Our Vision

At Cottingham C of E Primary School we aim to teach an ambitious, high quality and enriching curriculum that will prepare our students with the knowledge and skills for their future learning and employment, ensuring that they are role-models in our society, using our School mission of Care, Build, Follow and Think along with our school Christian values.

Curriculum Intent

In our school, the curriculum is broadly defined as the knowledge students are expected to learn (including spiritual, moral, social and cultural) through the totality of experiences provided in our children’s primary schooling. By knowledge we mean facts, concepts and rules (declarative knowledge: to know that…), and procedural knowledge (to know how….) acquired through experience and /or education.

The curriculum lies at the heart of education in Cottingham C of E Primary School. It therefore determines what our learners will become, what they will know and understand, and what they will be able to do by the time they leave.

Bearing in mind the definition of knowledge above, we aim for our knowledge-rich curriculum to enable:

• (i) Sustained mastery (and a greater understanding for those who are capable) of subject specific key knowledge that we want the children to acquire;
• (ii) Sustained mastery of knowledge that pupils will need to be able to make sense of the world by providing rich cultural capital.

We deliver the National Curriculum 2014 throughout Key Stage 1 and 2 providing pupils with ‘an introduction to the essential knowledge that they need to be educated citizens and to the best that has been thought and said, helping to engender an appreciation of human creativity and achievement’.

We regard the curriculum as the progression model. We focus on knowledge progression mainly through subject specific models within the context of themes or topics. Hence, our long term aim is for our curriculum to be coherently planned, organised and structured with key concepts identified and prioritised, built upon and revisited.

Staff work collaboratively to create a rich curriculum, centred around experiences that will challenge and excite the children and also focus upon the knowledge and skills that will be required- this will give the children a diverse set of learning guides who help to inspire a love of learning in all of our children. Pupils will take an active part in planning the curriculum to ensure that it is relevant to them and engaging.

Whilst we ensure that there is a broad and rich curriculum, we prioritise and regard the mastering of foundational knowledge as crucial in the younger years. Reading and vocabulary development is an integral part of our curriculum. We aim to develop Tier 1, 2 and 3 vocabulary (Isabel Beck 2002). Pupils from all backgrounds, including those who are disadvantaged, are provided with the tools to access a broad curriculum within a language rich environment.

We also aim for our curriculum to develop attitudes, attributes and dispositions which enable our children to:

• (i) develop as confident, responsible citizens;
• (ii) be prepared for future learning e.g. resilience, perseverance and a growth mind-set.

Our curriculum reflects our local needs and context. The curriculum meets the particular aims and values of our school in a number of ways. As part of all aspects of our curriculum, we ensure that there are links made to our local area in as many ways as possible, both through the content of the curriculum that is taught and also through the activities that take place in all classes within the school. The local area and its history was forefront of our minds when designing our long-term curriculum map and links were established wherever possible. We also have designed our curriculum to reflect our Christian community, using our Christian values across all areas of our curriculum, linking these values to the themes studied alongside our daily worship time. British values are taught explicitly and we also teach a full programme of PHSE, with the intent of ensuring that our children are productive and happy members of the various communities in which they do and will live.

Curriculum Implementation

‘Learning is defined as an alteration in long-term memory. If nothing has been altered in long-term memory then nothing has been learned.’
Sweller et al. 2011

In line with cognitive load theory we aim, through our teaching, to develop understanding by building well-developed schema: well organised, connected knowledge as opposed to a handful of unconnected facts. We, therefore, favour spaced and distributed learning, where knowledge is rehearsed for short periods over a longer period of time. We aim to ensure retrieval practice is built in to strengthen memory by:

• - Providing overviews
• - Outlining content to be covered and signalling transitions between different parts of the lesson;
• - Calling attention to main ideas;
• - Providing daily, weekly and monthly reviews.
• - Re-teaching when necessary

We regard teaching as effective when underpinned by Rosenshine’s ‘Principles of Instruction’. Effective questioning, effective use of formative assessment and adaptive, responsive teaching are regarded as key.

Our curriculum is designed to be taught through a series of learning quests. These are a series of meaningful, linked and interesting lessons that are planned (flexibly) to enable the children to learn new skills, consolidate existing learning, all heading for a shared meaningful learning destination. Children are aware of their quest from the start of each quest and are shown how the lessons that are being taught will help them to achieve their learning destination at the end of the quest. Learning quests are created through discussion with the children, assessment of prior knowledge and creative thinking on the part of the teacher (their Guide).

LEARNING QUESTS are created based on the following beliefs re: learning:

• Learning must be adventurous and fun
• Children need to be fully involved in their learning
• Learning can take place anywhere
• Children need great guides to learn
• Children learn in different ways
• Mistakes are essential for learning
• Children need instant and accurate feedback to help them learn

An Interesting Learning Destination

This is a challenging learning outcome activity that the children will want to achieve, which is relevant, interesting and also the next step in their development. All children have the right to reach the destination. These learning destinations are shared across the school with all members of our learning community including the children's parents.

A Flexible Map

This is a planned map of the possible route(s) the children will take to reach the destination. This map will contain a variety of different stages (lessons) depending on what is being learnt at that time in the quest. There is always flexibility in the map to incorporate the children’s interest, misconceptions or assessment of their progress towards the destination. The routes on the map will be changed (and even personalised) in order to ensure ALL children will reach the destination.

Great Guides

These are adults that guide the children during their quests. Great guides will use an extensive range of techniques to guide the children to ensure they all reach the destination. You will see, during the learning quests, guides instructing, questioning, feeding back, modelling, challenging and giving appropriate support (FEEDBACK) Guides may also give some children extra guidance if they are struggling with the quest or struggling with basic skills needed to reach the destination.

Learning Quest Skills

These are skills the children will develop and use during their learning quests, these skills will include resilience, team work, communication and problem solving.

These are the key principles that guide our teaching of each learning quest:

• The school will use the national curriculum to guide the programme of study taught to pupils
• The children will then be taught using the experiences that have been planned along the learning quest- each staff member will be accountable for adjusting the experiences to ensure that there is sufficient progression within the key stage
• Subject and knowledge linked vocabulary is taught and emphasised within the unit and shared on the working wall with definitions
• Each lesson is planned with thought for an activity that will allow for greater depth and also support to allow all children to achieve
• Each lesson is given a WAD- we are discovering how… historians/why scientists…so that children are aware of the focus of the learning
• Questioning will be a key aspect of every lesson
• Assessment for learning, mainly based on classroom questioning and immediate feedback, will be an aspect of every lesson
• Children are aware right from the beginning of the learning destination and the steps that will be taken to reach that destination- these are shared on the working wall and used to assess throughout the quest
• Pupils benefit from explicit guidance on how to work collaboratively, from practising routines needed in effective groups and from having clearly assigned roles within a group work task.
• Pupils with have the opportunity for retrieval of knowledge and skills learnt after the learning has taken place by revisiting
• At all opportunities, pupils will use skills and knowledge from other curriculum areas to build on their knowledge and skills in particular curriculum areas.

Curriculum Impact

Curriculum Leadership

Leadership of the curriculum is distributed. Subject leaders are given the autonomy to lead on their specific subject curriculum within the shared vision and accountability framework of the school.

The National Curriculum

 National Curriculum Master Final 28Nov

Remote Learning

During National Lockdown and where children/staff are self isolating, remote learning will be offered. It is expected that all children will access the remote learning that includes both 'live' and recorded teaching sessions.

 Parents Information

Remote Learning Guidelines

 Remote Learning Guidelines for Parents, Carers & Pupils (Jan 2021)

Further Information

If you are unable to find the information that you require in the many documents found in the 'Our Curriculum,' section of the website, please do contact the school for further information. Faye Wason (Curriculum Lead) f.wason@cottingham.pdet.org.uk Ashley Scott (Headteacher) head@cottingham.pdet.org.uk If you would like to find out information regarding a particular subject, please contact the school office for staff contact details.

Subjects

Maths

Literacy

Long Term Curriculum Map

Long Term Curriculum Map

Medium Term Overviews

Medium Term Overviews

Downloads

• PDET Teaching & Learning Statement
• Academy Curriculum Statement