At King Edward Primary School our curriculum is designed to be exciting and memorable. We aim to challenge our pupils to reach their true potential which is not defined by their starting points, but where the curriculum provides rich and engaging experiences to support the development of both academic and personal key knowledge and skills. Pupils will have a wide range of experiences which will broaden their understanding of themselves and others, and which equips them with the knowledge and skills they need for the next phase of their education and to be life-long learners, as well as good and productive citizens both now and in the future.

Our curriculum intent aligns with our school vision:

We want our children to be happy and feel safe in an environment where friendship is valued and excellence is celebrated. We want them to be kind and caring and know how to make the right choices in order to keep themselves safe and be good citizens.
We want our children to have high aspirations and be able to find a way to be successful in whatever they choose to do in their future.
We want our children to be able to respect and understand their community and their world by looking at what is around them locally, nationally and globally.
We want our children to be prepared for the world that they are growing up in, whilst having the knowledge to appreciate and understand what has happened to create the world that we live in today.
We want our children to be brave enough to ask questions that matter. We want them to question the way of the world and think about issues globally. We want them to be expressive, be adventurous and be creative in their nature.
We want our children to leave King Edward Primary School ready for the next stages in their life journey. We want them to create memories and lifelong friends. We want them to look back on their time at King Edward Primary School with a sense of pride and fond sense of belonging and togetherness!

Our curriculum incorporates the statutory requirements of the National Curriculum 2014 and other experiences and opportunities which meet the developmental and learning needs of our pupils, enabling them to flourish. Some of the experiences we offer are shown in the King Edward Promise.

These are designed to give pupils a variety of experiences outside of the usual classroom teaching to give memorable experiences and build a range of transferable skills. In order to maximise the impact of visits and memorable experiences, we ensure that students have appropriate levels of prior knowledge to help them engage with the visit and the subject more fully. Before a visit pupils may identify lines of enquiry that they would like to pursue enabling them to follow their own interests and motivations. Following a visit, learning opportunities are maximised by undertaking follow-up work. This cycle of pre-learning, producing lines of enquiry and then following up with activities ensures that pupil’s educational visits and visitors are highly memorable and have a major impact on them.

Wherever possible we create meaningful cross-curricular links and maintain the highest standards of basic skills in all subjects, using the wider curriculum to support and enhance core skills. Where a valuable cross-curricular link is not possible, these areas will be taught discretely, this includes units in Science, MFL, Computing, Art, Music and DT. Links to current affairs are made, especially in History and Geography topics, to help pupils relate new knowledge to their own experiences. Pupils are encouraged to express their views appropriately and to listen and respectfully challenge the views of others. Vocabulary is specifically taught across all subjects in school in order to a support pupils to acquire a broad vocabulary through which they can express their thoughts, feelings and learning clearly.

Subject leaders play a key role in the success of the curriculum by leading a regular program of monitoring, evaluation and review. Good practice is shared across school and with the wider system, and this provides further commitment to the ongoing improvement and development of subjects. Subject leaders are given a range of opportunities to develop their own subject knowledge and skills so that they can support curriculum development and their colleagues throughout school. They also support staff to develop high levels of subject knowledge enabling them to deliver high quality lessons. The school also places strong emphasis on using high quality research to support key decisions made, as well as undertaking its own research to identify what works in the school context.

Throughout the year there are special weeks that have a clear focus, such as Keep Yourself Safe Week and Anti-Bullying Week. The curriculum is further enhanced through focus days, such as World Book Day, Maths Challenge Day, Diwali Workshop etc. We also encourage visitors to school to share information about their work and culture to inspire curiosity in the children and improve their understanding of our world, as well as developing curiosity about a range of future career paths.

As a result of the children being taught the King Edward Curriculum, our children will be:

• Excited

• Global Citizens

• Inquisitive

• Knowledgeable

• Resilient

What does this look like?

Excited

Ensuring our children are actively engaged in their learning is key!
35% Pupil Premium means we need to give children experiences they may not access with their families.
Throughout the curriculum, a wide range of experiences will be included: Visits outside of school; visitors in to school; interesting artefacts to be used.

These will inspire children to be inquisitive and want to find out more.
They will open doors for them to see a world beyond Thorne King Edward and have aspirations to be the best they can be!

Excited may look different across the curriculum.

Global Citizens

PEOPLE. PLACES. PLANET.
Through our curriculum children will be exposed to diversity - people from around the world and their similarities and difference. Resources will be chosen appropriately. We will teach children about different religions, beliefs, disabilities, gender and families. Children will understand how famous/important people have helped to create the world that they live in today and how their actions will shape their own futures.
Children will learn about their local area; their country; and worldwide. Where possible we will talk about local, national and worldwide news as it occurs so children have an understanding of what is going on around them.
Children will understand that their actions today will impact on the world that they live in as they grow older and what they can do to help in their own community but on a greater scale to reduce climate change.

Inquisitive

Our curriculum will make children want to know more! Exciting starters / experiences / hooks will grab their attention throughout their learning.
Children’s questions will be recorded and displayed and as they travel through a project they may – or may not – be answered.
As part of their learning journey, a weekly focus question will guide them.

Knowledgeable

Knowing more and remembering more is key.
We know our children sometimes have a limited vocabulary due to lack of experiences outside of school. Our learning environments will be rich with vocabulary.
Our projects will have clear knowledge that we expect children to learn from Knowledge Organisers.
Mini-quizzes and vocabulary walls will support children in developing a greater knowledge and understanding of the projects that they are undertaking. Regular recapping is vital.
Pre and Post assessments will help children to see how much they have learnt.
Children will confidently talk about what they have been learning.

Resilient

Sometimes our children find coping with failure challenging. Through our curriculum we will create opportunities for them to have success but also find things difficult in a safe and caring environment. This will look very different across the curriculum. Children have strengths in different areas and we will celebrate this in class to ensure that children feel confident. Where children find things difficult, they will be supported and where necessary be given additional support.

At Thorne King Edward Primary School, we provide a broad and balanced curriculum by adapting Cornerstones projects, a nationally recognised approach for delivering outstanding learning opportunities for children.

Our projects are chosen to engage children with their learning. Each project will give them the opportunity to develop their subject knowledge from across the National Curriculum and their own vocabulary. We teach individual subjects throughout our projects and ensure that children recognise the subject they are studying.

By the end of Year 6 we expect our pupils to have:

• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal;
• Excellent listening skills and to be able to listen respectfully to the views and opinions of others;
• Emotional resilience – to be able to persevere when they encounter challenges;
• Have a strong sense of self, to have self-respect and confidence in their own abilities;
• Pride in themselves and their local community.