Mossley C.E Primary SchoolCurriculum
Mossley CE Primary Curriculum
Intent:
We understand that having a clear vision is crucial in developing an effective curriculum across our school. We also understand that it is our responsibility to construct a curriculum that is ambitious and designed to give all learners the knowledge and cultural capital they need to succeed in life. Therefore, it is our intention to provide a knowledge-rich curriculum that has cultural capital woven into the fabric of our offer.
Our aim is to deliver a curriculum that has ‘powerful knowledge’ at the heart of all learning experiences. To us, this means knowledge that enables our pupils to understand the world around them so that they can apply it in a range of contexts.
Please watch the video below that explains why we think a knowledge curriculum is powerful:
Our curriculum has been designed with a respect for the disciplines of each unique subject. Our vision is to deliver a curriculum that is well-sequenced, well-specified, ambitious, and accessible for all, so that our pupils know more, remember more and can apply more. The curriculum at Mossley has been organised coherently to ensure that it builds interesting and meaningful connections within and across the range of subjects that are taught.
Our ultimate aim is to inspire a love for learning in all of our pupils so that they well-rounded, confident, independent learners, ready to embark on the next step of their journey.
THE PRINCIPLES OF OUR KNOWLEDGE-RICH CURRICULUM
- Knowledge is valued and specified
- Knowledge is well sequenced
- Knowledge is taught to be remembered
Implementation:
Having a clear vision is important, but how do we ensure that this clarity and intent is delivered? What does it look like in our classrooms?
We have schemes of work in place for all subjects, to support our staff in the delivery of sequences of learning, provide them with essential subject knowledge, and reduce their workload so that they can focus on planning quality learning experiences for all of our pupils. These schemes are there to guide and provide a spine of progression. Our teachers however, have the flexibility to adapt and move away from these schemes, using their knowledge and expertise where appropriate to enhance the learning of their pupils within the sequence of learning.
Our intended curriculum is translated over time in the classroom following a structured approach. This approach is informed by 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. A typical lesson in most areas of the curriculum would follow this structure:
Throughout lessons, teachers assess pupil responses (e.g., through questioning, written and oral responses, multiple-choice quizzes, using Knowledge Organisers) and provide effective feedback.
Impact:
As we have clearly specified what we want our children to know, do and remember, when reviewing impact, we assess against the Knowledge Goals laid out in the intended curriculum, enabling us to check whether children can remember what we set out for them to learn. We carry out subject-specific monitoring and curriculum reviews to assess impact and use these to plan for future development. As we know that curriculum intent, implementation and impact go hand in hand, the curriculum cannot be successful without careful thought in all three areas. We are always reflecting upon the impact of our intent and implementation and identifying ways in which we can improve outcomes for our children. Our curriculum work is never finished - it is at the very core of our purpose and our children deserve the very best curriculum we can create.
We routinely collect evidence to monitor the impact of our curriculum in a variety of ways:
- Data
- Pupil Voice
- Book Looks
- Lesson Observations
- Learning Walks
- Planning and Resourcing
Pupil voice is a powerful tool in assessing the effectiveness of our curriculum offer. It allows us to understand our curriculum from our pupils’ perspectives and therefore, any decisions made based on this have kept our children at the heart of what we do.
We changed the way in which we deliver our curriculum in the 2022 - 2023 academic year, from a topic-based approach to an offer that more specifically respects the disciplines of each unique subject. We gave some of our older pupils the opportunity to voice their feelings on this change:
“I think that when all the subjects were labelled under ‘Topic’, we never used to have enough time, or do it often enough. It was fun, but there wasn’t much clarity in what we were doing.
I think that the way we do it now is much more informative, and it helps me to remember and understand more of what we do.
The type of lessons we do now are a lot more in depth, but sometimes too much so. Some of the learning we do about war is quite sad. Although we have to learn about war, we might not have to learn about all the sad details.
I feel like I know a lot more about all the separate subjects, and it’s easier to retain all the knowledge. I enjoy the way we learn things a lot more now, and I have more time to do my favourite subjects.”
Thea, Year 6 pupil (2024)
“I enjoy what our learning is like now as it’s much more organised and we get more out of learning about the different subjects, unlike when we had our topic books - this seemed like we were having different subjects all at once.
We have lots of support when we learn in different subjects as we can use different resources like knowledge organisers for each subject. I like History and the units we’ve been learning about as we really get what we need out of it. When we used topic books, it felt like we skimmed over the main facts. Our learning helps us for in the future when we arrive at secondary school. The teachers help us focus on our learning and this will benefit us greatly later.”
Will, Year 6 pupil (2024)
“I think that how we used to learn about different topics was a good way to learn but it could be confusing - learning was fun but I didn’t know the subject we were doing. I think the way we learn now is more based on learning knowledge. My favourite part about our new curriculum is that we have knowledge organisers at the beginning of every new unit. It helps us build on the knowledge we already have. My favourite subject is History because I really enjoy learning about the past.”
Amelia, Year 5 pupil (2024)
