At the heart of the curriculum is the development of the whole child. We have carefully revised our curriculum based on current research to ensure it fits the needs of our children, providing them with the tools to embed knowledge in their long-term memory. The curriculum offer is ambitious and motivating, which goes beyond the requirements of the national curriculum.

The school will ensure that children develop a strong sense of moral purpose in addition to a respect and understanding of people who have different characteristics to themselves. A rigorous, well-planned curriculum, delivered by excellent staff in a nurturing environment, will enable all pupils to be well-rounded, empathetic young people who have a thirst for learning and respect for all around them.

The curriculum is driven by six half-termly values: respect, friendship, responsibility, empathy, honesty and independence, which were chosen by both children and staff. ‘A Valued Me’ emphasises the importance of these key beliefs that children and staff embody across the primary phase. It will encourage our children to be confident, independent learners, who are resourceful, think for themselves, and harness a strong sense of what’s right and wrong; and resilient learners who persevere when faced with challenge, who are not afraid to take risks; and are actively involved in their learning due to a desire to achieve their highest potential. By teaching our children these lifelong skills, we are preparing them for their next steps in education and beyond. Our values will be reviewed with our community once the school is open.

Our curriculum is a fusion of essential substantive and disciplinary knowledge, attitudes and values, which focuses on the well-being of the individual and entire community. Through this carefully planned program of learning, we will provide our children with the knowledge and skills to become accomplished citizens, both locally and globally, regardless of their starting points.

Vulnerable learners, including those who are pupil premium and/or SEND, are considered fully when delivering our curriculum starting with providing good outcomes for all pupils, so that we are narrowing achievement gaps, wherever they appear. The senior leadership team, DSLs and SENDCo will monitor the outcomes of these groups and use the information to further inform our curriculum intent. Our overarching ambition is that no child is left behind and that every child is supported to reach their full potential.

We created our curriculum through a culture of collaboration amongst staff, children and governors, where we are constantly identifying and sharing our best practice to allow for continuous growth and collective ownership of teaching and learning throughout the primary age range.
The curriculum promotes long-term learning, and we believe that progress means knowing more and remembering more. As pupils learn the content of the curriculum, they are making progress towards ambitious curricular end goals. We have developed a curriculum built on current research regarding how memory works, to ensure that children not only have access to ‘the best that has been thought and said’ but are taught this in a way that ensures children can remember the curriculum content in future years.

We understand that knowledge is ‘sticky’, in that the more pupils know, the easier it is for them to learn and know more. Our curriculum has been carefully sequenced with components which build on what has been learnt before. We carefully check and activate prior knowledge through retrieval practice activities to ensure our pupils are able to understand and remember new things they are learning.
The curriculum is mapped out every year for each year group from Nursery to Year 6. We recognise the importance of children acquiring powerful knowledge in each subject area and so, each subject is treated as an individual discipline which has been carefully planned by teachers to create schemes of work. This medium-term planning ensures coverage and progression across the key stages and is monitored by subject leaders through our Teaching and Learning Policy. We work closely with subject experts and are members of subject associations to ensure that our curriculum is exciting, relevant and appropriate for the children of Thomas Telford Free Primary School.
Subject policies are updated on a two or three yearly cycle or if there has been a change in policy due to subject development. These policies support staff in planning the programs of study and rigorous assessment of the subject.

We also ensure that planning is based around a meaningful context, with planned in-school experiences and external trips and visits. We believe in providing children with first-hand experiences building on their prior knowledge. We place a strong emphasis on reading and ensure that reading is incorporated into the curriculum at every opportunity, as we recognise that this is the key to unlock all other learning and underpins the rest of the curriculum.

We plan and deliver lessons in line with the National Curriculum, tailoring sessions to a child’s individual needs, and to inspire a love of learning. We ensure that no child is left behind and that all children have an opportunity to achieve curricular end goals. Teaching is adaptive to ensure that children remember key component knowledge, so they are successful in every task.

Throughout the academic year, the staff and governors will continue to review and improve the curriculum offered to our children. We set high expectations for achievement and aspire for all of our children to leave our primary schools ‘secondary ready’.

The impact of the school’s curriculum will be seen in the books children produce, the aspects of the curriculum which children are able to articulate through pupil voice discussions and the outcomes for all groups of pupils within the primary phase. The Senior Leadership Team and subject leaders will evaluate the school’s curriculum through monitoring lessons plans, moderating pupil work, and conducting learning walks which enable leaders to identify next steps for improvement.

Pupil progress will be completed through ongoing assessment and through three key assessment points during the year. Work will be planned to address misconceptions and gaps in learning identified through assessments, to ensure that the curriculum effectively meets the needs of all pupils.
We are for children to leave the primary phase with a love of learning; with a secure understanding of the academic content; with the understanding of how to be socially, morally, spiritually, and culturally responsible, and globally aware; how to make positive contributions to the local area; and how to endeavour to be the best that they can be.

The overall curriculum plans can be found in Appendix Two.

At the primary schools, we further exploit our excellent curriculum offer by having a variety of enrichment weeks throughout the academic year. The themes and concepts covered by these weeks are not only woven into our curriculum offer over the academic year, but in having a specific week dedicated to these themes, this allows the concepts to really take prominence within our school and give children an opportunity to revisit them.