Curriculum Drivers

INTENT:  Our intent is to provide a personalised, exciting and engaging curriculum, which enables our children to master key knowledge and skills outlined in the National Curriculum. No matter what subject, we break down the knowledge into units/ mini projects with specified skills based objectives. These are taught in a variety of ways until they are achieved. Our children work through each mini project in a series of sequential steps. They must demonstrate a high level of success through the work they produce depending on the subject area. Typically, about 80% of our children are expected to have mastered the threshold concepts before progressing to new content.  We have 4 key curriculum drivers:

• Oracy development 
• Childhood Experiences
• Social and Emotional development
• Basic Skills

IMPLEMENTATION: WELBECK recognises that all children have their own unique character and talents. We will provide opportunities for individual development though a range of activities/ subjects and experiences within and outside of school. Below outlines how we deliver our 4 key curriculum drivers:

Oracy: Rationale (New for September 2018)

Oracy is the ability to communicate effectively. Good oracy leads to higher order thinking and deeper understanding. At the heart of good oracy are classrooms rich in talk, in which questions are planned, conversations are modelled and scaffolded and the teacher uses talk skillfully to develop thinking. At the heart of Welbeck are oracy teachers who understand how talk aids analysis and understanding of any subject. Speaking is being elevated to the same status as reading, writing and maths

Core strategies we use:

• Oracy progression (New September 2018)
• Pre teaching vocabulary
• Sentence openers
• Speaking and listening techniques
• Discrete teaching of vocab
• Discrete teaching using stem sentences.

Childhood Experiences/ Memories: Rationale

Nothing is more powerful than the memories created by a child’s experiences. Apart from home, school is the single most important place in the lives of most children. Their experience of school will play a vital role in their lives and will determine their academic, social and their occupational future. At the heart of each school is a mastery curriculum that is full of exciting and enriching experiences. Teachers view childhood experiences as vital, powerful, positive teaching tools that help enhance the social, personal and emotional development of all learners.

Core Strategies we use:

• National Trust 50 things to do before you’re 11 ¾
• Trips
• Projects based learning with launch events
• Exhibition of learning at some point during each term
• Visitors in school to provide real life/ hands on learning and experiences
• Residential opportunities in Y4/5/6.

Social and Emotional development: Rationale

Pupils who are socially and emotionally healthy have a greater chance of achieving success in school and in life. Social and emotional development refers to a child’s capacity for self-confidence, trust and empathy as well as the capacity to develop competencies in language usage and cognitive curiosity. Positive social-emotional development growth builds the communication skills necessary for learning throughout a child’s life. Core skills that support school readiness include – confidence, curiosity, self-control, capacity to communicate, cooperativeness.

Core Strategies we use:

• Full implementation of PSHE Association Scheme of work
• Links made to SMSC skills through all projects
• Projects based learning with launch events
• Exhibitions at some point during every term
• Introduction to an oracy curriculum

Basic Skills: Rationale

Basic skills of numeracy and literacy are a key part of our curriculum and are essential for academic success. The acquisition of numeracy and literacy skills is central to the curriculum as these are essential for academic success. They are developed through specific morning daily teaching sessions and then applied across the wider curriculum during the afternoon.

Wider Curriculum: Rationale

To master specific knowledge and skills in subjects we plan a series of exciting, stimulating and challenging termly projects/ sequences of work which build on our childrens knowledge and skills ready for secondary school and adult life. Coverage is carefully mapped out for all subjects, and a skills based progression document used to ensure high standards are met in every year group. We strive to provide for all of our children a wide range of learning opportunities based upon the local environment, first hand experiences, observation and problem solving.  Subjects are taught through:

• Project based learning
• Discrete subject teaching and learning - supported by carefully selected schemes of work
• Subject specialist teachers

Project based learning is broken down into a series of mini projects/ subject blocks, with clear outcomes towards children exhibiting their work and communicating their learning to a specific audience. Weaved through this sequence are opportunities to develop our key curriculum drivers – oracy, childhood experiences, social and emotional development and the application of basic skills.

Subjects we teach through project based learning:

• History
• Geography
• Design and Technology

Discrete subject learning through carefully selected schemes:

• Computing - Switched on Rising Stars
• Music - Charanga
• PSHE - PSHE Association
• PE - Val Sabin

Subject specialist learning:

• Art
• Science
• French
• RE