Curriculum Intent and Rationale
Dickleburgh is a rural, small, village primary school situated on the outskirts of Diss, Norfolk. With a mainly white British demographic, the school is at the heart of the community where children thrive, everyone is valued and learners excel through rich and varied learning opportunities.
We believe our pupils need to be outward-facing to recognise their place in society, with the potential to make a positive contribution within their own community and on a global scale.
We focus on personal development and are committed to preparing our pupils to become lifelong learners. We want to open the doors of opportunity to each pupil, developing their multiple intelligences.
We believe the curriculum should be connected, evidencing clear progression and should demonstrate a consistent approach to teaching and learning. Our ambitious curriculum equips the children with a range of skills, knowledge and understanding of the world around them. Work is planned and sequenced so that the children’s knowledge and skills are developed and revisited over time. All children revisit prior knowledge throughout their time at school and build on this to deepen their understanding and thinking, as well as develop a practical application of their learning.
Implementation
We use our Beacon Federation version of Dimensions ‘Learning Means the World’ Curriculum (LMTW), which is underpinned by four highly relevant world issues, known as the four Cs:-
Communication, Conflict, Conservation, Culture
In line with our Christian ethos and commitment to ‘being the change we want to see in the world’, we want our pupils to embrace their role as stewards of the world and make a positive contribution.
As a school that predominantly represent a white British demographic, we want our pupils to fully embrace cultural diversity, learning about and experiencing a range of different cultural and faith heritages. We actively and explicitly promote cross-cultural friendship, respect, tolerance and understanding through ‘Learning Means the World’.
We believe that communication is key to accessing learning and securing pupils’ future success. We are committed to developing language for learning and use both a generic learning lexicon and theme / subject specific lexicons across the curriculum. With a school priority of speaking and listening, we are able to develop pupils’ skills through this strand by giving children a voice.
We feel our pupils need a more structured approach to developing greater awareness and appreciation of local, national and global conservation issues and initiatives, learning how they have an important role to play in sustainability.
With the progressive Beacon LMTW Learning Pathways and through aspects such as pupil-led activities (independence) and high ability tasks (resilience), we challenge our pupils to extend their learning.
Our Christian values are also matched against the four Cs, ensuring further cohesion within and across the curriculum.
The values are:-
Friendship, Resilience, Honesty, Kindness, Forgiveness and Hope
The built-in progression and continuity within Beacon LMTW through a progressive Skills Ladder and Knowledge Building focus means that staff can concentrate on developing memorable learning for the pupils. Making lessons fun and creative, by using the practical, hands-on activity ideas as a springboard, staff can be confident of a consistent whole school approach.
END GOALS
CONFLICT
By the end of Key Stage 2, pupils will be able to define conflict and explain the key reasons as to why conflict exists. They will also be able to give specific examples of conflict, both past and present, on a local, national and global scale. On a personal level, they will learn how to handle disagreements constructively and resolve their differences peaceably.
COMMUNICATION
By the end of Key Stage 2, pupils will be able to communicate in ways that build and maintain positive relationships through focused listening, confident speaking, sharing ideas and explaining clearly. They will know how communication has developed through time and the chronology of technology, now our current main means of communicating. They will also learn how to communicate in an assertive way, avoiding conflict through mutual respect.
CULTURE
By the end of Key Stage 2, pupils will be able to define and identify the characteristic features of culture and understand why cultural diversity is important. They will be able to talk about the features of a range of different cultures from around the world, explaining some of their similarities and differences. They will also learn how culture affects perception and influences behaviour.
CONSERVATION
By the end of Key Stage 2, pupils will be able to define conservation, outline key areas e.g. biodiversity and understand why it is such an important world issue. They will learn how we can live more sustainably, understanding the importance of natural resources and renewable energy. On a personal level, they will learn how they can make a difference by reducing their carbon footprint and behaving in a more environmentally responsible way.
EVALUATION
Our curriculum is constantly reviewed and refined to ensure it provides children with a thirst for learning which they can develop for the rest of their lives. It provides exciting and challenging opportunities for all learners.
All staff have assisted in the writing and adaptation of medium term plans so that there is a common, shared understanding, and we always aim to make our curriculum relevant to the needs of the children and the community we serve. We are more determined than ever that our curriculum must be robust and fit for life in modern Britain.
If you would like more information and details about our curriculum, please contact the office at dpaoffice@beacon.stbenets.org
