Curriculum
Our Curriculum Intent
At Christ Church, Pellon, we aim to provide our children with a broad and balanced curriculum which is full, rich and aspirational. This links directly to our School Vision – Soaring high, together we shine. Our six core values run throughout. These are compassion, friendship, justice, perseverance, thankfulness and forgiveness.
By curriculum, we mean the knowledge, skills and understanding gained throughout their school life at Christ Church. These include but are not limited to:
- Quality first teaching
- Themed curricular days and visits off-sites
- Visitors sharing their expertise linked to the curriculum
- Regular family learning opportunities
- Collective Worship
- Be-spoke programs and specialised interventions.
Our curriculum also provides opportunities for children to develop as independent, resilient, confident and successful learners, with high aspirations, who know how to make a positive contribution to their community and the wider society. Therefore, we feel it is vital for all our children to develop their cultural capital by providing them with life skills and experiences they may not otherwise encounter.
At Christ Church, we have a strong focus on developing long term memory and narrowing the word gap. Therefore, for each subject area taught, we have a clear progression of knowledge and skills which incorporates End Points (sticky knowledge) to support retention of key facts. Throughout lessons, teachers integrate vocabulary in a range of rich activities to develop the language of all our pupils. Our creative curriculum includes the teaching of History, Geography, Art and D.T. via carefully thought out topics relevant to our pupils in order to enthuse them about the world around them.
Our Curriculum Implementation
The curriculum incorporates the statutory requirements of the National Curriculum 2014 and other experiences and opportunities which best meet the learning and developmental needs of the children in our school. A blocked curriculum approach has been implemented at the school to ensure coverage and progression in curriculum areas. This approach enables topic-based learning, fostering each child’s interest throughout each topic and enabling the achievement of depth in knowledge and skills.
Lessons are planned and taught in order to meet the needs of all children including those vulnerable groups. Adaptations are made in order to ensure that all children can access whole class learning opportunities where possible. Challenge is also provided so that children can develop deep understanding of key concepts.
At Christ Church, we provide a range of real-life experiences linked to pupil’s learning to help them develop their cultural capital and embed knowledge. Pupils experience school trips, themed days, guest speakers and visits by a range of experts to widen their skills; understanding of the community they live in and the opportunities in the world around them. A varied timetable of extra-curricular activities is offered by the school. Clubs have been carefully chosen and planned to enhance the life experiences of our pupils such as Board Games Club to support turn-taking; Awesome Earth to develop a better understanding of the environment and Knitting Club to improve fine motor skills.
The outdoor environment and the local community are considered an opportunity for active earning for all our children. The school grounds are in the process of being developed so they can enrich different curriculum areas.
Curriculum leaders play an important part in the success of the curriculum by leading a regular programme of monitoring, evaluation and review and the celebration of good practice contributes to the ongoing commitment to evolve and improve further. All subject leaders are given training and the opportunity to keep developing their own subject knowledge, skills and understanding, so they can support curriculum development and their colleagues throughout the school.
Curriculum Policies
To see all of our policies concerning the curriculum click the link below: