Overview Curriculum Statement (Intent, Implementation & Impact)
Welcome to our curriculum page! We are really proud of our curriculum and how we deliver it. The curriculum statement below provides an overview of what to expect from the curriculum at our school.
Intent (Why?)
Our curriculum has a clear purpose – the intent. Everything we do impacts on the future of the children, their life chances, their mental health and their success.
Our school ethos and ‘North Star’ drive the over-arching principles for our curriculum:
Aspiring to Excellence at Every Level,
Providing An Extraordinary Experience for all
A mantra of ‘Learning for Living’
Producing Socially responsible global citizens who dare to dream.
Our focus on ‘Learning for Living’ supports all children to gain the knowledge, skills and understanding covered by the National Curriculum, enhanced and extended with additional aspects that comprise our whole offer and leave them able to apply their learning to new challenges and later life (their North Star, supported by their Compass for Life). Everything we do starts with a clear purpose. We share this with the children so they are aware of how their experiences and learning contributes towards their current and future growth and development.
Through our curriculum experiences, we aim to develop children who display the right attitudes and dispositions to enable them to ‘dream big’ and succeed to a level they wouldn’t have achieved had they not been part of our school community. They need to be able to solve problems they haven’t been exposed to yet – their ability to consider, to plan, to assess, to apply and to reflect is supplemented by a deep body of knowledge and a wide range of experiences which will enable them to adapt to change, continue to grow and develop and to be lifelong learners with mental, physical and emotional resilience.
Implementation (How/what?)
Inspired by the work of highly respected professionals such as Carol Dweck, Rita Pierson, James Nottingham, Simon Sinek, Paul Dix and Floyd Woodrow, as well as well-respected educational research, at Hazeldown, we prioritise HOW children learn: developing a growth mindset and challenging ethos; encouraging our pupils to have high aspirations and a clear plan to reach their goals; teaching metacognitive strategies and regularly referencing the importance of our seven learning values: resilience, resourcefulness, collaboration, relationships, empathy, and reflection, underpinned by kindness and respect. We teach children how to grow into positive, responsible people who can work and co-operate with others, whilst developing knowledge and skills, so they achieve their full potential.
Our curriculum follows the Cornerstones ‘Curriculum 2022’ structure, which organises National Curriculum programmes of study around a central theme, known within Hazeldown as a ‘Learning Journey’. Each ‘Learning Journey’ consists of a ‘Driver’ project and a series of ‘Companion’ projects. ‘Driver’ projects have either a history or geography focus; companion projects focus on one of the following four curriculum areas: art and design, design technology, geography or science. Each ‘Learning Journey’ is a term long and is adapted and enhanced to suit our children and local context. These ‘Learning Journeys’ include not only the formal requirements of the National Curriculum but also a range of extra-curricular activities that the school organises in order to enrich the experience of the children.
Each ‘Learning Journey’ generally starts with a stimulus event, known as a ‘Memorable Experience’, which captures the children’s imagination and engages them with their learning. Each then finishes with a ‘Celebration Event’, where the children further embed their understanding of their learning by sharing it purposefully with parents, other members of our school community or the wider world. Children record their wider curriculum subject learning and progress within a single Learning Journal to promote the ‘joined up thinking’ so necessary for later life. Each child is provided with ownership and choice over how they present their learning and is encouraged to demonstrate their individuality when doing so.
In maths, we follow the Teaching for Mastery approach and are members of the Devon and Cornwall Maths Hub (CODE). We use White Rose materials, supplemented by additional resources and supported by the NCETM Professional Development materials.
We base our literacy curriculum on sequences of work from Devon Education Services and focus strongly on providing purpose for writing. For phonics, we follow the ‘Little Wandle Letters & Sounds Revised’ programme which is complemented by Collins Big Cat phonically decodable books. Spelling follows the No-Nonsense Spelling Programme, using the teach, practise, apply and assess principle. Vocabulary learning is based on the knowledge gained from attendance on the Plymouth Oracy Project training course, using Communicate in Print as a key tool. Reading is taught during phonics lessons; across the school there is a daily reading session including guided reading (in a variety of forms), personal reading, reading for pleasure and class novels read to the children.
PSHE follows the well-respected SCARF scheme of work, supplemented with additional materials, such as the Normal Magic ‘10-a-Day’ principles, to provide a positive approach to mental wellbeing; RE is based on the Devon Agreed Syllabus.
Our music teaching follows the Charanga scheme of work; we follow the Teach Computing scheme to support our teaching of the computing curriculum. PE follows the Primary PE Passport scheme - supplemented by Devon PEDPASS materials, as required.
Impact (So What?)
In line with our North Star, the impact of our curriculum is Excellent Outcomes for all and the creation of well rounded, socially responsible citizens who are curious learners, who have the power to choose and respond to change, and who recognise that they can have a significant impact on their community and the wider world. The development of Values Driven Attitudes to Learning through our approach to the curriculum produces children who can think for themselves, be resilient and face challenges with strategies to overcome and progress.
When they leave us, our children will demonstrate self-awareness, an independent will and a creative imagination. They are not afraid to dream, are aspirational for themselves and others and become positive contributors to society.
They demonstrate emotional intelligence, are innovative, resilient and demonstrate a ‘warrior spirit’ within themselves. They are determined strategists and develop a positive ethos and passion for who they are and what they do in pursuit of their own North Star.
Our children will have experienced a rich and broad curriculum during which they will have developed wide knowledge, deep understanding and significant skills which, coupled with a secure values system, an understanding of how they themselves learn and high aspirations will see them equipped to achieve well in their futures.
Whole School Overview
