The curriculum at Leafield C.E. Primary School: what children learn and why?

Leafield C.E. Primary School has served the families of our rural community since 1840. Most of the school’s children are from the village and surrounding villages. We have many children in the school whose parents (and grandparents) were themselves pupils at the school.

The setting of our school is described by many as idyllic. The surrounding countryside offers stunning views of the Cotswolds. Whilst the remote setting is appreciated by many, some of our families also describe a feeling of the village being isolated and as if the village is in its own bubble.

With our ever-developing knowledge of the families we serve, the school has designed a curriculum that aims to give children a strong foundation, where they feel rooted in the local community, and are equipped with the knowledge and skills they require to flourish in their lives beyond their primary years at Leafield, in modern, diverse Britain.

The guiding principles for our curriculum content are laid out in our vision statement:

We develop young people with healthy enquiring minds, compassion for others and the courage to act.

In our daily routines, we say this as simply as "Be kind, be curious, be you!"

We aim to:

provide excellence: guiding every child to exceptional progress;

nurture enthusiasm: through a curriculum which challenges and inspires; 

build confidence: where learners know the value of effort and perseverance.

 

To meet these curriculum aims, and the requirements of the National Curriculum, we have embraced the ten ‘big ideas’ of the Cornerstones curriculum. These ideas offer our children balance and breadth in knowledge and an understanding of the interconnectedness of different areas of their learning. The topics that the children learn through are in the document at the bottom of this page. You can also find our statements of intent for subjects below. 

 

Humankind	Processes	Creativity	Investigation	Materials
Nature	Place and space	Comparison	Significance	Change

 

You can find more information about the concepts in the ‘Big Ideas – More Information’ document below.

Alongside our adaptation of these ten big ideas, we meet our curriculum aims and the requirements of the national curriculum, by incorporating specific teaching models for some aspects of learning. The school embraces Read Write Inc. principles to teach early reading and writing and White Rose Maths to provide children with a strong mathematical foundation. The school’s commitment to preparing children for life beyond Leafield is supported by our use of the PHSE resource: Twinkl and IT resource: Teach Computing. Our Modern Foreign Languages provision is taught using Jolie Ronde.  Information about the progression of skills and knowledge in all our subjects is available in the Curriculum Implementation section. 

The intention of our curriculum, in its entirety, is underpinned by our Christian values; the values permeate everything we do, and we are guided in service by the well-known verse from the Bible:

 

''Dear children, let's not just say that we love each other; let us also show the truth by our actions.''

 1 John 3:18 (NLT)

 

Love

Courage

Respect

Honesty

Responsibility

Hope

 

The needs of our community have been at the forefront of our thinking when designing our school curriculum. We welcome feedback about how we can develop our curriculum further to enhance the learning of the children we serve.