Curriculum Intent

As citizens of the 21st century we live in times of rapid change and complexity.

Children must be prepared to become both productive contributors of future economies, and responsible and active citizens in future societies…. Children must have the skills to navigate this new context, maintain social cohesion , promote sustainability and be agents of positive change.

We want to equip our children to thrive in times of change and to be able to grasp all opportunities presented to them.

A good school achieves a careful balance. Time is limited. Therefore choices need to be made about what to do when, how much depth to pursue... Most importantly, these decisions must be rooted in a solid consensus about what education should deliver for each pupil. What is the body of knowledge that a child needs so that they will flourish in the future and not be left behind?

We want our pupils to be confident, resilient, independent and inquisitive learners who develop an understanding of the world - past, present and future - and see themselves as being active agents of its evolution.

Our curriculum is knowledge rich, taking our children beyond their own contexts and supporting our commitment for all children to have a deep understanding of the world around them. The curriculum introduces them; to new concepts, contexts and experiences so that they develop a rich cultural capital and become socially aware, confident and reflective young citizens of the world. Knowledge for its own sake is not the goal. We want our pupils to acquire knowledge and be empowered to take action.

At Ponteland Primary School we are values driven and our curriculum is built upon those values which;

Promote personal development
Support skills of collaboration and teamwork
Support equality of opportunity
Develop spiritual, moral, social, intellectual and physical growth
Celebrate the contribution of a diverse range of people, cultures and heritages
Develop an understanding of our relationship with the environment

Through engagement with our curriculum we also aim for children to see themselves as confident, successful and resilient with a thirst for knowledge.

Implementation

Our curriculum offer goes beyond the National Curriculum and incorporates the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals. (SDGs)

Our curriculum is underpinned by education for global citizenship and we follow the Oxfam Education for Global Citizenship approach.

Seven global learning themes underpin our curriculum and each theme is broken down into knowledge and understanding, skills and values and attitudes. In order to achieve depth of thinking we plan for pupils to focus on three of these themes per year.

Across each year a number of high quality core texts are used to bring the themes to life and to ensure pupils build up sustained relationships with texts over time. Reading across the curriculum is planned for and texts are selected to deepen understanding around key concepts and knowledge.

Themes include:

Knowledge and Understanding	Skills	Attitudes	Values
Social justice and equity (Creating a fair society)	Critical and creative thinking	Commitment to social justice and equity	Respect Kindness Empathy Collaboration Effort Responsibility Curiosity Creativity Integrity Resilience Gratitude
Identity and diversity (Belonging)	Empathy	Sense of identity and self esteem
Globalisation and interdependence (Working together and supporting each other across the world)	Self- awareness and reflection	Respect for people and human rights
Sustainable development (Looking after the world and everything in it)	Communication	Concern for the environment and commitment to sustainable development
Peace and conflict (Getting on and falling out)	Cooperation and conflict resolution	Value diversity
Human rights (Everyone is treated fairly)	Ability to manage complexity and uncertainty	Commitment to participation and inclusion
Power and governance (Leadership and rules)	Informed and reflective action	Belief that people can bring about change

The learning environment is designed purposefully to support a culture of high expectations in all that we do and to promote learning as a creative, engaging and well supported endeavour.

Curriculum Impact

We use regular and robust triangulated monitoring to gauge the impact of our curriculum design. Leaders review learning, talk to pupils and provide feedback to move practice forward.
We ensure that our pupils’ attainment and progress are in line or exceeding their potential.
Our curriculum ensures that we develop well rounded citizens with a clear understanding of values such as respect, kindness, responsibility and resilience. Our curriculum addresses negative stereotyping through investigating similarities and differences and promoting acceptance, diversity, citizenship and human rights.
Learning dispositions are developed which lead to success both now and in the future. Pupils show greater levels of resilience, motivation and a growth mindset when faced with a challenge. They develop attitudes and dispositions to make a positive contribution to the world.