The Federation of Whittonstall and Broomley First Schools
CURRICULUM POLICY 2016/17
Rationale
The curriculum refers to all the teaching and learning that happens in our schools. This takes in all the
statutory requirements of the National Curriculum and Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education, as well as all
the extra teaching and learning that is provided in school. The purpose of having a curriculum is to ensure
we provide a broad and balanced experience for our pupils, which will give us the best chance of reaching
our goal of nurturing strong, independent and life-long learners.
This policy will provide a framework for other policies and procedures to refer to, so as to be coherent and
consistent with our vision for our pupils.
Our Aims
 To provide a stimulating and exciting curriculum to give the children the best chance of reaching their
potential in all areas.
 To respond to the interests of our pupils and provide a curriculum that is flexible enough to develop
their ideas.
 To ensure each child’s education is progressive and challenging. Each and every child should be given
full access to the curriculum, regardless of background or ability.
 To enable the inclusion of parents and specialist practitioners, as often as possible.
 We will value the development of skills and independent thinking, as well as the acquisition of
knowledge and understanding. Our curriculum will aim to create children who ask questions and
know how to begin answering them.
General Teaching requirements
Our curriculum is required to follow those of the National Curriculum; in that it considers the inclusion of all
learners, the use of ICT, the use of language, health and safety and spiritual and moral development. The
subject requirements for key stages 1 and 2 are also mapped out in the National Curriculum. The statutory
subjects that all pupils must study are art and design, design and technology, English, geography, history,
information and communication technology, mathematics, music, physical education and science. Religious
education must also be provided at key stages 1 and 2.
Key skills in the Curriculum
Our schools’ curriculum is based on the progression of key skills taken from the National Curriculum. We
identify the skills requirements for each attainment level in each subject and ensure we teach these skills
within our topic areas.
The Foundation Stage
The Foundation Stage Curriculum is the first experience of formal education for our pupils. It is designed to
motivate young children to achieve their full potential and provide a gradual access to the National
Curriculum. This is centred on purposeful play, first hand experiences, investigation, problem solving and
meaningful communication skills.
“Play underpins all development and learning for young children ...it is through play that they develop
intellectually, creatively, physically, socially and emotionally.” (Practice Guidance for the Early Years
Foundation Stage May 2008 p7)
The curriculum for the Foundation Stage underpins all future learning by supporting, fostering, promoting
and developing children’s:
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personal, social and emotional well being;
positive attitudes and dispositions towards their learning;
social skills;
attention and persistence;
language and communication;
reading and writing;
Problem solving reasoning and numeracy
knowledge and understanding of the world;
physical development;
creative development;
an ability to work harmoniously.
Foundation Stage Planning
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In order to deliver the EYFS Curriculum we adopt the following features of good practice.
Recognition of the individuality of children, ensuring we take into account their needs within the
setting;
Valuing and building upon the previous experiences that they bring, by building on this recognising
this as an important building block to scaffold their future learning.
Providing a curriculum based upon the needs and interests of the children while supporting their
achieving the Early Learning Goals with in the EYFS.
Provision of a range of approaches which actively acknowledge the diversity of learning styles.
By providing first hand experiences, clear explanations, and appropriate interventions to develop and
extend play and communication through structured play both indoors and out.
Curriculum planning and structure
Beyond the Foundation Stage, the Years 1 to 4 follow a well planned curriculum, drawn up in three phases:
Long-term Planning
Our long-term planning for Maths and Literacy draws on the Primary National Strategy and the units of work
laid out within this document. Each teacher has the flexibility to re-organise and alter these units as they see
fit, but the Core Learning for each year must be taught. It is the responsibility of each teacher to have a clear
record of the units they teach and when they will teach them. (An example of long-term planning for maths
and literacy is available as Appendix P1)
For all other subjects, each teacher will have a clear indication of the teaching requirements for each year
group provided by the co-ordinator of each subject area, or by the curriculum co-ordinator. It is the
responsibility of the teacher to show when they will teach the relevant units of work on a long-term plan;
this will also include the topic areas covered. (An example of long-term planning for the foundation
curriculum is available as Appendix P2)
Medium-term Planning
Medium term planning gives greater detail to the units of work over the course of a term and will give an
overview of the intended teaching and learning. For Maths and Literacy, the plan will show what the specific
learning objectives are for the unit of work and the sequence in which they will be taught. (An example
medium-term Maths and Literacy plan is available as Appendix P3) For the rest of the curriculum, the
teacher will show the learning objectives for each subject area and will need to show how they are meeting
the requirements of the National Curriculum. (Example as Appendix P4)
Weekly Planning
Weekly plans show the intended sequence of teaching throughout the forthcoming week and will briefly
outline the learning objectives for each lesson. (See appendix P5) Daily plans and specific individual lesson
plans are not seen as a requirement, although may be produced if a teacher feels the need. For example, to
help during a lesson observation.
The role of the subject leader
The subject leader has a key role in ensuring the teaching requirements of each subject are met by having a
clear understanding of the progression of skills for their curriculum areas and where they are being taught
within the school. A subject leader advises teachers of each year group as to what their teaching obligations
are, through providing a clear schedule of the progression of skills through the school.
Monitoring and review
The monitoring and review of the curriculum is the responsibility of the headteacher, the curriculum coordinator, subject leaders and each teacher within the school.
The head and curriculum co-ordinator oversee the whole curriculum and ensure that the requirements of
the National Curriculum are met and the children are met with challenging and progressive learning
experiences. Subject leaders ensure the objectives and planning for their area is appropriate and is matched
to the learning needs of the pupils in each class. It is the teachers’ role to thoroughly plan each unit/ topic to
give maximum learning opportunities across the full curriculum.