At Valence, we have a curriculum that we are continuing to refine so that it remains engaging for all our pupils. It encompasses the National Curriculum, but it is not restricted to it. Our curriculum is designed to take into consideration our pupils’ varied backgrounds and cultural experiences. We believe all children deserve a curriculum that improves their life chances, enabling social equity and mobility. Our school core values, PRAISE, are a thread that runs throughout the different subjects we teach.
All pupils are entitled to have access to a broad range of learning experiences which allow them to develop the knowledge, understanding, skills and attitudes necessary to prepare them for and to help them succeed as members of the wider community.
As a Rights Respecting School, we are creating a community where children’s rights are learned, respected and promoted by all. These rights are embedded in our curriculum which strives for high-quality teaching that challenges and broadens each child’s learning.
Our Curriculum Intent
At Valence, we aim for a broad and balanced curriculum that is relevant and aspirational. All National Curriculum subjects are taught with the firm belief that basic literacy and numeracy competency is essential for all pupils to make progress. Therefore, we ensure that, at all levels, literacy and numeracy knowledge and skills have a high priority, and where possible, we reinforce this knowledge and skills across subjects in a cross-curricular learning-based approach.
We believe that our pupils need a curriculum rich with language and vocabulary. In order for them to make sense of the world around them and far away, they need a range of first-hand experiences that enable them to flourish. We understand that a child’s ability to learn is based on gaining knowledge and building on learned knowledge; as well as the ability to use and apply any associated skills adeptly and competently. Our curriculum is designed to marry these key components to ensure progress and a greater depth of understanding that leads to sustained mastery.
Our Curriculum Implementation
National requirements and school requirements are mapped out as a whole school by subject leaders, and then individual year groups plan the curriculum for their pupils accordingly:
- Where possible, teachers organise each half term’s learning under a unifying theme.
- The curriculum is planned thoroughly, starting with the children’s current knowledge and skills, so that real progress can be made and measured.
- There are a variety of visits and visitors planned in each year group to enrich the learning and create lasting memories via real experiences.
- Children’s prior knowledge is assessed at the outset of the theme and learning planned accordingly. All themes finish with an assessment opportunity that celebrates the learning.
The curriculum is reinforced by the school’s core values. These are taught on their own and through other areas of the curriculum, including assemblies. The spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of our pupils and their understanding of British Values and the core values of our society are woven through the curriculum.
To enrich and develop children’s learning further, theme days and weeks, whole school activities and opportunities for educational visits and visitors have been built into our curriculum maps. After-school enrichment clubs and events extend these opportunities further, and specialist teachers support the teaching of Music and PE.
To support learning at home, year groups send out curriculum overviews at the beginning of each term, to provide parents and carers with information about the learning ahead.
Our Curriculum Impact
We measure the impact of our curriculum through:
- reflecting on the standards achieved against planned outcomes.
- celebrating the learning at the end of each topic, where children demonstrate the knowledge they have gained.
- sampling children's learning across the school, where they demonstrate learning.
- pupil discussions with teachers and Senior Leaders about their learning.
- annual tracking of standards across the curriculum.
Further information
For further information on our curriculum please contact the school office.
Hard copies of the information published on our website are available free of charge from the school office.
