Curriculum
At Thomas Whitehead CE Academy we are developing a curriculum which will enable all of our pupils to become wise, hopeful and aspirational and live well together with dignity and respect, flourishing in God’s love, grace and wisdom. We believe deeply in the importance of helping our pupils develop as a whole person – happy and ready to take the next steps into their education and lives beyond Primary School.
To achieve this we teach the curriculum in a dynamic and fun way that means every child can unlock vital skills that will drive their curiosity, raise their aspirations and develop a lifelong love of learning.
Our curriculum is holistic, utilising the child’s head, heart and hands, and is rich with thematic learning – we provide many theme days, educational visits and visitors that really bring our subjects to life and enrich learning.
As a church school the new SIAMS Framework places extensive importance on school vision and how we as a school use our vision to develop our curriculum. Therefore, it will play a vital role in our curriculum development. Many of the key areas for consideration in our curriculum are reflective of our school context and must be taken into account when completing the new SIAMS SEF.
Our current vision underpins our new curriculum.
We have designed our curriculum to:
Our curriculum is based on the Creative Curriculum model; whilst English and Maths are taught separately, the knowledge and skills being delivered are linked to a central theme. These themes change each half-term and are mapped across the whole school.
Context
Thomas Whitehead CE Academy has an on sight pre-school and nursery taking children from 2 years of age to 11 and a newly established nurture provision which is enabling children with social and emotional needs to be supported to develop greater confidence, learn self-respect and remove barriers to learning. The Academy is situated in an area of very high deprivation with a large number of children living in single parent households. Approximately 27% of pupils are entitled to the pupil premium grant, 19.8% have English as an additional language and nearly 17% of pupils have special educational needs.
Across the academy there are limited numbers of children who strive to achieve their best. There is a real sense that ‘good enough’ is acceptable Children tend to lack resilience and often give up if they find anything challenging. Many of our children struggle to retain and apply information and are not exposed to a range of appropriate reading materials that will develop their language and vocabulary. They start pre-school with very little language and few children have shared reading experiences or develop a love of reading.
Intent
To develop a curriculum which supports our children to develop an understanding of their thoughts and feelings so that they can develop healthy and strong relationships. Be taught to regulate their emotions and choose behaviours that will help them learn and nurture good mental health so that they become wise, hopeful, aspirational and live well together with dignity and respect.
The curriculum is delivered through a theme-based approach, across Early Years, KS1 and KS2. Standalone subjects include PE, RE, PSHCE, Music, Computing, Science, Mathematics and English. All are incorporated in the theme-based curriculum wherever links are possible, with a strong emphasis on writing for a range of purposes across the curriculum.
Themed units are planned termly, with differentiation within these themes, appropriate for each year group.
Themes are designed to ensure that there is full coverage of the National Curriculum in each subject area over the academic year/Key Stage.
To achieve this we teach the curriculum in a dynamic and fun way that means every child can unlock vital skills that will drive their curiosity, raise their aspirations and develop a lifelong love of learning.
Our curriculum is holistic, utilising the child’s head, heart and hands, and is rich with thematic learning – we provide many theme days, educational visits and visitors that really bring our subjects to life and enrich learning.
As a church school the new SIAMS Framework places extensive importance on school vision and how we as a school use our vision to develop our curriculum. Therefore, it will play a vital role in our curriculum development. Many of the key areas for consideration in our curriculum are reflective of our school context and must be taken into account when completing the new SIAMS SEF.
Our current vision underpins our new curriculum.
We have designed our curriculum to:
- Develop strong characters in order to be resilient and cope with adversity.
- Develop creative individuals who collaborate and co-operate and can solve problems seeing failure as an opportunity to learn.
- Develop the concept that our curriculum is a learning journey that builds and develops the whole child over time.
- Develop pupils who can think critically and care about their learning so they always do their best.
- Develop pupils who care about their role as part of a family, community and the wider world; encouraging them to feel part of, and to contribute positively to fundamental British values.
- Develop active, healthy pupils with a deep social, moral, cultural and spiritual understanding.
- Ensure all pupils and staff have high aspirations.
- Develop a thirst for learning for all pupils
Our curriculum is based on the Creative Curriculum model; whilst English and Maths are taught separately, the knowledge and skills being delivered are linked to a central theme. These themes change each half-term and are mapped across the whole school.
Context
Thomas Whitehead CE Academy has an on sight pre-school and nursery taking children from 2 years of age to 11 and a newly established nurture provision which is enabling children with social and emotional needs to be supported to develop greater confidence, learn self-respect and remove barriers to learning. The Academy is situated in an area of very high deprivation with a large number of children living in single parent households. Approximately 27% of pupils are entitled to the pupil premium grant, 19.8% have English as an additional language and nearly 17% of pupils have special educational needs.
Across the academy there are limited numbers of children who strive to achieve their best. There is a real sense that ‘good enough’ is acceptable Children tend to lack resilience and often give up if they find anything challenging. Many of our children struggle to retain and apply information and are not exposed to a range of appropriate reading materials that will develop their language and vocabulary. They start pre-school with very little language and few children have shared reading experiences or develop a love of reading.
Intent
To develop a curriculum which supports our children to develop an understanding of their thoughts and feelings so that they can develop healthy and strong relationships. Be taught to regulate their emotions and choose behaviours that will help them learn and nurture good mental health so that they become wise, hopeful, aspirational and live well together with dignity and respect.
The curriculum is delivered through a theme-based approach, across Early Years, KS1 and KS2. Standalone subjects include PE, RE, PSHCE, Music, Computing, Science, Mathematics and English. All are incorporated in the theme-based curriculum wherever links are possible, with a strong emphasis on writing for a range of purposes across the curriculum.
Themed units are planned termly, with differentiation within these themes, appropriate for each year group.
Themes are designed to ensure that there is full coverage of the National Curriculum in each subject area over the academic year/Key Stage.
An overview of our whole school curriculum can be found below:
| Curriculum overview |
| Recovery curriculum September 2020 |
If you have questions regarding our curriculum please contact Mr D Roderick for further information.
