Holly Spring Primary School Curriculum

‘Learning is a change in long term memory’ (Kirschener, Sweller and Clark)

Curriculum Vision

The curriculum is at the heart of a school’s purpose and our curriculum reflects our core curriculum drivers of ‘Knowledge, Aspiration and Experience’.

Improving educational outcomes is the best way to impact our children’s futures. The education of a child is not limited to intellectual development. It includes social and emotional development and the understanding of what it means to be a good citizen and take responsibility for our own actions. The world has never before been so uncertain, with technology advancing at a fast-pace, we are preparing children for jobs that are not yet known. It is imperative that children are taught core values to support them in their future. Our values are taught alongside our curriculum. At Holly Spring, we I.M.A.G.I.N.E.  

Curriculum Principles

Unlocking the curriculum

At Holly Spring, we understand that reading is key to unlocking the curriculum and therefore this is a high priority. The teaching of phonics is prioritised when the children join the school to support reading development. Key vocabulary is identified in each subject and specifically taught – with a focus on the etymology of words. ‘When we do this, we are giving our pupils a bigger mental picture of what an important word means. We are building the ‘story’ of a word. This takes learning beyond the definition, which is important, to a deeper place of understanding.’ (Mary Myatt.) For example, if you know that ‘iso’ is a Greek word for equal, then this unlocks the meaning of isosceles triangle – in maths and isobar is meteorology.

The curriculum is WHAT we teach, WHEN we teach and refers to the whole journey of the subject from EYFS to year 6 (curriculum progression). Careful consideration has been given to the WHY we teach what we teach and this is continuously under review to meet the needs of our children.

Curriculums - drivers

Each of our curriculums have been specifically chosen and developed based on our key drivers – Knowledge, Aspiration, Experience. They are KNOWLEDGE rich and have been adapted where necessary to meet the needs of the children. It is important that explicit connections are made between the different experiences young people encounter in school in order to ensure that there is coherence in each curriculum area and between subjects. Our short-term working memory is limited and our pedagogical approach allows for retrieval practice to be a key part of each curriculum area and woven into lessons in order for concepts to become embedded into the long-term memory.

Curriculum Leads

Each subject is well led and monitored throughout the year, with learning walks and learning studies being a key aspect of this. Subject leads display expertise in their subjects and cascade their knowledge to all teachers. The subjects are well resourced and teachers prioritise children EXPERIENCING the curriculum with carefully planned ‘hooks’, ‘hands on’ experiences and trips / visitors to reinforce key knowledge.

Sequencing

Curriculums are clear, well developed and coherently sequenced. By coherently sequencing each curriculum and building it cumulatively, the curriculum builds connections with both prior and future learning. These connections support learning in the long term and support in the building of schema – embedding knowledge in the long-term memory.

Children’s understanding of each subject areas’ ‘Big Ideas’ are revisited and built upon each year as the children progress through the school.

They are developing their substantive (I know that …) and disciplinary knowledge (I know how …) of specific subjects and are considering how each subject is relevant to their lives both now and in the future and understand that they can ASPIRE to become a scientist, historian, geographer, artist etc. for their future career.

Children are able to talk about their learning and recall knowledge from previous units because learning is sequential. They ‘know more’, ‘do more’ and ‘understand more’ than ever before and this is evidenced through learning studies.

Connections

The curriculum builds relevant connections with other subject areas, where appropriate. Some connections are clear e.g. the electricity unit in science supports the DT unit that includes an electrical circuit. Links will be purposeful and not tenuous e.g. studying the use of colour in art would not be linked to The Black Death. This is also important in building schema.

Pedagogy

At Holly Spring, we understand that the curriculum should be built around effective pedagogy. ‘A great intended curriculum badly taught is likely to be a much worse experience than a badly intended curriculum well taught’ (Dylan Wiliam). In other words, pedagogy trumps curriculum! Such is its importance, staff have regular training, using Tom Sherrington’s ‘Walkthrus’ materials (based on Rosenshine’s Principles of instruction) and share good practice across the school using IRIS technology. The pedagogical practices which have become common place at Holly Spring, are research-led and evidence suggests they have a strong impact on learning.