Our Curriculum
07 May 2019
A new curriculum was introduced in September 2014. Details of the statutory curriculum can be found at: http://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-curriculum
We are proud to be a Church of England school and our Christian ethos underpins the life and work of our school.
As a church school, we have chosen John 10v10 as the foundation for our school vision;
“I have come that they may have life and have it to the full”.
Learning and teaching are the key functions of our School.
At Fountains C of E Primary School, we work towards the aims of the School through providing high quality learning experiences within all we do; in the discreet and hidden curriculum, in the School environment and the interactions between all members of the School community. We believe that we teach the children through all that we do: through the implementation of the policies, systems and practice that determines the curriculum and school day; learning and teaching should not just be seen as an isolated activity that happens in a classroom.
Curriculum Intent:
We want all the children and staff in our schools to be able to live life in all its fullness. To ensure our children flourish; we aim to nourish the natural inquisitiveness of our children, to feed their desire to learn and explore our diverse world by embracing new opportunities to help broaden minds, understand and wonder about our world and our roles within it. We will ensure that our staff are supported with high quality training so that they can implement a journey of learning filled with opportunities to gain new knowledge, vocabulary and skills, provide experiences which engage and motivate; provide challenges to help us to develop and improve so we can inspire ourselves and others and ensure our full potential can be realised. We want our children and staff to flourish intellectually, spiritually; developing healthy minds and bodies. We aim to support and serve our communities, building relationships and providing opportunities for the children to be advocates for change. We will do so in a loving and caring way, working hard to provide a working and learning environment that is a joy for both our children and staff.
As a Federation, our aim is to embark on a journey of learning filled with opportunities to gain new knowledge, vocabulary and skills; to have experiences which engage and motivate us; to embrace challenges as opportunities to develop and improve; embedding a growth mindset where effort, resilience and perseverance to learn and improve are rewarded.
Through our curriculum we will...
- embed the Vision and Values of the school
- have high expectations for all learners and motivate children to believe in their potential.
- ensure that children are actively involved in their learning.
- appropriately challenge and support all learners with experiences which are relevant, inspiring, motivating and engaging.
- provide a learning environment which is safe, caring, supportive and stimulating.
- demonstrate secure subject and pedagogical knowledge to inspire and develop understanding.
- celebrate diversity and recognise each other as unique individuals; all different; all equal.
- inspire lifelong learners who are active citizens caring for, supporting and contributing to local and wider projects.
- deliver lessons rich in knowledge and vocabulary.
- provide opportunities to Elicit, Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Extend and Evaluate learning.
- enable appropriate and pertinent aspects of personal, social, moral, spiritual, cultural and emotional development within our provision.
- insist on high expectations of learning and social behaviours.
- develop skills of critical thinking and reflection so that they can make correlations and connections.
- to develop independence, growth mindset and resilience through meaningful and relevant content and approaches.
- encourage outdoor learning.
- encourage children to ask questions.
- develop and sustain good links and focused communication with the school community.
- enrich learning opportunities with visits, visitors and extra-curricular activities.
Curriculum Implementation:
The curriculum is organised under whole school/key stage themes using the model detailed below.
Coverage is organised within blocked subject knowledge-based units to ensure that the children are provided with deep and rich learning opportunities where knowledge can be built upon and explored at depth.
For each topic, we have developed knowledge organisers which provide details about the key knowledge, vocabulary and skills which will be explored in the topic. Each topic will start with an enquiry question. There will then be a series of subsidiary questions which will help navigate a learning journey to help answer that question. The knowledge organisers will be developed from the sequential planning documents which detail the disciplinary knowledge for the subject and the substantive knowledge which the children will learn through key drivers for each subject.
Long Term Curriculum Plan
Year A
Year B
Year B Summer Term Knowledge Mats
In addition to the music curriculum provided in school, our children get the opportunity to learn a variety of musical instruments, taught by members of the Music Service. Instruments include keyboards, guitar, flute, brass, violin, and recorder. We encourage our musicians to play to the school at the beginning and end of assemblies.
In addition to our PE curriculum, children have the opportunity to attend competitions run by Sporting Influence which include badminton, volley ball, athletics, football, rocketball and netball.
We make every effort to ensure children are fully involved in planning at our school and regularly consult their views. Any parent who is able to help in school in any way is warmly welcomed.
If you wish to find out more information about our curriculum please speak to the class teachers, or refer to the termly overviews sent out at the beginning of each term.