Curriculum at Pakefield

Our Curriculum Intent

We believe that all children are entitled to a broad and balanced curriculum which is interesting, engaging and provides a range of learning opportunities that help develop children’s life-long love of learning.

Our curriculum is designed to recognise children’s prior learning, provide first hand learning experiences, allow the children to develop interpersonal skills with a strong emphasis on speaking and listening, resilience and problem solving.

The ability to learn is underpinned by the teaching of knowledge, basic skills, concepts and values. We enhance our learning opportunities by exploring and using our local environment, by celebrating traditions, taking part in events throughout the year and being active members of our local community and the Active Learning Trust.

Children leave our school with a sense of belonging and pride, where they have confidence and skills to make decisions, self-evaluate, make connections and become lifelong learners.

Our Curriculum Implementation

We base our learning and the curriculum on the Early Years Foundation Stage and National Curriculum. We use a variety of approaches to support learning, for example, Play Based Learning, Talk 4 Writing, White Rose Maths Mastery, Beach Schools, THRIVE and Fast Learning. We use these strategies alongside enhancement opportunities, including the use of our locality to support the teaching of the curriculum.

The curriculum is organised into topics which has a key focus on knowledge and skills based learning. Depending on the age and stage of the child, topics may be extended from a few weeks to possibly a term. We aim to provide a varied and stimulating education that takes into account the individual needs and strengths of all children. Our children are taught to use the language of successful learning, to take responsibility for their own performance and to measure personal successes against their own challenge.

Teachers in year groups are responsible for the delivery of the curriculum. They plan and prepare in teams for the delivery of knowledge and key skills based on the National Curriculum as a starting point. We provide many opportunities for the children to recall and apply learning to support the retention of knowledge and understanding.

As a school, we believe that to be successful we have to develop particular skills, such as working in different ways, being responsible and we never give up. These essential skills will help the children to become independent, confident and focused learners: which in turn will support them beyond the classroom.

Our Curriculum Impact

The design of our curriculum takes into account the children’s needs and will be updated each year. Staff will reflect upon a range of information, such as achievements, summative and formative data and personal needs of the cohort.

A triangulation of information is used to gauge the impact of the curriculum design. Subject Leaders, Senior Leaders and Members of the Local Governing Body review and monitor the impact of the curriculum by visiting lessons, talking to children, looking at data which helps identify strengths and areas for development for the school. This ensures that the curriculum offer suits the needs of all and guarantees best possible outcomes for the children.