Fairway Infant School

Curriculum Intent Statement

At Fairway Infant School our pupils will be kind, happy and inquisitive children with a passion for learning. Every child will have the opportunity to be successful in all that they do.

We have developed our curriculum so that it is one that is broad and balanced and is ambitious for all. It has purpose, is engaging and is designed to enable the development of knowledge and skills. We identified the needs of the individuals within our learning community and shaped our curriculum around these needs.

At Fairway, we believe that our curriculum should be an all encompassing experience, including formal learning opportunities as well as enrichment activities that take place outside the classroom. Also, weaving through our curriculum are the core values of our school ~ Fairness, Ambition, Independence, Respect, Resilience, Working together, Active and Achieving.

Our curriculum is designed to allow each one of our learners to:

• Achieve the best possible academic standards, whatever their ability
• Develop skills and personal qualities for lifelong learning
• Explore the world around them, through various outings, visitors to the school and Outdoor Learning
• Support positive mental health and well-being, enabling our children to learn and succeed
   
  We have developed our curriculum by considering the following:
   

• How children learn and remember – we recognise that progress means knowing more and remembering more and so we want our children to know more and remember more as a result of their time with us at Fairway
• What our children need to succeed in life – we want our learners to have the ‘cultural capital’ they need to make aspirational choices and experience success beyond their time at Fairway Infant School
   
  Our curriculum has been designed to take account of the statutory requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum, the Primary National Curriculum (these have been used as the basis, but not solely, for the content and the expectations of our own curriculum) and the needs of our learning community.
   
  We are developing schemes of work for the core and foundation subjects to ensure clear progression across the school and that knowledge, understanding, skills and concepts build over time. As a result of this, we expect that all children leave our school having mastered a wide range of concepts and skills and gained the knowledge that gives them a love of learning, prepares them for their next steps and develops an understanding of the world in which they live.
   
    
  Our Curriculum Implementation:
   
  We continue to use a themed approach to our curriculum and throughout the academic year, each year group plans learning around a particular topic. The topic chosen is always relevant to the children and with the aim of being exciting and engaging whilst also encouraging the children to take ‘risks’ in their learning. The topics are cross-curricular and other subjects are taught through them. To prevent the creation of tenuous links however, discrete subjects are taught separately, where necessary.
    
  Through the theme, all children engage in a memorable experience to enhance their learning, make it memorable to them, and further develop their knowledge and understanding. This could be, for example, a visit to a place, a visitor into school or a practical activity or experience led by school staff. As our curriculum develops, we will also be looking at how ‘stunning starts’ and ‘fantastic finishes’ can add to children’s excitement and engagement in their learning.
   
  PSHE and RSHE are important elements of the curriculum we deliver and closely meet the needs of our children. When each topic is planned, relevant PSHE/RSHE concepts weave through it to enhance the learning and add a different dimension to children’s thinking. PSHE/RSHE is also taught explicitly, and we are currently developing a school PSHE/RSHE framework, in consultation with the whole school community.
   
  Quality texts are an important aspect of our curriculum. We fully appreciate that being able to read fluently enables children to access the entire curriculum.  We believe it is our role to ensure children leave us being able to articulate themselves clearly, and read and write confidently and effectively. We use the Power of Reading to raise engagement and attainment in reading and writing. A quality text is chosen each half term to lead the learning in English whilst, as far as possible, also making links with other areas of the curriculum. Through this approach we endeavour to develop the children’s love of reading and writing and support them in becoming readers and writers themselves. Phonics is taught explicitly, using ‘Song of Sounds’, but is reinforced throughout the entire curriculum with the expectation that the children will apply their learning in all subjects.
   
  At Fairway there is an expectation of well thought out quality first teaching and learning, delivered by all. Teaching staff use their knowledge of the curriculum to ensure that learning is sequenced, ensuring smooth transitions between lessons in order to meet objectives and to achieve optimal learning outcomes. The children build skills and knowledge within the year group curriculum, but also building on previous learning. Staff actively encourage the children to identify the relationships and connections within their learning and ensure that a range of opportunities are planned for to enable the children to practice and apply, in different contexts, the knowledge and skills that they have learnt, so that they achieve deep, long term learning.
    
  In a profession that focuses on learning and knowledge, it is also important for teachers to set aside time for Continuing Professional Development. At Fairway staff regularly update their knowledge and skills which support them in remaining competent, effective and innovative within their role. Continuing Professional Development (CPD) refers to any activity, formal or informal, that helps develop skills and knowledge, and enhances professional practice. 
   
  At Fairway, we have high expectations for the quality of teaching across the school. We ensure that continued improvement is a priority and so we focus on how staff can share good practice with each other, what areas for improvement there may be and what high quality CPD can be provided to support these improvements.
   
  The Impact of our Curriculum:
   
  At Fairway, we expect the impact of our curriculum to:
   

• Enable children to be considerate, respectful and to demonstrate empathy
• Ensure children will be inquisitive and possess a love for learning
• Challenge all children, whatever their ability
• Enable children to develop their understanding through connecting new knowledge with existing knowledge and applying this
• Ensure children achieve well and make good progress from their individual starting points
• Ensure children are confident and are able to take ‘risks’ in their learning
• Encourage pupils to be able to clearly articulate their learning
• Promote resilience and perseverance even when learning is challenging
• Enable children to take responsibility for themselves, their behaviour choices and their learning
• Support the mental health and well-being of all our learners
• Encourage our parents to work in partnership with us and support their child’s learning