Our School Curriculum

CURRICULUM INTENT

Our Vision is that every child is able to question their understanding of our 21st century world and is equipped with the knowledge, skills and resourcefulness to answer those questions.

We work alongside our parents so that every child will:

• become a successful, engaged learner who enjoys learning and who is knowledgeable and skilled, makes progress and achieves
• become a successful, engage learner who is fully prepared for the next stage of their education
• be a confident and articulate individual who leads a safe, healthy and fulfilling life whilst maintaining positive relationships
• be an optimistic and responsible citizen who knows that they can make a difference in the world

We do this by:

• ensuring the curriculum is underpinned with general and subject specific knowledge that promotes mastery and deepens understanding
• EVERY child has excellent oracy, reading, writing, numeracy and technological skills.
• EVERY child has the personal, social and emotional skills needed to maintain mental and physical well-being.
• we ALL promote positivity, determination, adaptability, risk-taking, self-regulation, emotional resilience, tolerance, calmness, aspiration, confidence and independence.

We do this through our curriculum values of :

• Excellence: we give our best at work and play; we aim high; we believe in ourselves; we enjoy learning; we love to contribute; we are curious; we celebrate success; we think about our learning; we achieve well independently; we are proud of our work; we understand that there are steps on the way to excellence;
• Partnership: a commitment to collaboration – we work together; we listen to each other; we share; we learn from each other; we respect each other; we are sincere; we are good citizens of Birmingham, the United Kingdom and the world; we contribute; we are happy; we feel safe; we look after our schools; we are part of a team; we are part of a family; we help each other to achieve well; we believe that everyone is equal.

• Perseverance: continued effort in the face of challenge – we don’t give up; we try our best; we are not afraid to make mistakes; we learn from our mistakes; we can talk about our learning; we take responsibility for our learning; we help to make our own futures; we can change if we need to; we can find solutions; we look forward; we have the courage to make difficult decisions. 

• Integrity: is the practice of being honest and showing a consistent and uncompromising adherence to strong moral and ethical principles and values; we are honest and truthful about our own actions; we do the right thing even when no one else is looking; we act with understanding, accepting and choose to live in accordance with our principles which include honesty, fairness and decency.
• Open mind-set: a characteristic that involves being receptive to a wide variety of ideas, arguments and information; having the ability to think critically and rationally; we are open to other ideas and perspectives to enable us to see all of the factors that contribute to problems or come up with effective solutions; we have the ability to step outside of our own comfort zone and consider other perspectives and ideas; we are open to new ideas and experiences even if these conflict with our existing beliefs; we ask questions and actively search for information that challenges our own beliefs; we are committed to the belief that other people should be free to express their beliefs and arguments even if they do not correspond with our own.
• Spirit of adventure: we embrace exciting, unusual or unfamiliar experiences; we partake fully in exciting and enterprising opportunities to further and/or apply our learning; we are bold; we are willing to try new things; we embrace risk taking as we know how to do so appropriately; we are pioneers; we are innovators; we are adventurers in our learning.

CURRICULUM THREADS

Our curriculum has been designed to give the children a strong sense of their own identity and their place in the world. Children need to know the story of humankind and its place in history and its impact on the future. Through our curriculum we ensure that children are ready for the next stage of their school life. We have six threads forming the backbone of each curriculum unit to ensure progression and cohesion throughout the learning journey.

CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTATION

Curriculum essentials are those components, knowledge and skills, that pupils need to have mastered in order to access the wider curriculum, make sense of and explore ideas, think critically and creatively and to communicate effectively. They are the basics that need to be in place so that children’s working memory is free to think about big ideas and make connections across and within subject disciplines.  

The most critical stages of development for securing the basics are in early years and key stage one. Our focus is on securing early reading and basic understanding of the number system as well as developing a joined legible and neat writing style. Once young children have mastered these foundations, they are in a better position to tackle the wider curriculum and share their learning.

Fluency comes from automaticity – something that children don’t have to think about. Automaticity is a critical component of learning. When we achieve automaticity with lower-level skills, we free up the brain to engage in more complex forms of thinking.  Deliberate, focused practice, with plenty of repetition, helps us achieve automaticity. Only through a relentless focus on the basic skills will we be able to unlock learning potential.

We take a thematic approach to the delivery of the curriculum recognising that it is the interplay between subject disciplines that leads to depth in understanding and well-connected ideas.  We also recognise that each subject/ domain has a substantive body of knowledge and a disciplinary approach that pupils need to be taught and therefore make this explicit to pupils during teaching.     

We know that some subjects need to be taught as distinct disciplines in order to prevent tenuous connections and therefore teach the following subjects discretely: Mathematics, Computing, PSHE, RE, Music and PE.

At the end of their topic we hold 'Pop-Up' events. We open up school to our parents so the children can showcase their learning and give opportunities to put their oracy skills into practise.

EDUCATIONAL VISITS

There is substantial evidence that outdoor learning can be effective at achieving a wide range of outcomes for children and young people.  

1. Children learn to be healthy and stay safe they:

• Develop greater self-awareness and respect;

• Participate in healthy physical activity;

• Know more about the benefits of physical fitness and the lifelong value of participating in healthy leisure activities;

• Develop respect, tolerance and empathy in relationships;

• Understand the benefits of healthy eating;

• Adopt a positive attitude to challenge and adventure;

• Develop the ability to manage risk.

2. Children learn to enjoy and achieve they:

• Enjoy participating in activities;

• Acquire a range of activity skills;

• Show an increased motivation and appetite for learning;

• Raise their attainment in other aspects of their education;

• Broaden their cultural, aesthetic and spiritual awareness.

3. Children and young people learn to make a positive contribution and achieve economic wellbeing they:

• Develop awareness of, and respect for, other people and the environment;

• Develop positive social attitudes, responsibility and commitment;

• Better understand the importance of conservation and sustainability;

• Demonstrate improved self-reliance;

• Develop and extend their key skills:

•  Communication;
•  Problem solving;
•  Leadership;
•  Teamwork.

Educational Visits are used to support all kinds of subjects – bringing learning to life. At Hodge Hill Primary School we believe that they are of substantial benefit to the education and development of our children. They help them to develop a sense of responsibility outside the classroom, giving them opportunities to put into practise, the content learned in the classroom and expand their knowledge. For many, they offer opportunities to broaden their horizons and enrich their life experiences.

We have strived hard to ensure that the educational visits are an integral part of our curriculum offer and enhance the learning within the topic areas they are currently studying.

Please see the long term overviews of visits planned this year.

For more information on the national curriculum and programmes of study please click here. 

If you have any questions about the specific curriculum taught at Hodge Hill Primary School, please contact the school on 0121 464 2189 or email enquiry@hodgehill.createpartnership.org.uk where a member of office staff will be able to direct you to the appropriate member of staff.