Intent
At Irthington Village School the intent for our curriculum is for it to reflect our local area and community, whilst enabling pupils to understand how Carlisle and Cumbria fit into the national and international picture. All subjects at Irthington Village School are given equal importance and are all underpinned by skills as well as knowledge to improve our pupils‘ long-term memory. These skills are built upon throughout a pupil’s time at our school in order for them to make meaningful connections between their life experiences and the experiences that they are learning about. At the end of their journey at Irthington Village School, pupils will be able to utilise the skills and knowledge gained in a variety of contexts.
Implementation
Every lesson at Irthington Village School is linked to how it relates to the pupils, their lives and their local area, bringing the content into a context that can be understood and built upon by making connections. Educational visits and visitors enhance learning opportunities within the classroom by ensuring that our pupils have a wide range of opportunities and insight into the wider world as they journey through our school. Additional pupil experiences and activities are planned and executed to ensure that all children have additional life experiences and skills, not necessarily covered through National Curriculum objectives but that are just as important in supporting growth in aspirations. Curriculum maps which outline objectives and skills for each class provide a long-term overview of progression as well as opportunities for these to be revisited in different year groups to ensure maximum opportunity for changes to be made in long term memory. Each subject is taught discreetly and is usually recorded in topic books, although handmade folded books, posters and e-books may be created. Displays and class books are created and provide not only an opportunity to celebrate pupils; work but they may also include key vocabulary, facts, diagrams and definitions that will support their pathway through the study. To support development of long-term memory, each lesson includes a revisit to previous learning experiences - this could be a previous lesson, half term or year.
Impact
Impact of our curriculum will be shown through meaningful learning conversations with children and their books about what they have learnt in a particular study. Regular opportunities for retrieval practice will be given to gain insight into what children have been able to recall independently, weeks or months after they last discussed it in class. If the pupils can talk fluently about their study, and their confidence in this is improving, the teacher should be confident in the impact of their teaching and the curriculum. Skills will be assessed throughout the school year. All of this information will be drawn upon in order for a judgement to be made at the end of the year on children’s understanding of the skills and knowledge outlined for that subject and year group. This will support the pupil’s transitions as they move through the pathway to personal success and the next step of the journey in their education.
Click here to view our Class 1 curriculum overview
