Our Curriculum Explained
At Kirby Hill CE Primary School, we ensure that our children receive a full and enriched curriculum that is tailored to meet their needs. As a staff we have given careful consideration to our children; offering additional experiences and activities which complement their current opportunities and statutory rights.
Ultimately, our curriculum intent is to help us to fulfil our school’s vision of helping all of our children to believe in themselves and to reach their full potential so that they are well prepared for the next step in their education and of course life beyond school. We inspire our children with exciting cross-curricular topics and interesting, challenging lessons so that they enjoy learning and develop high aspirations for the future.
Through our curriculum we:
- Embed Christian values of love, respect, friendship, honesty, forgiveness, hope and courage
- Develop independence and resilience
- Aim to have a positive impact on the local community and wider environment
- Utilise the opportunities that outdoor learning offers
Our curriculum is implemented through an engaging cross-curricular approach. We use Cornerstones topics as a springboard to help us to develop units of work that inspire and excite children about their learning. The units are rich in wonder and memorable experiences and they allow children's natural creativity and curiosity to flourish, alongside the purposeful acquisition of skills and knowledge.
Most of the foundation subjects are taught in depth through our Cornerstones units over a two-year rolling programme. Each unit takes one or two main subjects to drive the learning forward. We believe that choosing the right context to engage our children in their learning is vital in fostering a love of learning and also maintaining our high standards. English, maths, science, RE, music, French, PE and PSHE lessons are taught as discrete sessions, but wherever possible they will link to our topics so that skills can be applied across the curriculum.
Staff have worked together to carefully map out the full curriculum and have devised effective tracking systems to make sure there is clear progression for all and that we have high expectations for children’s achievements in all subjects.
Examples of the additional experiences offered to our children include whole-school visits to the theatre, visits to the seaside and cultural visits to the likes of museums and areas of natural beauty. As outdoor learning is important to us, children from Y3 to Y6 can access an outdoor education residential every year, which are very well received and enjoyed by all. All classes benefit from visits or visitors (eg STEM ambassadors, authors and members of our church community for ‘Messy Church’) to the school every term, to help us to enrich the curriculum even further and to continue to deepen the children’s learning.
Impact
Children leave Kirby Hill as happy, caring and confident individuals who know how to keep safe and who do well across all subjects. They have developed a love of reading, maths and science and they all have high aspirations for the future.