What does our Curriculum look like at Berkley?
Intent
We are aspirational, with a strong sense of community and we aim to create an inspirational curriculum that truly meets the needs of all of our children, providing opportunity and independence. We aim to deliver a rich, exciting, broad and balanced curriculum with reading at the forefront. At Berkley each individual child will progress academically, emotionally, creatively, socially and physically.
We are fully committed to developing each child’s unique potential within a secure and caring environment and all our pupils leave with an enthusiasm to read. We use a range of sources to meet the needs of the curriculum and provide an exciting and enlightening learning experience for our children, maximising the opportunities in our local area. We believe that our children should not only reach their best academically, but also develop a thirst for knowledge, foster a love of learning and leave our school with exceptional independent learning skills.
Implementation
Berkley’s curriculum is organised into six themes across the school. Our curriculum is taught through termly units of work and is in line with the national curriculum standards and EFYS framework. The content of our curriculum is sequenced to ensure that components of knowledge lead to conceptual understanding. Each theme enables ample flexibility to ensure that children direct their own learning and explore opportunities that arise because of their study.
Subject leaders ensure that we have practical coverage of the National Curriculum and enables teachers to evaluate the practical application of skills, check understanding and inform teaching. The aim of every lesson is for as many pupils as possible to achieve the expected outcome. Appropriate adaptations are made to ensure the needs of all learners are met.
Progression of knowledge, skills and understanding is planned, reviewed and adapted to ensure the children’s learning builds effectively over time to ensure children are ready to meet the expectations of middle school. Teachers are self-reflective and enhance their teaching skills and strategies to help raise standards across the full breadth of the curriculum.
For most subjects, we expect to see:
• A working wall in the classroom to track the learning journey and record key information.
• Key Vocabulary used and referred to in lessons
• Links between prior learning and new learning
• Opportunity for paired and individual work
• Focussed group work led by adults to support ‘keep up’ or deepening understanding and challenge
• Opportunity for talk and discussion
How is it ambitious?
We ensure it is ambitious by having high expectations for all in all areas of school life. We are reflective in our approach and seek to deliver the best learning experience. Excellent teaching and learning give children opportunities to be successful in a creative, safe, calm environment where classrooms and other learning spaces promote creativity and high aspiration.
This includes CPD, assessing pupil outcomes and taking necessary steps to deepen the child understanding of subjects.
Curriculum Impact
Children develop their understanding and use of the correct vocabulary, knowledge and skills to demonstrate their understanding in each subject taught.
They are aspirational and strive for excellence in all elements of their lives, demonstrating emotional resilience and perseverance.
Pupils make at least good progress from their relative starting points and recognise their own areas of strength and interest. Our pupils feel confident learners, we are an inclusive in our approach meaning all pupils experience the full curriculum.
Wider Curriculum Powerpoint
CLICK ON THE BUTTONS BELOW FOR SPECIFIC SUBJECT INFORMATION
Our curriculum is taught through topics. We believe that topic-based learning allows individual subjects to become more meaningful. Subjects are taught individually ensuring the children understand the knowledge they are learning and can then apply the skills.
Home Challenges
Each class is set a range of challenges each term to consolidate the learning that is taking place at the time.
SPECIAL EDUCATION (see SEND Local Offer)
Many children experience some difficulty in learning during their school career. Some problems are easily identified and dealt with by the class teacher. Sometimes it may be necessary to give a child particular help through a specific learning programme.
The school aims to give special help to children with specific or general learning difficulties. The work set will match individual pupil's needs and abilities. A member of our teaching staff who takes responsibility for special needs education throughout the school, guides our Special Needs Learning Support Assistant in the implementation of programmes. Children with particularly severe learning or behavioural difficulties may, with their parents' consent, be referred to the Educational Psychologist. We also try to give extra challenge to children who are particularly able.
Our aims above are achieved by:
- Planning for the future by producing a School Development Plan.
- Appropriate and individually tailored Professional Development opportunities for all members of staff
- Establishing, in all curriculum areas, clear, well defined policies to support teachers. Within each
policy, provision for reviewing and evaluating exists. - Formulating in non-curriculum areas clear, well defined policies for all to work towards. Each policy allows for reviewing and evaluating procedures. Such non-curricular areas might range from a behaviour management policy to dinner time procedures to an admissions policy.
- Developing guidelines to support our policies.
- Co-operating with agencies outside school, e.g. schools service advisers, curriculum support services and national organisations.