term planning and its focus on concepts and knowledge. To view the skills progression for each subject, visit our subject areas page.

Our curriculum is constantly evolving and developing and this is shared in our Curriculum Newsletter which is published each half-term.

National Curriculum

The National Curriculum (NC) provides both the content and the framework for most of what we teach at Leechpool Primary School.  In the Early Years, children experience the seven areas of learning as set out by the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum, which is delivered nationally.  In Key Stage One and Two, children are taught the ‘core’ subjects of English, mathematics, science and religious education (RE) and the ‘foundation’ subjects of art; computing; design and technology (DT); geography; history; Modern Foreign Language (MFL) (French and Spanish); music; and personal, social, health, and economic education (PSHE).

We also have a clear Collective Worship policy that can be found here.  Families may withdraw their children from RE lessons and assemblies if they wish, but this needs to be discussed with the Headteacher.