Our Curriculum Intent -Updated June 2021
At Cockfield Primary School all children engage in an exciting, high quality broad and balanced curriculum that equips them for today and tomorrow. Our curriculum is carefully planned to support the development of knowledge, skills and enriched cultural capital.
We follow the Early Years Framework and the National Curriculum. Our long-term plan sets out when and what is taught for each curriculum subject to ensure full coverage. Foundation subjects are planned over a two-year cycle to accommodate mixed age group classes. The content is coherently planned to allow for a progressive, ambitious curriculum that builds on skills to develop strong procedural and semantic knowledge, providing a deeper, more sustainable understanding of the curriculum content where children are active in making connections to everyday life and the world they live in.
Retrieval Practice
Our curriculum design is based on principles derived from evidence through cognitive science:
- Learning is most effective with spaced repetition.
- Retrieval of previously learnt content is frequent and regular, which increases both storage and retrieval strength.
Daily routines such as quizzing and starters to lessons, provide retrieval practice for previously learnt content throughout the year. We believe that learning is the long-term retention of knowledge and the ability to transfer it to new contexts and that children learn best by having opportunities to revisit previous learning.
Big Questions
Our curriculum is enquiry based and children answer a ‘big question’ which matches the content that is being taught. Each big question is supported by little questions which correspond to each key concept, allowing the main question to be critically analysed and answered. One little question is answered each week; by asking questions, we allow the children to apply their enquiry skills, whilst also enabling children to develop a deeper understanding about the topic they are learning and how it applies to life today.
At the beginning of each topic, children and parents are given a knowledge organiser. This shows the big question, little questions and the key vocabulary and sticky knowledge for the topic.
Each topic begins with a small pre-learning task to assess the children’s prior knowledge about the big question they will be answering. This allows us to tailor the lessons to the needs of the children. At the end of each topic, children will answer the big question in a variety of ways throughout the year. These include: a debate; a campaign, practical activities, verbal performances and also written outcomes.
Our children learn best when they are active; we believe in the power of outdoor learning. We have fantastic outdoor facilities and regularly take the learning outside to provide
relevance and depth to our curriculum in ways that are difficult to achieve indoors. Learning outdoors is enjoyable, creative, challenging and adventurous and helps our children learn by experience and grow as confident and responsible citizens who value and appreciate the spectacular landscapes, natural heritage and culture of our local community.
At Cockfield, there is a high focus on developing children’s moral, spiritual, social and cultural understanding creating a respectful, thoughtful and reflective culture. We aim to develop our children’s understanding of diversity and cultural awareness. Children leave Cockfield Primary School with a sense of belonging to a tightly knit community where they have the skills to make decisions, self-evaluate, make connections and become lifelong learners. We aim to show our children what they can achieve if they explore, discover and dream.
Implementation
Across all curriculum areas teachers plan stimulating, interesting lessons to engage pupils and inspire them to learn. Teachers build upon and extend knowledge and skills in all subjects. Curriculum leaders have a clear vision of the progression within their subject and the key skills which are being taught throughout the school. They are champions for their subjects and are constantly refining the learning offer.
During lessons, teachers provide a curriculum that is differentiated to children’s needs and allows everyone to make very good progress. Children are encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning and are shown how an ‘I can’ attitude can help them achieve their full potential. We provide regular opportunities for retrieval practice and for making links across and within subjects. Staff use a variety of strategies to check pupil understanding before, during and after lessons to identify misconceptions and provide interventions where necessary. Children receive feedback to help them achieve the next step in their learning.
Please view how we promote British Values at Cockfield Primary School
Impact
We use rigorous monitoring throughout the year to gauge the impact of the curriculum design. Senior leaders and subject leaders carefully monitor individual subjects: reviewing learning, evaluating pupil voice, providing individual feedback to move practice forward, celebrating positives and highlighting areas of development. Coverage and progress are accurately assessed through careful analysis of the application of skills across the curriculum. Children understand and can use the correct topic vocabulary, knowledge and skills to demonstrate their understanding in each subject taught.
Our children are respectful, confident and happy. All areas of the curriculum allow children to shine and achieve well. The vast majority of our children reach age related expectations or above; however, our results at EYFS, KS1 and KS2 are not solely a reflection of our children’s endeavour. We have talented artists, sportspeople, scientists, historians and computing experts. There are many occasions when these skills have been demonstrated with purpose to a wider audience and in the community.
At Cockfield Primary School, everyone feels welcomed, respected and valued as an equal member of the school community. The children enjoy learning more about the heritage and culture of our area and learning how we are part of the wider region, country and world. Children develop respect for other cultures, moral values, spiritual reflectiveness and good social skills. Our school is a happy place where children leave for their next stages in learning being well prepared for life in modern Britain.
If you would like to find out more about our curriculum then please contact us, we would be happy to tell you more details of exactly what we teach and how we teach different subjects.
Curriculum Maps and Plans
To view our Curriculum information, please select the links below.
EYFS Timetable
Class 2 Timetable
Class 3 Timetable
Class 4 Timetable
Cycle A and Cycle B Topic Overview
Long Term Plans
Curriculum Policies
PE Curriculum
Cockfield Primary School Statement for Physical Education and Sport
Cockfield Primary school have participated in the Sainsbury’s School Games. in Academic Year 2017/18 we achieved the Bronze Award and last year we achieved the Silver Award.
You can find out about our achievement by visiting the Sainsbury’s School Games website.
PSHE/RSE
At Cockfield Primary School, we believe that Personal, Social and Health Education
(PSHE) is an essential component of our curriculum as it teaches our children how to
become healthy, safe, independent and responsible members of society.
You can find out more about PSHE/RSE in our school by clicking on the below link:
Curriculum Maps 2020-2021
To see more about the curriculum in action, please visit Our Classes section of our website.
Support for Parents
Family Maths Toolkit
Family Maths Toolkit – Around the House
Family Lives – Homework
Supporting Your Child’s Education
Letter to Parents – Assessment
Supporting Your Child with Writing
Parent’s Spelling Guide
Together We Can Make a Difference
End of Year Expectations Year 1
End of Year Expectations Year 2
End of Year Expectations Year 3
End of Year Expectations Year 4
End of Year Expectations Year 5
End of Year Expectations Year 6
Maths Leaflet for Parents KS1
Maths KS2 Information Leaflet for Parents
Reading and Phonics
Please click on the link Reading and Phonics to find out more.
Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)
At Cockfield Community Primary and Nursery School School we believe that inclusive education means providing all pupils with appropriate education and support alongside their peers. The Curriculum is all the planned activities that the school organises in order to promote learning, personal growth and development. For further information please visit the SEND Information Report. If you would like to discuss your SEND requirements in detail please contact the school to arrange an appointment.
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