Curriculum
Curriculum Intent
Our curriculum has been carefully designed, planned and organised to ensure breadth, balance and depth for every learner in our inclusive school. All staff have contributed to the development of a curriculum that meets the needs of all our children.
‘Learning for Life’ is at the heart of our curriculum provision and it embodies our drive to equip our children with the essential knowledge, skills and understanding that they will need throughout their lives.
By the end of their time at Wheelwright Lane Primary School, we want children to be competent speakers, readers and writers, having secured solidly good skills in English and Maths that enable them to attain and achieve well and to make good progress from their starting points, ready for the next stage in their education.
Our curriculum covers the formal requirements of the National Curriculum and goes beyond the experiences of the classroom to ensure that our children are exposed to rich and varied opportunities that will develop their Cultural Capital.
We provide opportunities for our children to experience the benefits of a multicultural society, enabling them to see different perspectives and develop opinions within an ever-changing world and global perspective. We want them to take their place in the community as well-balanced, empathetic, kind, self-confident, knowledgeable citizens.
For more in depth information on the National Curriculum, please see the Department for Education website
Reception and Nursery classes follow the curriculum described in the Early Years Statutory Framework
At Wheelwright Lane we use a cross-curricular approach to teaching and learning. This means that skills, knowledge and understanding across a range of subjects are brought together and form a topic theme. This is further enhanced by the use of well-chosen picture books, poems, film, visitors, a variety of themed days/weeks and visits within the local community and beyond. We also recognise the importance of sports, music and the Arts and encourage participation wherever and whenever possible.
All of these are underpinned by the development in each child of effective and life-long Learning Behaviours which are promoted throughout the school.
Subject Intent Statements
Implementation
Our curriculum is delivered through half termly topics or themes, all carefully chosen to engage children in their learning. Visitors to schools, visits to museums, art galleries, local areas, places of business and worship figure highly in the experiences we provide for our children. Details of topics can be accessed through the Class areas on the website.
We greatly value the acquisition of knowledge and the development of skills throughout the curriculum. In Maths and English, we follow National Guidance and have developed sequences of learning to ensure gaps are identified so children are able to build on prior learning. As a school, we have developed Progression in Knowledge and Skills documents to ensure continuity from Early Years to Year 6 in Foundation subjects. Children will have access to knowledge organisers at the start of each topic to support their vocabulary and understanding.
Quality First Teaching, differentiated for individual needs, is implemented in all classes in line with our inclusive offer. Intervention groups are also used to target groups and individuals, run by experienced Teachers and Teaching Assistants.
We teach the Warwickshire Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education which focuses on six main world religions. Our Relationships, Health and Sex Education is taught through the ‘Jigsaw’ programme. Further details of this policy and the content of the programme can be found below.
Long Term Plan
This is our whole school Long Term Plan (LTP) which gives a general overview of our curriculum:
Whole School Long Term Plan – 2025/26
We also have various trips organised throughout the year, which can be read below:
Trips During the Year
Subject Overviews
Design and Technology (DT) Overview
Geography and History Overview
Music Development Plan – 2025/26
Physical Education (PE) Overview – 2025/26
Personal, Sex and Health Education (PSHE) Overview
Protective Behaviours Overview
Impact
National testing is undertaken as in line with Government procedures. In English and Maths children are assessed against the statutory Teacher Assessment Framework statements at the end of Years 2 and 6. We have developed these assessment frameworks further to use across the school to assess the impact of children’s learning in all year groups. (see below for details)
For foundation subjects, children are assessed at the end of every topic against learning outcomes taken from the National Curriculum. Early Years have developed milestone descriptors based on curriculum statements to assess children in Nursery and Reception each term. This is a ‘best fit’ model that reflects a child’s learning in a holistic way and allows planning for the next steps in their development.
Subject leaders regularly review the impact of teaching and learning and monitor gaps in learning. The majority of children received sustained learning throughout the lockdowns and were engaged in remote learning. However, subject leaders are aware of gaps in learning in knowledge and skills and will continue to assess their curriculum subject intervention plan to ensure gaps are filled.