Curriculum Intent

At Willows we have designed our art curriculum to allow children to explore and express their creativity. We provide them with a wide range of opportunities to take inspiration from great artists, master artistic techniques and develop ideas to create their own works of art. Our intent is to enable all children to become artists and feel confident to create and discuss art, regardless of their social background. Through the art curriculum we also develop the children’s cultural knowledge. They are exposed to the masterpieces created by a broad and diverse range of artists, who we hope they aspire to emulate. We immerse them in the creative world of art by including trips to gallery’s and taking part in workshops run by professional artists.  We aim to develop a love of art through an inspiring and engaging art curriculum which allows the children to regularly apply their learning. 

Our curriculum for art aims to ensure that all pupils:

• Produce creative work, exploring their ideas and recording their experiences

• Become proficient in drawing, painting, sculpture and other art, craft and design techniques

• Evaluate and analyse creative works using the language of art, craft and design

• ​​​​​​​Know about great artists, craft makers and designers, and understand the historical and cultural development of their art forms.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

How We Do It

Computing is an ever changing subject as new technology becomes available almost daily. It has become essential that people are able to use different types of technology to access the world around them. We have considered the experiences our children have outside of school and the skills they bring with them. Although we do not always know the direction computing is moving in from year to year, we can be certain that it will continue to change and develop. For this reason, we need to ensure that our children have all the necessary skills regarding computing in order to succeed in the developing world we live in and break down any barriers that occur. Our intent is to enable all children to become skilled with computer technology and to feel confident to use different programs effectively.

Our computing curriculum, in line with the national curriculum, aims to ensure that all pupils:

• can understand and apply the fundamental principles and concepts of computing, including abstraction, logic, algorithms and data representation. This will ensure that the children have a secure understanding of the key knowledge and concepts of computing and can explain and apply them.

• can analyse problems in computational terms, and have repeated practical experience of writing computer programs in order to solve such problems. This will ensure that the children’s knowledge is deepened by allowing them to use computing to aid with other aspects of work.

• can evaluate and apply information technology, including new or unfamiliar technologies, analytically to solve problems.

• are responsible, competent, confident and creative users of information and communication technology. This will ensure the children have the skills and confidence necessary to take their knowledge forward into the world around them.

How We Do It

At Willows, the Design and Technology curriculum encourages learners to be creative. We encourage our pupils to take risks and not be afraid of making mistakes. The curriculum design enables pupils to become team players and develop key skills such as perseverance and resilience. The Willows Way values are a key part within the D/T curriculum which also takes on board pupil’s interests. Learning is always purposeful and engaging.  The curriculum design is progressive and staff use targeted questions to enhance teaching and learning throughout the school. Our curriculum enables children to develop the design cycle in a broad range of contexts, as well as developing key life skills such as researching, innovating and practical skills. We ensure that within our food technology cycle, pupils understand the impact healthy eating has on lifestyles and well-being.

The curriculum develops a love for designing and constructing, this journey begins in our Early Years setting. As the children move through school, all skills, knowledge and vocabulary are revisited and built upon.  Through the careful planning and delivery of our Personal Development curriculum, we develop the ‘whole’ child. We are confident that our children are fully equipped to leave Willows with solid foundations and have the passion and belief that they will develop their skills and interests further. We achieve this by listening to our children and planning for a range of real life and purposeful experiences. We aim to embed a love of learning in D/T, we want the children to be inspired and have high aspirations. It is our hope that children leave Willows with the willingness to attempt any challenge involving structures, mechanisms, textiles, electrical systems and food technology.

Our D/T curriculum is carefully thought out where children are able to follow the design process and have a secure knowledge of how and when to apply different skills. Knowing what it means to design, make and evaluate will give all pupils a platform to build on as they move on to further education. Throughout the school, we will ensure that every child understands the following links:

• Design means: research, investigate and analyse, develop and innovate ideas.

• Make means: model prototypes, use tools and materials and make it fit for purpose.​​​​​​​

• Evaluate means: criticise, improve and re-design.

If our children leave Willows knowing and using these skills, then we have not only given them the potential to become future designers that can tackle any criteria that they are given, but we have developed the whole child that can apply these skills to a range of opportunities throughout their lives.

How we do it

At Willows, our intention is to equip our children with the tools they need to become life-long learners who can communicate effectively in the modern world and build their cultural capital. To achieve this we use the aims of the National Curriculum as the foundation for our teaching.

The National Curriculum for English aims to ensure that all pupils:

• read easily, fluently and with good understanding

• develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information

• acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language

• appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage

• write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences

• use discussion in order to learn; they should be able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding and ideas​​​​​​​

• are competent in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate

At Willows, we recognise English skills are paramount, and contribute to life beyond school, both academically and socially.  We strive to give children rich and varied learning opportunities that ignite a love of learning. We ensure that all lessons are meaningful, contextual and contribute towards our broad and balanced curriculum, with children being actively engaged at all times. Knowledge and skills are built on year on year so that, when our children leave Willows, they have firm foundations in place to support them in their further education with regards to reading and writing. We want our children to enjoy reading for pleasure, as well as seeing as it as an important life skill that they are confident in engaging in. We also want our children to gain full confidence and enjoyment in writing, recognising the value and importance of the written word. Our aim is for our children to be able to communicate effectively in life beyond the classroom, using the high-quality vocabulary they have acquired during their time here at Willows so they can break down any barriers they may be faced with. It is important for us that children leave our school being enthusiastic and resilient learners who understand the value of English and can articulate themselves well so they can strive to do whatever they choose in life.

Personal Development

"Forest School is an inspirational process that offers ALL learners regular opportunities to achieve and develop confidence and self-esteem through hands-on learning experiences in a woodland or natural environment with trees.”
(Forest School Association).

At Willows we want the children to investigate and be curious about the world around them. We believe the children should have the right to play, access the outdoors (in particular a woodland environment), learn about respecting the environment and take risks. The children will achieve this through social interaction and at the same time build their resilience, team building skills, independence, self– esteem and confidence which can then be transferred to the classroom. ​​​​​​

At Willows we aim to offer this experience to Year 3 children every year for 1 1/2 hours per week for half a term, therefore all children will experience Forest School at their time at Willows. In addition to this, we encourage outdoor cross-curricular learning throughout the school. There will be no more than 15 children in a group with 2 adults. One of which is qualified with Level 3 Forest School qualification.

The children will have an amazing opportunity and be inspired by exciting activities such as den building, nature art, making potions with nature, wood craft using tools, lighting and cooking on  an open fire and much more! All these activities will be risk assessed before taking place and under the supervision of a qualified Forest School Leader. 

As a school we have developed our Forest School area on the school grounds. We have re-instated the pond with a secure fence surrounding it a long with the fire circle. There are many more exciting plans for the future too! 

Further Information

At Willows, we want all of our children to leave our school as skilled geographers, with a curiosity to learn about the world and an eagerness to explore it. We want all children to not only have the theoretical skills and knowledge required of a geographer, but to also have experiences of applying these skills in real-life situations through fieldwork opportunities. 

In line with the National Curriculum, by the time children leave Willows, they will:

• have a curiosity and fascination about the diversity of the world and its people

• understand the key human and physical processes of the world and how they interact

• be able to locate key locations in the world, with an understanding of scale

• have the geographical skills required to conduct their own fieldwork and interpret the results

The Geography curriculum at Willows focusses on developing the ‘whole’ child. We aim to equip children with the ability to provide answers and to provoke questions about the ever-changing world in which they live. We recognise that our children come to us from different backgrounds and, regardless of this, all children will leave Willows with an understanding of the world and its abundance of cultures, which will provide strong foundations for becoming a global citizen. 

How We Do It

At Willows we want all children to leave our school with a balance of substantive knowledge of the past and the past as a discipline. To ensure that this is possible, our children need to be able to have a rich knowledge of the period, place and society. The children need to understand how historians use sources of evidence to construct knowledge about the past. We believe children need to ensure they have good understanding of substantive concepts in History and can transfer these to new contexts, aiding the children to develop new historical knowledge.

“We need to see History as a discipline, so that pupils know what to do when faced in their own lives with two versions of the same event or two incompatible interpretations of a famous person.” 

Our curriculum aims as stated by the programmes of study are to ensure all pupils:

• Develop a secure Chronology Understanding• Identify connections, contrasts and trends

• Use a variety of Historical Terms

• Thoughtfully select relevant, historical information

• Explore how the past is constructed from a range of sources

• Devise historically valid questions about change, cause, similarity, difference and significance

Our History curriculum is designed so that personal development is an intrinsic part. We strive to give the children the cultural knowledge to thrive in society. For example children are exposed to important figures from the past. As part of the History curriculum, the children expand their cultural awareness by visiting museums and local areas of History. Our desire for our children to achieve social mobility, ensures progressive historical terms are taught throughout the school and the children retrieve and use vocabulary from previous year groups.

The teaching will equip pupils with a rich knowledge of the period/place/society, a secure overview of major developments and periods to put their new knowledge into a context. Alongside this, children will know how historians analyse the past using concepts such as causation, change and continuity, similarity and difference, and historical significance. These skills will prove essential in the outside world and therefore we feel it is our duty to provide children with these as well as History knowledge. A high-quality history education will help pupils gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. 

How We Do It

Here at Willows our intention is to nurture confident, willing competent Mathematicians. At Willows Primary School we teach to Mastery. To achieve this we use the aims of the National Curriculum as the bedrock for our teaching.

The National Curriculum for Mathematics aims to ensure that all pupils:

• become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including through varied and frequent practice with increasingly complex problems over time, so that pupils develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately.

• reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, conjecturing relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language.​​​​​​​

• can solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of routine and non-routine problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions.

We want no less for all of our pupils regardless of their backgrounds and abilities. We aspire to ensure that every pupil develops key mathematical knowledge and skills. Therefore enabling them to become citizens that will make a positive contribution to society.​​​​​​​

How We Do It

At Willows, our intention is to give a broad introduction to languages that will put them in good stead for further learning at Secondary school. We embrace the different life experiences our children bring with them and aim to give them the ambition and firm basis to further develop their understanding of a different language in the next stage of the educational journey. The ability to speak another language can open future doors and break down social barriers and support future aspirations. In addition to language understanding and development, we use the teaching of French to further develop understanding of foreign cultures as well as making links with a range of other foundation subjects such as Geography, Design and Technology and PE amongst others. Through these practises, we make strong links with the personal development curriculum, most notably in establishing greater cultural capital and a broad understanding of cultures outside of Great Britain.  We want children to acknowledge the similarities and differences between foreign cultures and an increased understanding of how language can underpin many facets of life. We encourage pupils be independent learners and to actively engage in the variety of activities provided, thus instilling an ever-present love of learning. By doing this, we make a strong focus on developing the whole child and not just their academic capabilities. The way in which we incorporate MfL ensures that children are inspired, motivated and acquire additional, personable skills that can be broadly used both in school and the wider world around them. 

​​​​​​​In line with the national curriculum, our aims for each child are to:

• understand and respond to spoken and written language from a variety of authentic sources

• speak with increasing confidence, fluency and spontaneity, finding ways of communicating what they want to say, including through discussion and asking questions, and continually improving the accuracy of their pronunciation and intonation

• write at varying length, for different purposes and audiences, using the variety of grammatical structures that they have learnt
  ​​​​​​​

• discover and develop an appreciation of a range of writing in the language studied.

In order to meet these goals, we undertake a considered approach for each year group, with a focus on incorporating a mastery approach. We hope that with this, children leave Willows with the confidence and ability to thrive in a foreign language setting and are inspired to develop their learning further on their educational pathway. 

How We Do It

At Willows, our intent is to develop a love of music, regardless of their background, abilities or individual needs, and build every child’s confidence and aspirations to create and perform music. We aim to develop a firm understanding of what music is through listening and appraising, singing, playing, improvising and composing across a wide variety of historical periods, styles, traditions, and musical genres. 

​​​​​​​Through our music curriculum pupils will: 

• Gain enjoyment, positive self-esteem, and a sense of achievement through ambitious musical activities. 

• Develop appreciation and understanding of a wide range of high-quality live and recorded music from different traditions and time periods.

• Gain knowledge and understanding of the music of acclaimed composers and artists and understand why they are so.

• Acquire musical skills and understanding of musical concepts through active listening, singing, playing tuned and untuned instruments, performing and composing. 

• Develop speaking and listening skills through weekly listening and appraising activities, with constant encouragement to use appropriate music vocabulary.

• Play and perform, using voices and musical instruments, with increasing accuracy and resilience.

• Come together as a community through whole-school singing, ensemble playing and through listening to and supporting friends performing.

• Bring musical skills and experiences from outside of school into class music lessons.
  

• Develop social behaviours appropriate to a range of musical situations.

• Learn to connect with themselves and others by encouraging communication, creativity and co-operation.

• Enter secondary school with confidence, motivation to make good choices, and ambition to shine in any musical context.

How We Do It

Physical Education at Willows has been designed to encourage learners to enjoy being challenged, to take risks and to not be afraid of making mistakes. We use learners’ specific interests, prior attainment/skill level, and targeted questions to guide learning and teaching throughout the school. Our curriculum enables children to develop knowledge, skills and vocabulary in a broad range of sporting activities, as well as developing values and transferrable life skills such as teamwork, resilience and respect.

We believe that if a love for PE and sport is developed at a young age, then children will leave Willows with a passion to develop this interest further, whether that be personally or as part of a team. This can only be done by listening to our children and taking their interests on board, but also by giving the children a broad range of experiences, throughout their time at Willows. We want them to leave Willows with the willingness to try new sports and to not have any barriers when trying new sports later on in life.

Physical Education at Willows does not only teach children physical attributes, but also life skills that can be used in other areas, aiding a child’s personal development. We believe that through our PE curriculum children also learn teamwork, leadership, self-motivation and how to win and how to lose. These five areas are key to all teaching of PE at Willows because we believe not all good sports people have to be the best athletes. We aim to develop each child to be well-rounded, they do not need to be outstanding at one specific sport or game and ultimately have a life-long love of learning and competing in sport.

It is also our intent to ensure children understand the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle and to equip them with the tools to do so through health and well-being education. Our curriculum has been designed so that children create habits and skills that will keep them healthy for the rest of their lives. It is crucial that our children understand that keeping healthy is not just about what they see on the outside but how they feel on the inside too – physically and mentally. We teach the children the links between physical and mental health so that they can understand not only how one can affect the other, but how to deal with them. Children leave Willows with the skills and the understanding of how to lead and develop a healthy lifestyle – through fitness and nutrition – and how exercise can have a massive impact on their minds and bodies, physically and mentally. We give our children the tools to understand their bodies and how to ensure that they can live a healthy lifestyle outside of Willows.

Fundamental skills are mastered and children are given the chance to apply these across a range of contexts. Children are provided with high quality vocabulary which they are expected to use consistently and appropriately. Alongside this we ensure that children develop a love of learning and a resilience towards hard work, not a dislike for PE, exercise and sport as they grow older. Children are encouraged to see the links between their learning in PE and to understand how everything fits together in their own personal development.

How We Do It

Personal development at Willows Primary School has been designed with our children at the very heart of our curriculum. We recognise that our children come from different backgrounds and enter school with different experiences, abilities and interests. We understand the needs of our children and the importance of developing the ‘whole child’ so they have a clear sense of identity and individuality, that enables them to become responsible, respectful, active citizens who make a valuable and positive contribution to our society. We actively promote and develop all pupils understanding and appreciation towards British Values, (tolerance, rule of law, democracy, individual liberty and mutual respect), SMSC, Modern Britain and prepare them for the culturally diverse world that we live in. Our Personal Development curriculum extends beyond the national curriculum and offers unique learning experiences which provide pupils with enriched cultural capital. By offering a varied and diverse set of experiences, we aim to raise their cultural capital, empower their ambition and self-drive towards social mobility, and equip them for a successful transition to life beyond Willows. We strive to develop them into caring and considerate young people so that they can conduct themselves with integrity in our school and beyond. The personal development of our children is taught through a mixture of what we teach, how we teach and the daily interactions we have within school. 

Our Personal Development curriculum has been carefully planned and structured to meet the needs of the children at Willows Primary School. Throughout our curriculum, we want our children to develop their confidence, resilience and knowledge so they have clear understanding how to keep themselves (and others) mentally and physically safe and healthy. Our curriculum gradually extends thinking, expands their wealth of knowledge and develops their understanding within an inclusive environment, to embrace the exciting opportunities that this modern world brings. We deliver the Personal Development curriculum through four stands:

1. Health and Wellbeing 
2. The Willows Way (Character Curriculum) 
3. Cultural Capital 
4. Living in the Wider World

How We Do It

The teaching of Religious Education at Willows is designed to help prepare and equip all of our pupils for life and citizenship in today’s diverse and plural Britain, through fostering in each pupil an increasing level of religious literacy. A religiously literate person has an established and growing knowledge and understanding of beliefs, practices, spiritual insights and secular worldviews.  Our pupils are encouraged to be open to engaging with the views of others in a plural world. When pupils leave Willows, they will have a fantastic knowledge of different religions and non-religious world views. They will have developed a range of methods for finding out about religion and will leave us being respectful individuals who are tolerant of others. They will also leave us with the necessary vocabulary to formulate and express their own worldview with a deep understanding of how their own view is similar to and different from others.

Our curriculum aims for RE, as stated within the Staffordshire Agreed Syllabus, are that pupils should acquire:

EXPLORING: An increasing core of insightful knowledge concerning religions and beliefs, both in Britain and in more global terms; By exploring religious beliefs, teachings and practices – so acquiring knowledge and understanding of religious stories, sacred texts, lifestyles, rituals and symbolism that offer insight into religious experience and living within a faith community. 

ENGAGING: A developing capacity to engage with ultimate questions and to formulate their own sense of identity and values; By engaging with fundamental questions – so appreciating the human and religious questions that are raised by life and its experiences, and through which meaning, significance and value are forged, and by expressing and evaluating their personal responses to such questions - so gaining skills to be able to relate the things studied and discussed, to their own experience. 

REFLECTING: A growing range of the social, spiritual and emotional skills and dispositions appropriate to living well in a religiously plural and open society; By reflecting – on the reality of religious diversity and on the issues raised by living in a diverse world - so developing skills of analysis and discernment in relation to prejudice, discrimination and bias, together with skills of self-awareness, moral judgement and responsible choice. 

How We Do It ​​​​​

Our vision is for all children to leave our provision being confident, resilient readers who are able to decode and understand a wide range of different texts across the curriculum. We want our pupils to develop a true love of reading and strive to provide them with a broad range of books that will entertain, teach and inspire them. We use the aims of the National Curriculum as the foundation of our teaching.

The National Curriculum aims linked to reading ensure that all pupils:

• Read easily, fluently and with good understanding.

• Develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information.

• Acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language.

• Appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage.

We want our children to love reading, and that can only happen if children can read fluently in the first place. This begins with early reading and phonics in Early Year and KS1, and then continues through whole-class and independent reading into KS2.

How We Do It

At Willows, it is our intent to give every child a broad and balanced Science curriculum, which enables them to confidently explore and discover what is around them, so that they have a deeper understanding of the world we live in.  We ensure that all children are exposed to high quality teaching and learning experiences.  These will hook the children’s interest, enabling them to develop a sense of excitement and curiosity.  They will be encouraged to ask questions about the world around them and work scientifically to further their conceptual understanding and scientific knowledge.  We have a coherently planned and sequenced curriculum, which has been carefully designed and developed with the need of every child at the centre of what we do.  At Willows, we want to develop the whole child; therefore, linked to the ‘Willows Way and our school motto: ‘Oh the Places You’ll Go’, we equip our children with not only the minimum statutory requirements of the Science National Curriculum, but also prepare them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life regardless of their background. 

​​​​​​​Our curriculum aims, as stated by the programmes of study, are to ensure all pupils:

• Develop scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding through specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics

• Develop understanding of the nature, process and methods of science through different types of science enquiries to help them to answer scientific questions about the world around them

• Are equipped with the scientific knowledge required to understand the uses and implications of science, today and for the future.

How We Do It

At Willows, we believe that you are an author from the moment that you start writing.  We provide exciting opportunities for writing for purpose, and aim to give the children a purpose for writing which encapsulates and ignites their creative minds. Children engage with the foundation skills required for writing through the Early Years Curriculum, and writing lessons become more formal during Reception, as and when children are ready. We use the aims of the National Curriculum to underpin our teaching.

The writing aims of the National Curriculum are:

• To develop competence in transcription (spelling and handwriting)​​​​​​​

• To develop competence in composition (articulating ideas and structuring them in speech and writing)

How We Do It