Our curriculum provides essential knowledge for learners to be empowered with the cultural capital to make changes to the world as educated citizens. It has the breadth and depth required to drive compassion, ambition and ownership in all of our learners through carefully planned and sequenced learning journeys. This will establish deep rooted and uncompromising attitudes and attributes that will permeate through our local community and beyond to create intercultural understanding and respect. These beliefs are firmly embedded in our academy to support children with the necessary skills to be the best version of themselves.
Our curriculum intent is implemented to both meet and exceed the requirements of the 2014 National Curriculum and ensure that our pupils’ entitlement is fulfilled.
This is done within the framework of the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (IBPYP). It focuses on the development of the whole child as an inquirer, both in the classroom and in the world outside. It is a framework guided by six transdisciplinary themes of global significance, explored using knowledge and skills with a powerful emphasis on inquiry. The PYP is flexible enough to accommodate the demands of the National Curriculum and provides a superior foundation for pupils as they move through their education at the Hundred of Hoo Academy. Pupils embark upon various lines of inquiry stemming from a central idea. From this, and the discussions in class, the children have a voice in terms of questions they would like to find out the answers to, based on their individual starting points, and this is taken into account whilst the modular overview is expertly curated by class teachers and subject leaders.
Pupils are at the heart of their own learning in the classroom and beyond. Within the context of the central ideas (and throughout their school life) the children will be learning how to demonstrate and recognise learner attributes, of which there are 10. The attributes promote learners to be inquirers, knowledgeable, thinkers, communicators, principled, open-minded, caring, risk-takers, balanced and reflective. The ethos behind the programme is to inform learners of global issues and to promote the confidence of taking action and making a difference. From climate change to poverty, and from gender equality and economic growth, children will learn about these in relevant and meaningful ways through a curriculum which ensures that every child achieves their full potential. The vast majority of the National Curriculum is covered through the framework of the IBPYP, however, where explicit skills teaching is necessary, this is done within discrete sessions to be then embedded through the lines of inquiry where meaningful and appropriate.
Within the framework of the White Rose Maths Hub, children develop a strong foundation in the different mathematical disciplines in order to be confident learners that are willing to take risks in solving a vast array of problems. Through carefully planning learning journeys, children make connections between learnt facts and new concepts which enables them to develop systematic and logical thinking. They also make informed choices about their use of manipulatives to support their mathematical thinking when exploring new concepts. Children are able to explain their thinking using mathematical language and representations. In their strive to be the best version of themselves, they will understand how mathematics is essential in all areas of the curriculum and beyond.
Our curriculum is delivered through a varied and flexible timetable which affords the children opportunities to explore their learning at greater depths without the confines of an overly structured day. Again, this promotes our children’s sense of agency and time to take risks within their learning.
Our Cross-Phase Curriculum
We enrich these curriculum opportunities through close work with the secondary phase of The Hundred of Hoo Academy. We maximise upon the opportunity to have the knowledge and skills specific to certain subjects are taught with subject specialist expertise.
As part of their curriculum journey, children are regularly taught linguistics by specialist Spanish teachers, musicality and performance through their Performing Arts sessions and develop their sporting prowess through a variety of regular sessions with Sports Specialists. However, this list is not exclusive; depending on the need of the cohort, further opportunities to engage in specialist Computing, Humanities and Science lessons are also built into their regular timetable of learning.
As a result of our carefully planned and sequenced curriculum, our children will have opinions and feel empowered to shape informed opinions about subjects, current affairs and their learning. They are able to make links across the curriculum and their learning between lines of inquiry and also over time. Through their understanding of the skills necessary for each subject across the National Curriculum, they can identify and apply these across a range of contexts, understanding that these can be used in conjunction with each other to glean the best learning experiences. Children strive to be the best versions of themselves and understand what this means individually to them. Academically, socially and emotionally, children are supported to achieve this through targeted interventions and feedback within which they are active participants. Children will be able to exhibit this in a variety of ways, including, but not exclusively, through opportunities to informally share their experiences with others including their parents during “exhibition” sessions, present more formally in assemblies and performances and also through achieving well within statutory assessments. This will be due to the secure foundations developed through their enjoyment of a varied and aspirational curriculum. Ultimately, our pupils are happy to come to school, are active learners and engage wholeheartedly in becoming the best versions of themselves.
