Curriculum overview

The curriculum at Rendlesham has been written to consider the future world our young children will face as adults and continuing learners. We value three core education principles: Personal Development, Creative Development and Community Engagement. These principles are not “add ons,” nor are they haphazard outcomes, they are the foundation of our entire curriculum.   

 

Teaching focuses on ensuring that as children develop their knowledge in a subject, they do so through application of these core education principles. From EYFS to the end of year 6 a clear progression of subject knowledge has been constructed to ensure that children develop a meaningful understanding of the curriculum. Teachers assess both factual and procedural knowledge allowing children to reflect on their own personal development and behave as active citizens at a local and global level.   

 

Looking ahead our children will need to be able to find solutions to national issues such as global warming, technological revolution and racism. Their generation will be pivotal in delivering huge global change. We teach children to be innovators of the future. We enable them to be leaders; to become creative thinkers; resilient learners and active citizens. There is an emphasis on ensuring children reflect and recognise their personal response to their education as well as a focus on the acquisition of factual knowledge.  

 

Year 1 - Autumn Conflict	Year 1 - Spring Planet Earth	Year 1 - Summer  Britain
Through a study of conflict in a range of eras and societies children learn how lives are commemorated and why this is important. They understand how human actions affect others, debate human morals and form an understanding of equality.  They are challenged to question historic morality and learn about the experiences of women and ethnic groups throughout history.	This term provides a variety of opportunities to explore human impact on our planet. Children learn about animals and their habitats, the impact of natural disasters on the earth and then consider how human activity is impacting the future of the planet. They are encouraged to be respectful active citizens and develop a sense of responsibility to protect all species.	As well as studying their own locality, children learn about London, Britain and the UK. They begin to compare the UK to the rest of the world and then link this knowledge to human geography and migration. They study historic Britain and changes in the monarchy. They build on prior learning regarding societal, gender and ethnic inequality, learning about the stories and lives of migrants arriving in Britain.
Year 2 - Humankind	Year 2 – Spring Inventions	Year 2 - Summer legacy
A focus on geographic knowledge and skills. Children learn to use maps and fieldwork skills and discover how our land use is changing.    Human characteristics are explored in depth and children are encouraged to reflect on human nature.	Technology is explored across a range of subjects this term. There is a historical focus on inventions and their impact on society which links to how we can use these legacies to develop our own new ideas for the future. Children are encouraged to explore and show curiosity about the world around them.	Children compare how human lives have been affected by nature and human activity over time. They compare lives across the world as well as focusing on local history and geographic landforms.    They develop their understanding of diversity and build on prior knowledge from all areas of the curriculum.

Intent 

 

Rendlesham’s curriculum is designed to support all learners to become independent thinkers and reflective, respectful citizens. We have designed a curriculum that teaches children about their past and encourages them to think about the future conditions of our planet. We teach them to respect all genders and ethnic groups and to be active citizens, engaging with and respecting the local community. Our learning characteristics form the core of our teaching, all children are aware of the drivers and the skills that they will be developing to ensure personal improvement.   

 

Key questions link the subjects each term, and where possible they are repeated across subjects to enable meaningful cross curricular learning.  Prior and future learning is made explicit and as time passes, children will be able to build on the foundations they have learnt from Early Years to year 6.   

 

Our Early years curriculum also incorporates the school’s three core drivers and children are encouraged to be independent, resilient and take risks from an early age. They also base their learning around the school’s six themes, teaching two a term. Children use the themes as a starting point for exploring their learning, providing a strong foundation for future knowledge and skills development.   

  

 

Implementation 

  

Following considerable research, we introduced a new vision and curriculum plan in January 2021. This vision was shared with the school community and staff quickly began to enjoy the opportunity to research the theory underpinning the new leadership vision.  As a result of the research and opportunity to collaborate, staff were keen to be involved in creating the new curriculum from inception. Now, staff have a strong understanding of how the curriculum is developed, including how the concepts thread through each subject and how the questions support the core drivers. The three drivers, Personal Development, Community Engagement and Creative Development, sit at the heart of every subject and are incorporated into daily teaching and assemblies. 

 

Each subject has been carefully designed so that concepts are taught in each age range and built on, year on year, to develop a more sophisticated understanding.  First and second order concepts run through the entire curriculum. Our first order concepts of Equality, Legacy, Sustainability, Technological Change, Leadership and British Culture reoccur throughout all curriculum subjects. These sit alongside the second order concepts that form the fundamental teaching skills in each individual subject. These are all identified on the medium term plans.  

 

Our long term plans show all the core questions which act as the hook for children to begin to engage in each curriculum area. Medium term plans show the progression of skills and knowledge across Key Stage 1 and 2.  

Key vocabulary is set out for each subject area and is taught and explained so that children can develop a broad and sophisticated vocabulary as they progress through the phases.   

 

Core subjects are assessed termly using either NTS tests or teacher assessment. Foundation subjects are assessed in a variety of ways including observations of performances or live debates, use of IT such as videos, mini quizzes and double page spreads. All methods assess the acquisition of knowledge set out on the medium term plans and record whether children have acquired the knowledge or not. This assessment is collated by subject lead and reviewed to monitor quality of teaching and learning.   

 

Rendlesham has a reading spine which sets out the core reading offer for all our children. This spine has been constructed to reflect a mixture of classic, contemporary, multicultural and increasingly challenging texts, written by both male and female authors and authors of a variety of ethnic backgrounds. Children will learn these texts through daily class teaching.   

 

Maths teaching is predominantly linked to White Rose planning. However, the maths leader has used gaps analysis to rewrite the school’s long term plan. In doing so we have made conscious decisions about which areas to revisit and which areas to teach at a later stage in the children’s development.    

 

Impact 

 

Rendlesham’s curriculum has evolved over the last three years, keeping the six themes but refining the content, concepts and knowledge taught. As a result, there has been much evolution. The curriculum in its current form was implemented in spring 2021 and a full two-year cycle has now been taught. There is clear evidence of pupils building on prior knowledge. This can be seen in staff planning, pupils’ work and through regular conversations with pupils about their learning.  

 

The implementation of the learning characteristics has had significant impact on pupils’ behaviour and personal development. The teaching of the characteristics is fully embedded across the school and all pupils are aware of the drivers and the intent associated with them.   

 

Parents and the wider community are familiar with the school’s vision, parents are updated at the beginning of each term with the questions for each subject and the vocabulary mats so they can support the new language at home. The Trust’s ‘Learning Pi’ platform has been refined and relaunched (Autumn 2024) and is providing the link between school and home learning and once fully embedded will aid to further consolidate understanding of the school’s drivers.