Our Curriculum Vision

 At The Phoenix Primary School and Nursery, we are committed to providing an outstanding education in a safe, calm, creative, inclusive and stimulating environment.  Our curriculum is broad and balanced, where every child is valued as an individual; we aim to nurture well rounded, respectful and confident children.  We will provide our pupils with opportunities to develop the skills needed to foster a love of learning.  Using a highly practical, skills-based and cross-curricular approach to gain essential knowledge, skills and understanding. We intend that all children should enjoy their learning, achieve their potential and become independent life-long learners and responsible citizens, fully prepared for the next stage in their education.   We aim high, striving for every child to achieve more than they thought possible.  

Our curriculum will nurture curious minds, stretch the imagination and provide opportunities for every child to discover their particular talents.  We believe that education should take place in a fully inclusive environment with equal opportunities for all, where children feel safe to try new things.

Curriculum Aims and Subject Intents

We aim to:

• Provide a broad and balanced education for all pupils that is coherently planned and sequenced towards the cumulative acquisition of knowledge and skills for future learning and employment.
• Enable pupils to develop knowledge, understand concepts and acquire skills, which they can then apply in relevant situations, taking calculated risks and learning from mistakes.
• Support pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development in all learning opportunities.
• Promote fundamental British values and to understand and value the importance of truth, fairness, right and wrong. 
• Promote a positive attitude towards learning.
• Support pupils’ physical development and responsibility for their own health, and enable them to be active.
• Address the particular needs of the children who attend our school.
• Enable pupils to develop resilience and independence as learners, express opinions with confidence and take pride in who we are and where we come from.
• Provide opportunities to engage with the wider world and develop a tolerance and respect for other ways of life.
• Provide opportunities to explore, respect and nurture the immediate environment and understand humanity’s impact on the wider world.
• Establish cross-curricular links to foster broader understanding.
• Equip pupils with the knowledge and cultural capital they need to succeed in life, developing practical life skills such as managing physical, emotional, mental and economic well-being.
• Ensure equal access to learning for all pupils, with high expectations for every pupil and appropriate levels of challenge and support.
• For all pupils to make the best possible progress and to achieve the highest possible attainment.
• Develop a sense of community and belonging, enabling contributions through direct interaction – making links with local organisations.
• Hold a flexible timetabling approach to make space for depth of study.
• Provide children with an inspiring and enquiry-based curriculum to promote creativity and a thirst for learning. 

A broad and balanced curriculum is not just the timetabled subjects; it is every pupils’ holistic experience of school. This encompasses the ‘hidden curriculum’, such as: extracurricular activities, trips, careers, how to behave, how to have tolerance of others and good mental health. 

The curriculum also includes experiences of ‘cultural capital’, which can be described as pupils being given an awareness of the world around them.  This includes Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural experiences, and knowledge of democracy and the rule of law. We take our responsibility to prepare children for life in modern Britain  seriously and ensure that Fundamental British Values are introduced, discussed and lived out through the ethos of our school.  We also understand that having a wide vocabulary and good reading skills are crucial for our students to be able to access all aspects of the curriculum.

We believe that all children, regardless of their background, should have access to a wide, exciting and inspiring curriculum that prepares them for the society they live in and how to succeed in life and work. We aim to nurture our children on their journey and encourage them to be creative, unique, open-minded and independent individuals, respectful of themselves and of others in our school, our local community and the wider world. 

Our curriculum promotes respect for the views of each individual child, as well as for people of all cultures. We value the spiritual and moral development of each person, as well as their intellectual and physical growth. We organise our curriculum so that we promote co-operation and understanding between all members of our community. 

At The Phoenix Primary School & Nursery, our values permeate all areas of school life and are reflected by the schools simple motto:

'Achieve together today -  to build the community of tomorrow.'

 Through clear strategic planning, our curriculum provides not only memorable experiences, but is rich in opportunities from which the children can learn and develop transferrable skills. The acquisition of knowledge and the development of skills is carefully planned to create a purposeful and exciting learning journey for every child, with cross-curricular links within the topics chosen. 

In order to ensure that progression and balance is maintained, the programmes of study/long-term progression and curriculum maps are developed into medium-term and weekly plans, which clearly highlight the learning objectives and assessment opportunities. 

Weekly planning is then adapted to the needs of each class, linking to prior learning and resources and includes questioning prompts to promote challenge as well as to scaffold. Teachers plan and tailor units of work and lessons to address the specific individual needs of pupils so that all pupils are able to reach their full potential regardless of their starting point. Quality first teaching is provided to ensure that accelerated progress is promoted in each lesson. Our marking policy is implemented consistently and provides opportunities for children to reflect on their learning and think deeply and carefully about their feedback.

 Children will leave The Phoenix Primary School and Nursery ready for the next stage in their learning at secondary school. The curriculum will have provided a range of knowledge and skills to support them in their future endeavours. 

The children will be able to work both independently and collaboratively with their peers as inquisitive learners, who are motivated to excel and eager to learn. They will have a strong desire to embrace challenge and to be resilient learners. 

Our curriculum will also enable our pupils to become good citizens and demonstrate an appreciation for others. Our children will be respectful and will show tolerance and acceptance to those from different faiths and backgrounds.