Curriculum Statement

At Ickford School, our intention is to offer a curriculum that is broad, relevant and engaging and which builds on the knowledge, understanding and skills of all children, whatever their starting points, as they progress through their journey from the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) to the end of Key Stage 2.

Our curriculum incorporates the statutory requirements of the National Curriculum 2014 and enhances these through high quality provision of music, languages, physical education, learning about the outdoors and nature and a plethora of school outings and co -curricular experiences. The aim of our curriculum is for pupils to have the requisite skills to be successful, independent and motivated learners and to provide the children with cultural capital and a love of learning that will remain with them throughout their lives.

Our intention is aligned to a belief in the importance of developing the depth of children’s learning. In essence, this means providing children with increased cognitive challenge, allowing them to apply the knowledge and skills which they have learnt, independently in a range of contexts, rather than moving them on too quickly, without actually consolidating their understanding, knowledge and skills.

We intend to provide a coherent, progressive and appropriately sequenced curricular structure to enable our pupils to develop subject-specific knowledge and skills to prepare them well for the next stages of their education. The curriculum builds progressively on from the learning in the EYFS and incorporates milestones modified for our mixed age classes.

 Although our curriculum is aligned to the National Curriculum, it goes beyond requirements not only to manifest engagement and enthusiasm, but also in order to ensure expectations are high and attainment has no ceiling.

We believe it is important to inspire children with a wealth of additional experiences and opportunities. Our intention, therefore, is to give the children the chance to take part in outings and trips, including residential weeks both in England and France. Class trips are supported by the Parent Teacher Association (PTA), and we also endeavour to have themed Science and Art weeks. There are whole school trips, and we also engage several visitors from a variety of backgrounds and professions, that come in to give workshops and talk to children.

Our wide range of extracurricular clubs and competitive sports opportunities throughout the year also ensure that children can express and develop their personal interests.

We are a non-denominational school but teach Religious Education as a discrete subject and use the RE and wider curriculum to find ways to explore pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, utilising our local and wider community. We recognise that our community may not be as diverse as some, but we provide a range of experiences throughout their primary education, to enable pupils to understand and respect those from other faiths, communities and cultures, so that they understand and celebrate that people live their lives differently.

Finally, our curriculum is, as with every other aspect of school life, underpinned by our four key values: kindness, honesty, respect and determination.