Our Curriculum at Manor Wood Primary School

At Manor Wood, every child matters; every moment counts. Our curriculum is carefully constructed with this ethos in mind. It is personalised to Manor Wood, reflecting and celebrating the diversity of our entire school community. We have designed our curriculum with the intent that every child will be an independent, ambitious, respectful and happy learner. All children are encouraged to think positively about their abilities and learning styles, recognising these as differences and not difficulties. Our curriculum has been collaboratively created, ensuring that it is underpinned by enrichment which promotes high aspirations, knowledge, skills and global awareness.

Our teaching aims and aspirations for our children

• Understand that teachers and adults in school have high expectations of them, ensuring they aspire to be the best version of themselves
• Become emotionally literate young people who are articulate, thoughtful, empathetic individuals
• Have a sense of belonging, moral purpose, respect, acceptance and celebrate differences
• Grow into curious, caring and confident children who are prepared for life in modern Britain
• Have a set of core values which are life skills, fostering responsibility for continued learning and future success, allowing them to be happy and self-reliant adults

Our children are:

Implementation and design of the curriculum

We have designed a curriculum that is ambitious for all children, that allows them to deepen their understanding and build upon solid foundations. We strive for children to learn disciplinary skills alongside substantive knowledge, ensuring that both are explicitly developed. At Manor Wood we see knowledge and skills as intertwined. We truly believe in making the curriculum relevant and meaningful to our pupils, putting knowledge into context that is underpinned by developing strong basic skills.  Using the National Curriculum, subject leaders ensure coverage and progression is progressive and builds on what comes before, laying the foundations for what comes next. They ensure knowledge is secure across the Key Stages with frequent opportunities to embed prior learning. We have carefully selected the sequence of when, what and how knowledge and skills are taught and subject and senior leaders work actively to regularly review this.

Impact

Our children leave Manor Wood with detailed knowledge and skills from across the entire National Curriculum. We know what we do makes a difference to our children through monitoring and assessment, such as: lesson observations, pupil voice, formal and informal assessments, book scrutiny, moderation within our teaching alliance and curriculum reviews. Subject leaders play an important part in the success of the curriculum by leading regular programmes of monitoring and evaluating of their subjects. The impact our curriculum has on our learners is seen every day, not solely by the work they have produced or the knowledge they have retained, but by how well the children approach learning and life’s challenges. We equally measure the successes of our curriculum impact through seeing our children evolve to become fully rounded individuals with a clear understanding of values like equality, friendship and trust. Manor Wood children are curious, caring and confident children who are fully prepared for the next stage of their education and life in modern Britain.

The National Curriculum sets out the minimum content. However, at Manor Wood Primary School, we work hard to ensure that our children have the opportunity to learn a wealth of additional skills and to develop their knowledge and understanding fully. For example:

• We offer a wide range of after-school clubs.

• We take part in competitions, debating challenges, sports leagues and sports opportunities in the locality and across the city.

• We have a specialist music teacher to lead music across the school.

• Specialist teachers also provide a variety of instrument lessons, including violin, cello, viola, keyboards, flute, clarinet and percussion and we pride ourselves on our drama and varied productions across school.

• An art specialist teaches every child Art weekly across Key Stage 2.

• Practitioners with a particular skill and expertise in PE teach the Year 5 and 6 classes.

• Immersive theme weeks, days, visits and "hooks" enhance learning at every opportunity.

• Independence and personal responsibility are taught through Restorative Practice and many of our children are RP reps, promoting and supporting good behaviour across school.

• All children are involved in electing Team Captains from Year 6 who put themselves forward for election and take a leading role in school.

• Eco Champions from the pupil body promote environmental awareness and responsibility.

• STEM Ambassadors, Reading Ambassadors and Digital Leaders from the pupil body drive these areas forward with passion and enthusiasm.

• We have a designated STEM Lab for practical lessons.

• Our grounds, a grassy and wooded environment, is a "classroom without walls" for our children, where Alfresco learning flourishes - our children learn outside the classroom and think outside the box.

• Higher attaining children are not restricted by the National Curriculum and are encouraged to think flexibly, take risks with their learning and to pursue excellence in particular areas.