CURRICULUM DRIVERS

Our curriculum is underpinned by six key themes which we call our ‘drivers’. These determine the direction and development of the work that we undertake in all areas of school life, ensuring that we offer a curriculum that it is enriched and personalised in order to meet the interests and ambitions of our children.

Our curriculum drivers are factors that we value as a school, alongside our ethos of Believe and Achieve.

VALUES

At Barnfields Primary School, adults act as positive role models, actively teaching the children the five embedded school values (respect, resilience, reflection, responsibility and positivity) and how we can live by these. Character education is valued, ensuring that children are fostering life-long learning behaviours that will allow them to succeed in their next stage of education and beyond. Nurture is at the heart of the school, enabling children to take risks, problem solve and to become free-thinkers. As part of this, physical and mental well-being is paramount and we believe that a good education promotes health and happiness as well as academia. Our curriculum also develops children's understanding of diversity as they to gain a deeper understanding of the world in which we live.

AMBITION

Barnfields children are encouraged to be the best that they can be by aiming high and having aspirational goals. They embrace the school ethos of ‘Believe and Achieve’ and are willing to challenge themselves as learners. Establishing positive role models across the school is important to us and enables children's experiences to broaden. Children at Barnfields understand that attitude, effort, belief and continuous improvement are part of the learning process and a route to success. Rich and varied learning experiences are designed with great thought and care, ensuring that they are ambitious and challenging for all children. We work to broaden our children’s horizons, expanding their knowledge of the world of work by nurturing their interests. This captures the inclusive nature and high aspirations of our school.

RELEVANT

The curriculum at Barnfields is relevant and responsive to the age in which we live, educating for life. Our curriculum provides the children with meaningful experiences, engendering significant and purposeful learning opportunities. They learn skills that they can develop as they mature, whilst at the same time understanding the key age-appropriate knowledge from every subject within the National Curriculum. We believe that PSHE is vital for pupils to learn how to keep safe and healthy in an ever-changing world. Our progressive PSHE curriculum is relevant to the lives that children live today and prepares them for the future Wider global issues are also studied (especially in KS2) in order to prepare children with the skills and understanding needed for later life. Children leave Barnfields with a well-rounded education that equips them with the knowledge, skills and attributes needed to be active citizens who can contribute positively to society in the 21st century.

ENQUIRY

We believe that choosing the right context to engage our children in their learning is vital in fostering a love of learning and also maintaining our high standards. Our curriculum is planned around the distinctive needs of our children, promoting curiosity and interest. Within each unit, open-ended questions to investigate are presented to the children, engaging and motivating them as learners. These questions are designed to provide the context for learning in most subject areas, enabling the children to further develop and deepen their knowledge and understanding. Children are encouraged to drive their own learning forward by questioning, investigating and solving problems.

KNOWLEDGE

At Barnfields, pupils are exposed to a carefully constructed and sequenced knowledge-engaged curriculum, which has been rigorously designed to support children’s learning throughout their primary education. Substantive knowledge has been deliberately considered according to its cultural capital value and relevance to our children’s lives. It is progressively sequenced, allowing for cumulative knowledge to be built upon. We recognise this as powerful knowledge. Supporting disciplinary knowledge allows pupils to understand how substantive knowledge comes to be accepted and rejected as truth within a particular discipline. Curriculum leaders have specified the knowledge and skills to be taught in each unit of work within each subject; these are outlined in our unique and personalised progression grids.

RETRIEVAL

Our approach within Barnfields’ curriculum design ensures that all subjects are true to discipline and are delivered through carefully sequenced and progressive knowledge and skills content, so that learning is truly embedded. Vertical links are deliberately mapped out across the subjects so that concepts are encountered multiple times to support the embedment of powerful knowledge. Within year groups, horizontal links are also made to provide children with opportunities to apply their learning from one subject area to another. Diagonal links within our curriculum design enable children to utilise their prior learning, to think deeply and to make connections across year groups and across subjects. Our consistent approach to retrieval practice strengthens children’s ability to develop understanding and connect knew knowledge with existing knowledge.