Swalwell Primary School
Working together, learning together
Welcome
Curriculum Intent
For further information about the curriculum followed at our school, please feel free to get in touch, or speak with your child’s class teacher at the end of the day.
Curriculum Intent
At Swalwell our curriculum places our children at the heart of all that we do. Our curriculum has been carefully designed with the clear intention of developing our children as confident, respectful and reflective individuals who are proud of who they are and where they are from. We wish for every child to reach their potential.
Through our ambitious curriculum, underpinned by the National Curriculum, we aim to develop and celebrate each child as a unique individual, fostering positive relationships with their peers with the intent of sharing learning and understanding the value of learning to their own lives. Our overarching vision is for every child to be equipped with the necessary skills, understanding and ambition to succeed in their lives, expressing themselves as individuals, making valuable contributions to the community in which they live.
Our curriculum enables learners to:
Be confident, happy and proud of who they are through the development of both physical and mental health
Feel valued for being themselves and feeling valued as a member of our inclusive school family
Be exposed to rich and varied learning opportunities which are centred around real-life experiences
Understand the world around them being caring, tolerant and respectful of others
Thrive academically in all areas of the National Curriculum demonstrating a secure knowledge and application of both substantive and disciplinary skills.
Have high aspirations and ambitions for their future and know that these can be achieved through hard work, commitment and determination
Develop resilience, independence, problem solving, reasoning and justification skills.
Curriculum Implementation
We follow a progressive skills based curriculum which allows our children to develop their understandings across a range of subjects. Through enquiry based learning, supplemented with educational visits and visitors, we provide opportunities for every child to apply their acquired knowledge whilst challenging them to think deeply by questioning why.
Our curriculum is implemented through adopting the following approaches:
Working hard showing a ‘can do’ attitude is promoted across the curriculum to instil a culture of resilience amongst our learners.
PSHE lies at the heart of our curriculum developing culturally and socially aware children who are secure in themselves
Ensuring an inclusive education for all
Nurturing respectful and inquisitive learners who want to question why
Understanding and appreciating the application and relevance of learning to our children’s own locality and their own lives
Fostering resilient learners who are secure in facing the challenges that life brings
Exposure to experiential learning opportunities underpinned by models and frameworks which allow our children to develop their learning in a progressive and cumulative manner.
Confident and knowledgeable subject leaders drive and develop their respective core and non-core subjects ensuring considered and progressive skills mapping to maximise children’s exposure to a rich and engaging curriculum.
Nurturing children’s cognitive load ensuring working memory is not overloaded with a clear rationale of making learning accessible to all to help our children learn more and remember more across all areas of the curriculum.
Collaborative approaches to learning alongside a wealth of support staff and external consultants to support individual learners within our school community, supporting the physical, social, and emotional needs of every child in a holistic learning environment.
Curriculum Impact
As a result of our implementation our children:
Have access to a wide and varied curriculum, allowing each of them to excel as individuals and be the best they can be.
Are able to know more and remember more about the learning they have acquired.
Are able to work and think like subject specialists for example exploring historical lines of enquiry justifying their understandings through their interpretation of historical sources of evidence.
Demonstrate confidence, independence, resilience alongside a genuine thirst for learning.
Form meaningful relationships and understand healthy relationships are based upon mutual respect and trust, recognising and celebrating difference, not only within the school community, but in the wider world.
Are well prepared to access the challenges of the secondary school curriculum.
Have a clear understanding of the need to make choices to support and nurture their own mental health and that of others.
Hold high aspirations for their future and know that these can be realised with hard work and determination.
Grow up with a clear sense of who they are and are able to make a positive contribution to the world in which they live.
All aspects of our curriculum are accessible to all children, irrespective of their ethnic background, gender, disability, religious or linguistic background. We strive to meet the needs of those pupils with special educational needs, those with disabilities, those who are more able, those with special gifts and talents and the children who are learning English as an additional language. For further details see separate policies.
Please click on the links below for our two year long term map