Curriculum statement

Intent

Our curriculum has been designed over many years’ experience to meet the needs of our pupils, being developed in the context of a community that (generally) has low aspirations, a poor economic background and where pupils enter school with skills well below their peers - particularly their speaking and listening skills and physical development. We aim to raise the aspirations of all pupils and provide them with the skills they need to do well in life.

Some pupils have a limited vocabulary and have few, if any, opportunities through their home lives to visit new places and experience cultural opportunities. They have little knowledge of their own locality or the heritage of their City. General knowledge for some pupils is very limited.

An increasing number of pupils now come to us with mental health issues, many lacking confidence in their own ability and, due to a lack of resilience, they find new challenges difficult.  Boys, in particular, are often difficult to motivate, finding the demands of the new National Curriculum challenging.

In light of this what is the curriculum is designed to do?

Our school motto is “At Gladstone we are all equally different.” No matter what pupils’ starting points or personal ‘barriers to learning’ are, children of all abilities are given opportunities to discover, celebrate and develop their unique gifts and talents. We celebrate that every person (no matter what their race, ethnicity or disability) is unique and special. To meet the needs of all pupils we recognise that a curriculum has to be broad and balanced whilst offering all pupils the opportunity to grow as individuals as well as learners.

At Gladstone Primary Academy we aim to ‘open up the world’ for children who have limited life experiences, aiming to equip them with the skills and knowledge necessary - in their learning and personal development - for them to succeed during their ‘school years’ and in later life. Good communication skills are vital and our curriculum gives the children the skills necessary to become confident communicators.

Implementation

How the school intends to deliver the curriculum throughout the school

We offer wide opportunities through our school as well as a broad and balanced teaching curriculum. Over a decade we have developed a curriculum that is inspiring and engaging for our pupils. We teach core skills and knowledge, using the National Curriculum as our starting point with carefully chosen topics designed to offer cross-curricular opportunities. This enables the children to see the relevance of their learning and the ‘bigger picture’. Our topics are exciting and motivational and all support the development of pupils’ communication and language skills

We have designed termly Topic overviews for each Year Group. These list the core skills and knowledge that children should learn in that term, showing appropriate progression from Nursery to Y6. The overviews are underpinned by subject specific knowledge / skills progression grids which note the key knowledge and vocabulary and concepts to be taught and links with previous and future learning. The overviews also show the cross-curricular links.

We ‘immerse’ the children in experiences, offering a wide range of exciting learning and cultural opportunities: exciting trips, visitors, themed days and – in every classroom – a stimulating themed area that links with the main topic and offers a variety of additional ‘SMART’. The ‘smarts’ include:

Word Smart, 2D/3D Smart, Music Smart, Number Smart, Body Smart, Nature Smart, Self Smart and People Smart

Children are encouraged to discover their individual talents with opportunities that most would not have access to as part of their life experiences such as our school orchestra, recorder groups, peripatetic music lessons, gymnastics and dance groups and the various sports teams / events.

Performance is key in developing the self- worth, confidence and communication skills of pupils of all abilities: The Shakespeare Festival, Music and Dance Festivals, Young Voices and end of term productions.

The development of Communication and Language Skills is core to our curriculum offer as we aim to give the children the skills to become confident communicators. Vocabulary is a core element of our curriculum. Key topic-linked vocabulary is listed on our termly overviews and is taught during that term. Vocabulary is further consolidated in our cross-curricular links with English and in Guided Reading texts. Weekly ‘P4C’ Philosophy lessons are used as a tool to develop pupils’ thinking, reasoning and communication skills: creative, collaboration, caring and critical.

Regular assessments show the progress in the acquisition of key knowledge and skills that term. Teachers use Excel Skills Trackers to plan for and assess the topic-linked skills taught that term. Again, these trackers show appropriate progression. As part of end of term ‘projects’ children develop their skills across the curriculum and home their communication skills – presenting their finding to their class friends.

Pupils with Special Educational Needs receive additional support and are supported to help them to become successful and independent learners.  

Though most pupils enter our Nursery with skills well below those of their peers they leave Gladstone as confident, well-motivated and ambitious learners; aware of their own particular strengths as well as their areas for development. They enjoy school and are eager to move on to the next stage of their education.

Supporting the mental health needs of our pupils is vital with 2 learning mentors and a team of Nurture Leaders supporting as many as 90 pupils. The school has the Boxall National Whole School Nurture Award and specific elements of the Sandwell Mental Health Project are used to support the needs of our children and staff.

Impact

Our children to enter Key Stage 3 as ‘lifelong learners’ with a passion and excitement for school and learning across the whole curriculum.

As a Boxall accredited ‘Whole School Nurturing’ setting we develop pupils’ emotional literacy to enable them to become resilient, confident and determined individuals who are able to overcome the challenges they face in the modern world.

Our pupils leave us as well-rounded, members of their community and of wider society, with a strong sense of what is right and a moral purpose and with high aspirations for their future.

Our Topic Overviews

Subjects