Our Curriculum
Curriculum Intent
At Lowton Junior and Infant School the curriculum is designed to: recognise children’s prior learning, provide first hand learning experiences, allow them to develop social skills, build resilience and become creative, critical thinkers. It aims to provide our children with building blocks to become successful adults in terms of being able to gain employment, live healthy lifestyles and to take opportunities to extend their horizons.
Our curriculum is designed to be ambitious for all learners.
Our intention is that our curriculum extends opportunities, raises aspirations, opens children’s eyes to the world beyond their immediate environment, enables our children to live happy, healthy and productive lives and inspires children to learn more.
Every child is recognised as a unique individual. We celebrate and welcome differences within our school community. We want our children to gain a good understanding of the world through their learning, being aware of the diversity of societies whilst also having a clear identity of themselves in the world.
The ability to learn is underpinned by the teaching of basic skills, knowledge, concepts and values. We constantly provide enhancement opportunities to engage learning and believe that childhood should be a happy, investigative and enquiring time in our lives where there are no limits to curiosity and there is a thirst for new experiences and knowledge.
High expectations in speech, language and communication strengthen children’s ability to learn at a deeper level, allowing them to articulate their learning; demonstrating quality thinking and application of skills and knowledge. Physical and mental wellbeing are prioritised within our curriculum allowing children opportunities to exhibit spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding.
The curriculum’s intent is to achieve an outcome whereby our children leave Lowton J & I with a sense of belonging to a tight knit community where they have the confidence and skills to make decisions, self-evaluate, make connections and become lifelong learners.
Curriculum Implementation
The curriculum incorporates the statutory requirements of the National Curriculum 2014 and other experiences and opportunities which best meet the learning and developmental needs of the children in our school. A blocked curriculum approach has been implemented at the school to ensure coverage and progression in a number of key areas. This approach enables subject based learning, fostering each child’s curiosity and interest throughout and also enabling the achievement of depth in knowledge and skills. Opportunities for child voice are planned at the beginning of each new topic and this is used to inform the learning for each topic to ensure relevance.
The curriculum provides children with memorable experiences, in addition to diverse and rich opportunities from which children can learn and develop a range of transferable skills. Educational visits and visitors are a key feature of the curriculum; the school subsidises a range of these to enrich the curriculum for all.
A varied timetable for extra-curricular activities is offered by the school, with clubs that support the core curriculum, as well as those, which develop specialist skills, such as fencing, gymnastics, and sewing whilst also extending the range of children’s experiences. A primary focus of our curriculum is to raise aspirations, develop a sense of personal pride in achievement, and provide a purpose and relevance for learning.
The school takes great pride in providing a highly inclusive environment, where learners demonstrate high levels of enjoyment in their education and make very good progress in most subjects and areas of learning. Children at all levels are supported to achieve their full potential. Those who are most able are challenged and supported through being offered tasks which provide opportunities for greater depth and those who struggle are encouraged and given targeted support to embed skills, to develop at their own pace or simply to learn in a style that best suits their individual needs.
Subject leaders play an important part in the successful implementation of the curriculum by leading a regular programme of monitoring, evaluation and review. All subject leaders are given training and the opportunity to keep developing their own subject knowledge, skills and understanding, so they can support curriculum development and their colleagues throughout the school. The celebration of good practice contributes to the ongoing commitment to evolve and improve further.
Curriculum Impact
At Lowton J & I we strive for all our pupils to achieve their maximum potential, by having high expectations and excellent standards. We achieve excellent results in terms of academic success. Our children make rapid progress from Foundation Stage and, by the end of Key Stage 2, do extremely well when compared with national and local results. Our stimulating curriculum teaches core skills in English, Maths and Science whilst actively promoting all other curriculum areas.
Our children enjoy lessons and we believe this early love of learning stimulates children to become life-long learners.
Our work on promoting social skills including good manners, resilience, self-awareness, consideration and co-operation throughout the curriculum enables children to become fantastic role models and the very best version of themselves.
At Lowton J and I children are assessed every lesson which helps the teacher plan the next steps to be taught. At the end of each term, assessment data is gathered and progress is checked by the senior leadership team. Children are expected to make good or better progress in all subjects and this individual progress is tracked and reported to parents and carers at Parents’ Evenings and in the end of year report
Long Term Curriculum Map for Each Subject:
Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education - Relationships and Sex Education
To view each year groups curriculum coverage in more detail, please click on the following links:-
