WKPS School Curriculum

Intent 

We have devised our own bespoke curriculum, which is broad, balanced and progressive. It is ambitious and enables all our children to develop a knowledge and understanding of the world and our own unique locality. It is designed to give all pupils the cumulatively sufficient knowledge, skills and cultural capital they need to succeed in life.  We plan our topics to engage children’s interests and curiosity, whilst ensuring full coverage of the National Curriculum. Through consistency, we always strive for academic and personal excellence for all children and want all our children to have high aspirations preparing for later life. The study of a broad range of subjects has always been the case at West Kirby Primary School and we take pride in the fact that our pupils have always studied the full curriculum, which is coherently planned, sequenced and progressive: it is not narrowed; we provide our pupils with a broad and well-thought-out curriculum adapted to meet the needs of different groups of pupils. We want them to have no limits to what their ambitions are. We want them to develop their knowledge and skills to apply what they know with increasing fluency and independence.

Implementation

All National Curriculum subjects are carefully planned, structured and sequenced to ensure progression within all subjects and across all year groups. We provide all our children with a deeper knowledge of the lives of significant and diverse artists, scientists and musicians. Collaborative learning strategies are used to promote high levels of pupil engagement. Regular flashbacks are used at the start of each lesson and throughout topics to strengthen recall. Our curriculum has rigour where relevant, so that children learn the knowledge that they need to answer subject specific questions. Our children all have access to enrichment opportunities in the local and wider environment as well a range of activities, both during the school day and after. These are a key tool in enriching and empowering their learning.

Our curriculum is achieved by:

• • Quality First Teaching for all, including our disadvantaged children and those children with SEND. 

  • Teachers present subject matter clearly, promoting appropriate discussion about the subject matter being taught. 

  • Teachers having good subject knowledge, gaining disciplinary knowledge of how subjects work and are being supported to maintain and improve this knowledge through coaching, CPD, observing best practice and undertaking relevant research. 

  • Excellent teaching of phonics from EYFS allows all children to make good progress. Phonic sessions are provided for any older children who may need extra support.  

  • High quality texts being used across the curriculum from EYFS to Year Six. Reading, including Reading for Pleasure, is prioritised and celebrated across the school and the curriculum. We are supported with this by our school librarian. 

  • All children being challenged to do their best; practical and interactive tasks ensure their full engagement through a wide range of teaching and learning strategies. 

  • The work given to pupils is demanding and matches the aims of the curriculum. 

  • Our Road Maps being planned to ensure that all teaching is progressive and meets the needs of our bespoke, knowledge and skills-based curriculum. 

  • At the start of a new history unit, children visit the timeline on the playground to identify what they have studied before, what they are now studying and to look at the chronology. 

  • Planning, which takes into account the cognitive load theory and considers the limits of the working memory. 

  • Teaching is designed to help pupils to remember long term the content they have been taught and to integrate new knowledge into larger ideas. 

  • Lessons, which incorporate retrieval practice of prior knowledge so that links can be made and new knowledge sticks and transfers into the long-term memory. Children are made aware of key facts that they need to remember in order to do more. 

  • There is progression within lessons and across units of work between phases. 

  • Subject leaders have checked their progression documents to subject planning and to the National Curriculum. 

  • Teachers and leaders use assessment to help pupils embed and use knowledge fluently, to check understanding and inform teaching. 

  • The teaching of key vocabulary is a focus in all subjects and is prominent in the learning environment. 

  • Using the concrete, pictorial and abstract approach within maths to support all children and enable them to apply maths knowledge, concepts and procedures appropriately for their age. 

  • Teachers create an environment that focuses on pupils  and select materials that clearly support the intent of our coherently planned and sequenced curriculum. 

  • Consistently high expectations of behaviour across the whole school; any low-level disruptions are addressed. 

  • Children having the opportunity to take responsibility in school (Play Makers, Play Leaders, Eco Council, Digital Leaders and Fairtrade Reps). We encourage children to be involved in making decisions and contributing to our school by each class having a School Council representative. 

  • Taking into account any delays and gaps that may have arisen as a result of the pandemic. 

  • All stakeholders having a shared understanding of what high-quality teaching looks like through CPD, opportunities to plan, debate, deliver and refine lessons collaboratively, regular governor monitoring, moderation visits and working with other local schools through the Collaborative Schools Cluster and detailed Head’s report to governors. 

  • Leaders provide effective support for those teaching outside their main areas of expertise. 

Health promotion (including emotional and mental health & wellbeing); Ecological awareness and Global awareness (our place as a peninsula between Liverpool and North Wales and our links across the globe currently and historically) enhance our curriculum through further learning and opportunities.

Impact

Our children are confident learners who are happy to work and learn collaboratively across the curriculum. We have ambitious expectations for children’s attainment and progress from their individual starting points. Progress meetings take place regularly and inform future planning and interventions. Parents are kept informed of their child’s progress via, written reports and parent meetings.

Through a wide variety of assessment opportunities, the children’s understandings checked and misconceptions are identified and addressed. Children’s progress is carefully monitored through appropriate assessment and, where children are found to need additional support, we have a variety of adaptive teaching strategies and resources to assist them further.

The impact of our curriculum is also evaluated through ongoing formative and summative assessments. It is also reflected in the results from national tests. In addition, we have Government statutory assessments for Phonics Screening, Year 4 Times Tables Check and at the end of EYFS, KS1 and KS2.  A well planned monitoring system for teaching, learning and pupil voice is embedded across the school, which involves SLT and Subject Leaders.

The way in which we use adaptive teaching ensures support is delivered, our pupils with SEND achieve the best possible outcomes. Children’s attitudes to their learning are positive. Children are ready for the next stage in their learning because they attain well at West Kirby Primary School and work towards clearly defined end points in each subject.

Pupils develop detailed knowledge and skills across our curriculum. As a result, pupils develop a good understanding of different faiths and cultures and show respect and consideration for others. They produce work of a high quality and achieve well.

Wider Experiences

We have three core themes: Health Promotion (including emotional and mental health and wellbeing); Eco Awareness and Sustainability; Global Awareness (our locality on a peninsula between Liverpool and North Wales and our links across the globe currently and historically. These three themes enhance our school curriculum and provide our children with the knowledge and cultural capital that we feel they need to succeed in life. They aim to enrich, broaden and support what the children learn through the National Curriculum. 

Health Promotion

Reason: Children need to be and feel healthy and safe in order to learn so this is at the heart of our curriculum. In our locality, medical evidence indicates a need for children to develop resilience and for a focus on developing emotionally literacy and strategies for managing stressful events. Our location, close to the road, railway and open water means it is important for us to teach children how to stay safe in this environment as they become more independent.

Eco Awareness

Reason: Our school is situated at the heart of West Kirby which is part of the Transition Town movement. Our local community is committed to the conservation of natural resources and to teaching our children how to care for the environment and develop sustainable lifestyles. Our location is beside the Dee Estuary, which is one of the largest and most important wetland sites in the world with the Hilbre Islands nature reserve within walking distance –when the tide is out! As a school, we recognise that we are privileged to have these resources on our doorstep and aim to ensure all of our pupils have the opportunity to experience and learn first-hand about our environment and how to care for the wildlife within it.

Global Awareness 

Reason: We live at the end of a small peninsula with water on three sides which some describe as having an island mentality. In fact, our school community has international links all over the world and at least sixteen different languages are spoken within our school community in West Kirby. Our children tell us they want to learn more about events taking place now and significant events from the past around the world and to learn about different languages and cultures. We want to respond and to promote intellectual curiosity, respect and developing knowledge and awareness of our world and the people in it.

Digital Awareness

Reason: Technology is changing the lives of everyone. Through teaching digital awareness, we equip our children to participate in a rapidly changing world where work and leisure activities are increasingly transformed by technology whilst staying safe online. We believe that the digital world is a fundamental part of our children’s education to ensure they are prepared for the future and are equipped with the skills to deal with a variety of online situations. 

Curriculum Planning

The National Curriculum provides with an outline of the knowledge, skills and understanding we are required to cover.

• We ensure we are covering the National Curriculum requirements as set out in the programmes of study for each subject.
• We follow the Wirral agreed syllabus for Religious Education
• We use the Coram Life Education 'SCARF' programme for our PSHE curriculum
• We choose to deliver much of this through creative, cross-curricular themes to maximise relevance and both broaden and deepen the understanding and interest of our children. 
• We link subjects to our themes wherever this is possible and where it is not, we teach subject areas discretely and capitalise on the specialist skills and skills of our staff.

Our bespoke curriculum operates on a  two year rolling programme on account of our one and a half form entry which is governed by The Local Authority.