At Kingsway we believe that our curriculum should:
- develop confident communicators through the development of oracy, rich vocabulary and the ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences; whilst
- build knowledge, skills and agency, enabling our children to develop their understanding progressively, make meaningful connections in their learning and feel empowered to work hard and be the best they can be;
- enable all of our children to learn, thrive and succeed, recognising and celebrating their individual strengths and ensuring that our curriculum is inclusive, accessible and equitable for all;
- develop the whole child, giving them rich and memorable experiences that broaden their understanding of the world, inspire awe and wonder, and help them understand their place and responsibilities within their local and global community.
To ensure our children are taught a clear, consistent and purposeful curriculum that is right for them, it is designed around six key principles. Each principle is considered in the planning, teaching and delivery of our curriculum, ensuring that children develop the knowledge, skills, experiences and values they need to become confident, responsible and positive members of their community and the wider world.
Our Kingsway Jewel Values are threaded throughout these Curriculum Principles, providing the foundation for how our children learn, grow and contribute to the world around them.
We are preparing our children for a life in the 21st Century. For the children to be successful in their learning and in their life we truly believe that the ability for them to communicate is key. We aim for the children to ‘learn TO talk’ and give them the confidence, resilience and social skills to communicate to anyone they may meet. In addition, our children also ‘learn THROUGH talk’ and move from using talk to explore curriculum content to developing their understanding to be able to present their learning to a range of audiences.
Our spiral curriculum is designed to build knowledge and skills year on year. We work on a philosophy of ‘less is more’ that will allow our children to over learn the key information and skills that they need to become experts of their own learning. Teachers plan for the key concepts from each unit to be committed to long term memory and pass these onto the next year group as building blocks for the children’s next stage.
For each subject we have identified the key knowledge and skills that our children need in order to be successful in that subject. We aim for every child to be confident in these skills by the time they leave us. Examples of these skills are chronology in History, locational knowledge in Geography and working scientifically in Science. By building these skills year on year the children commit them to long term memory and are able to make connections within subjects and across the curriculum.
Our vocabulary teaching focuses on words that can be learnt in the context of one particular topic but can also be used in a range of contexts. This is so that our children are exposed to a manageable amount of language that can be transferred into long term memory. They will demonstrate their understanding of new vocabulary in their spoken and written work.
Every member of our community is made to feel welcome in our school. All children, no matter their needs, are able to access our curriculum and reach their full potential. All children, families, staff and visitors are made to feel welcome in our school and we ensure this ethos is part of the fabric of everything we do. SMSC and British Values are threaded through all aspects of our curriculum too to ensure all children are ready for life in the 21st Century.
We are committed to offering our children a wide range of experiences that enhance and reach beyond the curriculum. Through planned trips and visits, a programme of high quality resources and activities our children are exposed to numerous quality and beautiful experiences. These experiences aim to enhance their learning and the understanding of the world around them. We aim for our curriculum to build a sense of social responsibility both in the local community and in the wider world. Our curriculum ensures that our children are exposed to the awe and wonder of the world and the importance of understanding British Values in today’s society.