Curriculum Intent & Implementation
Curriculum at Sowerby Primary Academy
Our intention is that our curriculum will enable us to ‘grow courageous learners’. It has been designed with the 5 values at the heart of what we do.
We deliver an ambitious, knowledge rich curriculum. Pupils acquire skills that can be applied across subjects in an increasingly sophisticated way. We give great consideration to experiences and opportunities to develop the cultural capital they need to succeed in life. In this way we will foster kind, responsible adults of the future.
Cultural Capital
Cultural capital is the background knowledge of the world pupils need to infer meaning from what they read. It includes vocabulary, which in turn helps pupils to express themselves in a sophisticated and mature way.
This has been achieved through implementing the Elevate Trust's Curriculum Framework that was produced in a draft form for January 2023. The implementation of the Elevate curriculum has been planned to enhance the previous school curriculum's strengths that had been developed in 2021. The main principles of the Elevate Curriculum is to ensure the school has:
- A progressive and well-sequenced curriculum
- A progression model based on the National Curriculum as a minimum expectation – helping to deliver a knowledge rich and challenging curriculum to all children within Elevate Multi-Academy Trust fidelity of each subject's knowledge, skills and vocabulary.
The vision of curriculum provision delivered at Meadowside ensures that we constantly review the strengths of the units of study, we improve the areas for development and adapt the knowledge, skills and learning to meet the needs of our children and our community.
Our curriculum build:
When designing our progressive curriculum that is delivered in school, we wanted to ensure it was built around knowledge, skills and experiences. Threaded through this was the desire to have diversity and our locality embedded in what the children learn and experience. Ensuring this curriculum serves our children and our community, we sought the input on children, staff, governors and parents.
Our Values
Our curriculum is implemented through subjects taught discretely and subjects that are interwoven to create cross curricular themes. This combination aims to inspire and excite children about new learning.
All of the learning at Meadowside is triangulated through
- Elevate's High Impact Teaching and Learning Principles:
- Everyone ready to learn - Adults and teachers are prepared to succeed in every lesson and learning experience
- Learning that is intentionally planned, delivered and evaluated - Teachers and TAs understand 'why', 'how' and 'what' they want every child to learn
- Explicit and ambitious expectations - Everyone has the highest expectations in everything they do
- Variation of strategies - Teachers and TAs use agreed effective and research based strategies
- Activating higher order thinking - Opportunities planned for children to: explain; question; reinforce; and embed their learning
- Targeted high quality feedback - Evidence based feedback strategies that maximise learning
- Explicitly developing metacognition - Deliberately teaching and developing learning behaviours and attitudes
- Assessment for Learning through the Keep Up Not Catch Up Approach to ensure no child falls behind age related expectations
- The content for learning provided by The Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum and The National Curriculum
We triangulate these principles to allow our children the best opportunity to remember our curriculum in both the short and long term.
Our Elevate Curriculum intent:
Sowerby Curriculum Overview here
