Offley's Curriculum

Curriculum Rationale Offley Primary Academy

Intent:

Our Curriculum at Offley Primary Academy is ambitious and designed to give our learners the knowledge and skills to succeed in life. It is underpinned by our vision, 'We ASPIRE to be our best' and also our six core values:

Ambition

Sustainability

Perseverance

Imagination

Respect

Empathy

These vaules are the underpinning force for everything we do as a school community. Having a strong sense of value is important to both us and our pupils, this is reflected in the way in which we treat them as individuals, and in the way we expect them to treat others. It is our aim to provide our pupils with the skills to actively reflect upon and value the diversity of our society and provide them with a comprehensive understanding of the world in which we all live. Our aim is to develop young people who want to be the best that that they can be. Our curriculum is coherently planned and sequenced (1) and we offer a broad, engaging, purposeful and contextual (2) learning experience; enabling our pupils to become curious, interested learners. Our ambition is for our learners to build foundations for lifelong learning; developing skills which will enable them to be successful and adaptable in any role. Our learners will actively explore the best method of working, exploring the correct use of and integrating technology where suitable. (3) We want our pupils to actively seek out and use new information to continuously develop, consolidate and deepen their knowledge, understanding and skills. It is our aim to develop pupils who thrive in lessons, who love the challenge of learning, are independent learners and thinkers and who have a growth mind-set. We want to develop learners who are resilient in life and in learning

Implementation:

Expectations for our pupils are consistently set high, promoting positive attitudes towards behaviour for learning. To achieve this, our staff access professional development allowing us to offer a broad and balanced curriculum (1) which is designed to take advantage of different pedagogical approaches. Our real life, practical, and contextual experiences strongly supports our pupils, allowing them to confidently take risks when learning. We employ a range of pedagogical methods which support this, including theories from cognitive science(6) such as: meta-cognition(3), retrieval practice, Bloom’s taxonomy and cognitive overload. We also use Pathways to Read and Write, Mastery in Maths and Project Based Learning as curriculum structures.

Elements of these approaches allow learning to be driven by pupils, giving ownership of and the responsibility for, planning and formulating the directions of enquiry. This makes each learning experience personal and meaningful, ensuring that learners integrate new knowledge into larger constructs by making connections between different concepts.(3)  All of these approaches develop skills for the future through communication, drawing on team work and peer support. Staff use a range of assessments strategies to support pupils, check understanding and which inform future teaching.

Project Based Learning, which encompasses all of the curriculum subjects, uses a ‘BIG’ question to set the children a ‘real’ life problem. They develop knowledge and understanding through skilled teaching and apply this to their question in order to solve it. We teach the children to ask quality searching questions,(5) using the Bloom’s Taxonomy as a framework. This not only supports them in answering their BIG question but also allows them to apply their knowledge in different scenarios. The development of self-regulatory learning is actively developed through Meta cognition, modelling the processes involved in thinking and solving problems across all curriculum subjects. Educators consider cognitive overload when planning and developing learning materials and structures. To further embed learning, retrieval practice is used via low risk quizzes and questioning. Although our subjects may be taught as part of a contextual project, they are each treated separately, with specific disciplinary skills and substantive knowledge taught so that pupils clearly understand what each subject entails and how they stand alone as a discipline.

Impact:

Our school is the heartbeat for many in the local community and the children and families have fostered a sense of belonging. Our pupils consistently demonstrate a love of learning. They develop detailed knowledge and skills for life. (3) Our vocabulary rich learning and pedagogy provides them with higher order thinking skills and the language to clearly and concisely articulate their thinking.(3&4) Our children are happy, enthusiastic and confident learners who become aspirational individuals with the desire to view and pursue their futures. Our pupils leave being well rounded, independent members of the community who have developed lifelong skills to pursue their future ambitions and are ready for the next stage of their learning.

References

1. Offley Primary Academy’s progression documents.
2. Project based learning research documents.
3. Education Endowment Fund. (Meta cognition)
4. Education Endowment Fund (Dialogic teaching)
5. Education Endowment Fund (Cognitive science in the classroom)

EYFS CURRICULUM

In Foundation the children follow the Early Years Outcomes which focus on 7 areas of learning.

Three Prime Areas of Learning:

1) Communication and Language

2) Physical Development

3) Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Specific Areas of Learning:

4) Literacy

5) Maths

6) Understanding the World

7) Expressive Arts and Design

KEY STAGE 1 & KEY STAGE 2

Key Stage 1 and 2 follow the National Curriculum. The subjects taught are:

English

Maths

Science

ICT

Art

Design and Technology

History

Geography

PE

PSHCE ( personal / social )

Religious Education

Here at Offley, we engage the pupils through a creative curriculum that starts with a 'Big Question'.  The question is linked to a topic and a class text is chosen to read alongside.  The pupils use a Problem Based Learning aprroach and the Bloom's Taxonomy wheel to support their learning.

Please see the links below for further information about specific subject areas: