Curriculum

Plymouth Grove Primary School Curriculum Statement

Article 29 of the UNCRC: a child or young person's education should help their mind, body and talents be the best they can

Global Goal 4: Quality Education

Staff responsibilities for the curriculum and associated areas are currently as follows:

Curriculum Intent

At Plymouth Grove Primary School, our core school values are respect, equality and friendship. Our aim is to deliver a rigorous, consistent and research-led curriculum that enables our children to be ready for the next stage of their education at the end of each phase and to be ‘secondary ready’ when they finally leave us at age 11.

Central to our curriculum provision is the progressive development of  pupils’ knowledge, concepts and skills through: Communication Language and Literacy, Numeracy, Personal Social and Emotional Development and Knowledge and Understanding of the World. We aim to develop pupils’ language skills through a focus on oracy; engaging in dialogue, developing classroom contributions and questioning. Oracy enables deeper understanding of the curriculum and develops critical thinking. 

We aim for all our pupils to be responsible, caring citizens and to be lifelong learners, developing resilience, reflectiveness, reciprocity and resourcefulness. Our approaches through Building Learning Power and being  Rights Respecting School underpin these aspects of our intent.

As a Manchester school we follow the Our Manchester agenda and want our pupils to contribute to:

• A progressive and equitable city 

• A highly skilled city 

• A thriving and sustainable city  

• A liveable and low carbon city

• A connected city 

Our curriculum is carefully planned to ensure that pupils’ learning in all subjects is planned and sequenced so that new knowledge and skills build on prior learning and provide progression in learning towards end of year and end of Key Stage expectations. A consistent spiral model, with many opportunities for retrieval practice, helps to build and revisit learning in small steps. This means our children will be able to know more, do more and remember more.

Our curriculum is designed to have a rigorous focus on developing basic skills in English and mathematics, to meet the needs of our school population, and also to be broad and rich, to reflect the diverse and  urban nature of our community. The broad and balanced curriculum will promote children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development; and promote fundamental British values of:

• Democracy.

• The rule of law.

• Individual liberty.

• Mutual respect.

• Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs.

As an inclusive school we aim for ambitious outcomes for all pupils,  to achieve the standards set out in the Early Years curriculum by the end of Reception and in the National Curriculum for Years 1 to 6 in reading, writing, mathematics and science. In other subjects, we have clearly defined expectations of pupils’ learning for Years 1 to 6 to enable pupils to learn, recall and utilise the knowledge, concepts and skills that will make them successful learners and prepare them for adult life. 

Children will have the opportunity to demonstrate greater depth, a higher standard and mastery through oracy. This is defined as the ability to speak eloquently, articulate ideas and thoughts, influence through talking, listen to others and have the confidence to express views through the curriculum. 

Curriculum Implementation

The curriculum in place for all learners is organised through the Early Years Foundation Stage framework and the early learning goals in the Early Years Foundation Stage and through the programmes of study of the National Curriculum for all subjects from Years 1 – 6. Learning is sequenced to enable progression through age-related expectations for each year group (Years 1 – 6) in all subjects – to meet National Curriculum expectations. In each subject, there are key strands of learning which are taught and then re-visited each term/ each year to enable pupils to build on their prior learning and knowledge. In topic-based learning, class teachers use Knowledge Organisers to ‘capture’ the key knowledge, skills and concepts that pupils are expected to learn within the theme. 

Our intention to produce lifelong learners at Plymouth Grove is implemented through Building Learning Power and is central to the school’s intent to produce resilient, reflective, reciprocal and resourceful pupils. As a Rights Respecting School we teach children about rights, through the rights and for their rights. An oracy rich curriculum provides opportunities for children to become confident communicators.

The approach to teaching and learning is supported through evidence-based research with a focus on teaching effectiveness. Research suggests that achievement is likely to be maximised when the key features of lessons include; orientation, structuring, questioning, teacher modelling, application, learning environment, management of time and assessment. Teacher journal clubs are used to offer a cycle of meetings where teachers discuss research findings and plan how to incorporate them into their practice. 

Assessment, both formative and summative, is used to inform teaching and learning and to ensure that all pupils are building on their prior learning and make progress appropriate to their ability. Feedback is provided in three ways: immediate feedback at the point of teaching, summary feedback at the end of a lesson and review feedback away from the point of teaching. Regular assessments are undertaken in core subjects to gauge pupils’ progress and to adjust the curriculum and teaching and learning. In non-core subjects, low stakes quizzes are used to inform progress. 

Curriculum Impact

Impact on pupils’ learning is measured by:

• Summative tests in reading, mathematics and science

• Teacher assessment in writing

• Oracy assessments to enable judgments in foundation subjects. 

• Pupil progress meetings are undertaken  each term, to evaluate the progress each pupil in making in their learning and  to identify those pupils/ groups who need to accelerate their progress to meet national/ school expectations.

• Attendance and behaviour data to demonstrate the impact of the school’s behaviour and attendance policies on pupils’ attitudes and enjoyment of school.

• Pupil voice surveys, which demonstrate pupils’ attitudes to, and views of, their learning

• Staff voice surveys, which enabling the identification of CPD needs in relation to the curriculum model.

• A structured and coherent model of monitoring and evaluation, including classroom visits and work scrutiny, which enables senior, curriculum and subject leaders to evaluate the impact of the curriculum and knowledge progression models

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