Argyle Primary Curriculum Statement

The intention of our curriculum is to:

• inspire pupils,
• broaden their horizons,
• take them out of the classroom and open their eyes to a wide range of opportunities and experiences…

whilst ensuring that they develop very strong skills in English, Mathematics and Science.

It takes account  of the fact that, at any time, approximately 50% of our pupils may be considered disadvantaged and ensures that all pupils, whatever disadvantage they may face, enjoy rich experiences and opportunities to develop their cultural capital.

The curriculum places an equal emphasis on knowledge and skills and has been designed to be progressive so that the knowledge and skills taught in one unit are built upon in successive units. Wherever possible, cross-curricular links are made so that pupils have time to explore a topic in depth.

Excellent literature and high quality educational visits provide a structure to our curriculum ensuring that children read widely, are read to and physically experience an aspect of each curriculum topic.

The entire curriculum is underpinned by a clear set of values –excellence, collaboration, kindness, drive, compassion, respect, self-control, courage, responsibility, empathy, positivity, fun, love, honesty, friendship, kindness, patience, wisdom, gratitude, self-belief, fairness, forgiveness and peace.

These values support pupils in identifying common themes in their learning and in making links between subjects as well as supporting their social. emotional and moral growth.

Music and Art are strengths of our school and are used skilfully by teachers to bring humanities and science to life as well as being taught as discrete subjects. Our Modern Foreign language is Latin. This ensures the systematic teaching of spelling and grammar and further supports conceptual understanding in history, maths and science.

Oracy is prioritised and taught explicitly across the curriculum from our Early Years Foundation Stage to Year 6. Children learn subject specific vocabulary and appropriate structures that enable them to apply that vocabulary. They learn model texts by heart so that they develop a bank of high-quality language. They are taught to explain their reasoning in all subjects, to develop an argument and debate an issue.

Throughout each year we use feedback from children and staff to refine the curriculum and further adapt it to meet the needs of current children and take advantage of any relevant special performance or exhibitions.

The curriculum is personalised for pupils with SEND needs so that they are fully included and able to enjoy learning with their peers. Where necessary we take steps to adapt the learning environment to meet the specific needs of a child. Full details about our approach to including children with SEND can be found in our SEND policy and information report on the policies page of this website.

At the bottom of this page you will find our curriculum overviews for each year group. Further information can be found on our individual subject Curriculum pages.