Curriculum
The World is Our Curriculum
Young children are naturally very curious about the world around them and are 'hard-wired' to learn about it. There is so much going on, so much to see and to experience. Children ask lots of questions and notice things many of us grown-ups do not. This natural curiosity is a powerful motivator and one we aim to capture in our school whenever and wherever we can. We aim to create a 'spirit of enquiry' which builds learning from questions - whether posed by teachers or children. Questions give purpose and direction to learning. Teachers can teach children the skills and knowledge to find answers to questions across the curriculum, whether it be through some hands-on, practical learning or through academic study. Through our invitational learning, we encourage the children to bring their own interests and experiences into their learning too. We believe that when children see a purpose to their learning (and what better purpose than finding answers to your own questions) they learn most effectively.
Our curriculum
Our curriculum builds on the 2014 National Curriculum which aspires to offer pupils, the best that has been thought and said and the essential knowledge that they need to be educated citizens.
The national curriculum is deemed to be ambitious, offering a broad and balanced curriculum. At Wicor, we aim to add value through our enhanced science curriculum which offers environmental science, natural history and horticulture. Why these? We believe that all children have a close connection with their world, a strong curiosity to learn more about it and an innate appreciation and sense of awe and wonder about the natural world and the wildlife that exists within it. Parents tell us that our enhanced science curriculum has a positive impact on their children’s lives, often inspiring them to take action or learn more beyond school, whether it be digging a new vegetable bed, organising their domestic recycling or organising a beach clean. The children talk about their learning with enthusiasm and often feel inspired to pursue their learning beyond the classroom.
A rich web of knowledge is what provides the capacity for pupils to learn even more and develop their understanding. This does not preclude the importance of skill. Knowledge and skill are intrinsically linked: skill is a performance built on what a person knows.” Amanda Spielman, Ofsted, 2018
We aim for parts of our curriculum to work like an encyclopaedia
encyclopedia also encyclopaedia
noun
/ɪnsaɪkləpiːdiə/
An encyclopedia is a book or set of books in which facts about many different subjects or about one particular subject are arranged for reference.
An encyclopaedia gives users an opportunity to revisit different subjects and in doing so make connections and links between what is read. We have enabled some of our subjects to work like this and teachers can weave them together in teaching bundles we call modules which can last a few days to several weeks. The subjects that lend themselves best to integrated modules are science, history, geography, art and design, design technology, religious education and Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE).
module
noun
/ˈmɒdʒ.uːl/
one of a set of separate parts that, when combined, form a whole
Other subjects are taught discretely in units. Subjects taught discretely are maths, music, PE, computing, phonics and aspects of reading. The reason for this is usually down to timetabling resources (PE, computing) or following a scheme (maths, music, modern foreign language, phonics and early reading).
Each module or unit is broken down into sessions, which plot out the planned sequence, or narrative, of how the module will be taught.
narrative
noun
/ˈnarətɪv /
a spoken or written account of connected events; a story.
Integrated subjects do not need to be linked or interleaved in a module; the choice is the teacher’s, but if there are enough rich connections then it makes sense to do so. We recognise the importance of keeping subject rigour in modules, ensure key disciplinary skills are not blurred or blunted in the process. Equally, there will be aspects of discrete subjects such as data handling in maths or reading information texts that can be effectively taught or applied in modules.
We believe teachers add value to their teaching if they can be creative, weave in their interests and strengths, and capitalize on current events and issues. The ability to teach and revisit content several times throughout a year and across a key stage optimizes opportunities for the retrieval, repetition and reinforcement of key concepts and skills in those subjects and increases the opportunities for changes to children’s long-term memory.
For more specific whole school subject information please look at Subject Information which can be found on the link below.
Our curriculum not only meets the requirements of the National Curriculum (September 2014) but provides a much broader and richer set of learning opportunities and experiences. For detailed information on each year group's curriculum please look at the Annual Curriculum Overviews on the link below.