Wider Curriculum

LANLIVERY CURRICULUM

Situated in the small, rural village of Lanlivery, our school provides a warm, welcoming and friendly atmosphere. We aim to provide a happy, safe environment where children feel confident to explore, experiment and develop curiosity so that learning comes naturally. Our very own Forest area provides us with an additional space where we learn, explore, create, develop social skills and enjoy nature.

We strive to deliver a broad and balanced, diverse and inclusive curriculum with daily Maths and English learning which is enhanced and supported by the wider curriculum and through the use of ICT. Keeping our children physically active is also important, so we promote active lifestyles and mental wellbeing.

Everyone at Lanlivery Primary Academy is committed to giving everyone at our school the best possible education. If you have any questions about the curriculum, including our approach to SRE, please contact the school.

Staff have work collaboratively to develop and embed an effective curriculum. This continues to be an ongoing journey for us as a school, as we continue to reflect, adapt and improve. Leaders have used a range of materials to help shape our curriculum and as a result, our curriculum is not static. We are always looking to make it relevant in the ever-changing world that we encounter.

Our Intent:
At Lanlivery Primary Academy, our curriculum is designed with knowledge at its heart to ensure that children develop a strong and extensive understanding of the world. We appreciate that a knowledge-rich curriculum does not simply mean memorising disconnected facts and pupils develop relationships with knowledge so that they can put their knowledge to work in powerful, meaningful ways. Our curriculum provides opportunities for pupils to develop understanding by connecting new knowledge with existing knowledge in order to develop fluency and the ability to apply their knowledge as skills.

Teachers and Subject Leaders have thought carefully about the sequence of our curriculum to ensure that new knowledge builds on what has been taught before and what may come after. We aim to deliver a broad, balanced and inclusive curriculum which empowers pupils to achieve their full potential and make informed and responsible decisions throughout their lives.

Our Implementation:
Our curriculum is underpinned by the National Curriculum alongside the trust ‘Knowledge Progression Ladders’, which helps to sequence the knowledge delivered as children progress through the school. The National Curriculum informs the knowledge progression ladders- detailing the knowledge that each child will learn in class. This knowledge is progressive and gives children opportunities to build on previous learning and experiences.

The knowledge is then mapped across a 2 or 3 year rolling programme to ensure that every child has their full entitlement. Each year contains five - six blocks of learning to allow time and opportunities to fully embed the intended learning opportunities and to give children the greatest chance to succeed. This program revisits key aspects of the knowledge to help children to embed the vital aspects of the curriculum, supporting planning and implementation in a mixed age classroom. Knowledge is taught in subject specific lessons. Knowledge is taught to be remembered, not merely encountered.

Our curriculum values long-term learning and we recognise that progress means knowing more and remembering more. We recognise that learning can be defined as an alteration in long-term memory and if nothing has been altered in the long-term memory, then nothing has been learned. Staff use this rolling programme to guide them in their coverage of what needs to be taught and when. It is tailored to suit the needs of the children at that time. Teachers use their pedagogical knowledge of how children learn best alongside their detailed knowledge of the children in their classes at the time, to enable pupils to understand key concepts, presenting information clearly to help embed key knowledge into long- term memory, so that pupils can develop fluency and automaticity.

Feedback, retrieval practice and assessment are prioritised so that teachers can check pupils’ understanding effectively and identify any misunderstandings and misconceptions. Teachers ensure there is coverage of all the knowledge and break this into learning objectives with age-appropriate statements and use the progression ladders to guide their planning each day/week and throughout the year. Learning has subject specific outcomes and these are shared with the children to allow them to reflect on: the knowledge and skills they have acquired so far; any misconceptions along the way and; where they are heading (a purposeful outcome). After teaching each unit, staff assess using the assessment ladders, mapping out a child’s journey in each subject and across the range of the curriculum. This is used when planning the next unit, to identify gaps for individuals and classes. It is also passed up to the next teacher, in preparation for transition before September.

Learning can also take place outside of the classroom and so our curriculum is further enhanced by other experiences. These can include:
- Visitors, educational visits and ‘hands on’ experiences and events to inspire and engage pupils
- Opportunities for pupils to share the questions that they would like to explore, in order to encourage curiosity
- Links to the local community
- Purposeful outcomes that include the wider community

Our Impact:
The impact of our curriculum can be seen in the pupils’ development of detailed knowledge and skills across the curriculum. This impact is reflected in the work that pupils produce, along with national test scores improving and key assessment points during the school year. At Lanlivery Primary Academy, we strive to ensure that pupil attainment is improving and that pupils are fully prepared for their next stage of education and ready to contribute positively to society as a whole. Our values (curiosity, creativity, excellence, responsibility, determination and enthusiasm) help to enable the pupils to become the very best version of themselves. Through the use of monitoring (pupil voice, lesson observations, outcomes, data analysis etc), leaders review and reflect on the intent and implementation of our curriculum to ensure that it has the desired impact.

The Wider Curriculum

We use progression ladders, which we have developed with the Bridge Academy Trust. These ladders were developed by exploring successful curriculums, carrying our research and trialing ideas. The ladders show how skills and knowledge progress and develop over the years at Primary School. Our learning is driven by questions to engage pupils and give them a purpose for their learning. We plan our learning to be relevant, current and engaging. We also try to ensure a balance of local knowledge and broader knowledge. There are links to progression ladders for each subject below.