Curriculum Intent & Implementation

We aim to ensure that the journey through the curriculum  results in successful learners, confident individuals and responsible citizens who can make their way in life – with our focus ensuring pupils get ‘smarter, healthier and happier’. Whilst the progressive foundations of our Lovelace curriculum are underpinned by the National Curriculum, we are regularly and continually refining and shaping our curriculum to ensure that it is progressive and meets the needs of our pupils – we call this ‘curriculum making’ and it is never a finished task! 

This process is guided by ten aims – we call this our curriculum guarantee – our curriculum as the progression model aims to:

1. Be a curriculum that is wide in scope so that it develops the whole child and that it motivates and challenges every child in every lesson every day.
2. Be broad, balanced and have a coherent progression underpinned in core subject knowledge components, sequencing, understanding, attitudes and skills. As children progress through the curriculum they will know more, remember more and be able to do more as knowledge empowers!
3. Make meaningful links and connections between areas of knowledge and conceptual understanding across the curriculum (webs of knowledge / schemata)
4. Meet the needs and context of our children as learners (not ‘one size fits all’) through reflective, effective and wise on-going formative and summative assessment to regularly check on what pupils know.
5. Have the development of reading, writing, spoken language, vocabulary acquisition and maths at the heart of it as these are the essential tools by which the knowledge of other subject disciplines is acquired. 
6. Be delivered through an effective pedagogy relevant to the subject being taught such as use of first hand experiences using places, people and expertise beyond the classroom (e.g. visits, outside classroom, fieldwork,  forest schools, authors, poets, artist in residence , special days and weeks, expertise of partner schools) and ensuring learning projects / schemes end with a real, tangible product to provide a sense of purpose (e.g. showcase, DVD / film, exhibition, gallery, museum, Tudor banquet, assembly, writing a book, a consultation / survey, a protest & march, a play etc.)
7. Utilise specialist teaching and experts (e.g. Music , MFL, sport) and use specialist learning resources (e.g. Dolly Lee Lodge, ICT suite)
8. Be an all-encompassing progressive journey that includes: lessons, assemblies, wrap-around, after school clubs, residential visits, home learning, lunchtimes / play, opportunities to share learning and make connection between classes and key stages.
9. Make ‘learning to learn’ skills particularly the development of memory / remembering explicit to children so children are able to recall, articulate and reflect on their learning.
10. Keep an eye on the future and other major issues of our time; the needs of our pupils as citizens and have a local, national and international dimension to equip them for the next stage of their journey and to understand the world around them. 

Our curriculum leaders have sequenced a detailed knowledge progression over time based on the National Curriculum so that each scheme of work builds directly on what has been learnt before, having the necessary scope, components, sequencing and rigour.  Planning helps to identify the ‘enabling knowledge’ or ‘sticky knowledge’ that enables subsequent learning. We aim to ensure subject content is sequenced effectively so pupils can make connections and build increasingly more complex web of knowledge / schemata. This is summarised in the year group overviews (all links have been disabled to protect copyright):

A summary of these are provided to parents in our ‘Guides to the Curriculum’ which are produced each term. Click here to see the latest.

In addition some curriculum leaders have developed knowledge organizers where these are felt to be the best way to support teachers, pupils and parents. An example of these for science and PE is given below:

Alongside the latest research, evidence, our experience and CPD,  curriculum leaders have also shaped what we regard most effective pedagogy (highly effective teaching strategies and expectations) for our pupils for each subject area outlining the most effective teaching strategies i.e. how we will teach a subject to make the best possible use of the available time to do so and how to support teachers to choose teaching activities which ensure planned content is learned. These are outlined within the ‘Lovelace Way’ for each curriculum area – these are constantly evolving and live documents: 

The Lovelace Way

Within this curriculum progression we have also mapped out some essential experiences that we feel all pupils should  experience whilst at school. This enables pupils to remember knowledge covered and to contribute to each child’s personal development and character building.

At Lovelace we have developed 101 Lovelace Learning Experiences for pupils to ‘grow, explore, discover’ as they progress through the school. See examples below for Early Years / Years 1 and 2/ Years 3 and 4/ Years 5 and 6.