Our curriculum builds progressive core knowledge and key curriculum concepts using a range of learning skills and subject skills. Our curriculum should lead to pupils being able to recall and describe the knowledge and concepts in familiar, unfamiliar, local and global contexts. Our curriculum is designed to enable pupils to make connections between their developing knowledge and concepts, their prior learning, and their lived experiences. Pupils are empowered to use their literacy, oracy, and digital communication skills to purposefully share and articulate their learning with others. Our curriculum enables our pupils to have aspiration and be successful, confident, and responsible individuals and citizens.
Aspiration has been identified as a curriculum driver as a way of impacting on social mobility . It was also noticeable that while parents and the wider community are highly ambitious for their children, in line with the values of The Forge Trust, children were not always aware of the opportunities open to them. For this reason, the curriculum has been developed to specifically highlight these for pupils across a range of varied curricular content with particular emphasis on visits and visitors into our academy. It is our intention that by developing children’s awareness of options and opportunities they are able to develop ambition based on a real-life understanding of the many and varied paths they could follow into the world of work. Similarly, our choice of “cultural diversity” as a driver was chosen to highlight for children the rich fabric of British society over time and the achievements of cultures from around the world. Our curriculum has been designed to support children to develop understanding and appreciation of the value and contributions of a range of cultures so that they are prepared for life in 21st century Britain.
A further important element of our curriculum is speaking and listening. This emphasis is reflected in planning at all stages with a focus on the constituent skills of speaking, listening, non-verbal communication and awareness of audience, giving our pupils the skills to perform well in a range of social situations.
Class teachers are responsible for planning the curriculum for their class. They make decisions about what resources and materials they use, and how they differentiate them appropriately. They do this using their professional knowledge and expertise, sharing best practice and providing support for each other, focussed on outcomes for individual pupils.
Subject leaders and senior leaders oversee the practice and the progression in core knowledge, skills and concepts. Wider curriculum plans are based on an 80/20% trust wide curriculum map. We ensure that all teachers are familiar with curriculum expectations through training, monitoring, coaching and trust network meetings. A focus on ensuring that outcomes can be achieved by all pupils is of core importance.
Class teachers routinely evaluate the progress of pupils within and across lessons using assessment to make judgements. They use this information to analyse how effectively pupils are achieving or exceeding expectations and to adapt their planning accordingly. Teachers provide Subject Leaders with timely summative information about the outcomes of pupils in their class. A ‘keep up, not catch up’ approach is implemented. Additional practice and interventions are in place to allow this to happen in the core subjects.
Subject Leaders and Senior Leaders routinely evaluate the summative outcomes for their area of responsibility. They use this analysis to identify any necessary actions that develop the quality of provision in their subject, to moderate assessments, and to benchmark outcomes against expectations beyond their school.
