How We Teach IT
Our curriculum is translated over time in the classroom following a structured approach. Teachers are provided with detailed documents for each unit, prepared by subject specialists, to support with subject knowledge and planning. This ensures every teacher has secure subject knowledge and reduces workload, enabling teachers to spend more time thinking about how each lesson can be effectively enacted in their classroom to support their class.
Each lesson starts with a prior learning review, where children are supported to retrieve prior knowledge and make connections. We have an emphasis on explicitly teaching vocabulary, and each lesson starts with introducing, orally rehearsing, and engaging with key vocabulary (e.g., looking at the etymology of new words). Key vocabulary is contextualised throughout the lesson and children are given opportunities to apply new words. Our teachers enact our intended curriculum using research-based pedagogy, such as Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction, to ensure information is presented in small steps, clearly explained, and modelled, and children have many opportunities to talk, answer questions, explain their learning and work independently. Throughout lessons, teachers assess and monitor pupil responses (e.g., through questioning, written and oral responses, multiple choice quizzing, using Knowledge Organisers) and provide effective feedback.
WORKING WALLS
Each of our classrooms have working walls. These are a specific selection of displayed curriculum content - pertinent to the lessons, which teachers and pupils use to scaffold, reinforce, and consolidate learning. Each working wall is a teaching tool that are added to throughout a unit of work and show clear expectations to support learning.
KNOWLEDGE ORGANISERS
You can find the Knowledge Organisers for each year group here. To learn more about Knowledge Organisers and why we use them, please view our presentation here.
ENRICHMENT EXAMPLES
To further support our curriculum, each year group also has enrichment activities such as school trips and workshops to further their understanding of the units we teach. This provides a variety of ‘real-life’ opportunities for pupils, enabling them to achieve a fuller understanding of the world around them through direct experience. Visits or workshops provide an effective stimulus at the start of a unit of work as well as enhancing and supporting the curriculum.
The trip overview can be found here.
SUBJECT BASED CURRICULUM
We specify exactly what we teach in each subject. Please click on the subject below to learn more about our subject based curriculum.