Curriculum Intent

Breadsall Hill Top Primary is a place for children to develop a sense of identity and a joy for life-long learning. We have created an inspiring curriculum that is ambitious for all children, nurtures individual talents and prepares them for life as a global citizen. We aim for all children to leave us with the powerful knowledge required to engage in rich discussions, challenge viewpoints and opinion and raise aspirations. We aim to provide the children with the best foundations for life and help engender an appreciation of human creativity and achievement. 

We aim to 'increase the odds' for our children in relation to attainment, attendance, health, employability and cultural capital.

Ours Aims:

• Rich Vocabulary and Language – essential to create language rich environments and to model language development throughout the school.

• Positive Self-Esteem – essential that our curriculum, including wider curriculum and enrichment entitlement, focus on developing this in each child.

• High Expectations for Academic Performance – the quality of teaching opportunities at BHTP are designed, delivered and evaluated to ensure that they meet the needs of all pupils through the delivery of high-quality lessons/quality first teaching

• Raising Aspirations – we need to create ‘gateways’ of opportunities for our children to spark their aspiration and show them their potential.

• Cultural Capital – we need to ensure our curriculum is based on ‘powerful knowledge’ which broadens the children’s knowledge and understanding through planned experiences.

The BHTP Curriculum provides an outline of core knowledge around which our teachers can develop exciting and stimulating lessons to promote the development of children’s knowledge, understanding and skills as part of the wider school curriculum.  Therefore, the BHTP Curriculum is a guarantee of these rights.

We have designed learning sequences that aim to:

• Enable children to acquire sequential knowledge, vocabulary and skills, which are secured through application over time and in different contexts
• Be built up from a strong foundation of prior learning
• Reflect our context and the potential gaps in children’s knowledge and skills
• Inspire children to see themselves as: authors, mathematicians, innovators, scientists, historians, geographers, artists, musicians, sportspeople, positive citizens
• Empower the children to develop the knowledge and skills to be highly equipped in the digital world.
• Promote the core values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance, with regard to the current Equalities Act
• Develop criticality, creativity, communication and collaboration

THE PRINCIPLES OF OUR KNOWLEDGE-RICH CURRICULUM

• Knowledge is valued and specified
• Knowledge is well sequenced
• Knowledge is taught to be remembered
• Knowledge is a pathway to a skill. Teach knowledge, and skills are the end result.

The content in our curriculum has been carefully chosen by subject experts and has been sequenced in a meaningful way that enables all children to make connections and progress from unit to unit, term to term and year to year. We recognise and value each subject and teach them discretely, ensuring that our children develop a deep understanding and love of each distinct discipline. Where appropriate, links are made across disciplines to enable children to make meaningful connections.

Our curriculum uses the Primary Knowledge Curriculum (PKC) which is aligned with the National Curriculum. PKC has been coherently planned and is well-sequenced, laying the foundations of knowledge in EYFS and building on this throughout the primary years. Teachers ensure that children are learning and remembering the curriculum through the principles of spaced retrieval, formative “low-stakes” quizzing and plenty of practice to develop knowledge fluency that pursue mastery.

BHTP’s knowledge-rich curriculum exposes children to ambitious content that has been highly specified and well-sequenced, with the intention of leaving nothing to chance. We believe that a knowledge-rich curriculum ensures that each precious moment will support children in acquiring the knowledge, skills and cultural capital that they will need to become well-educated citizens of the future.

Every historical figure encountered, philosophical idea grappled with, and scientific concept applied, fits neatly into a scheme of learning that holds a sense of purpose and develops logically from lesson to lesson, unit to unit and year to year. Through utilising cognitive science, and the psychology of learning, memory and schemata, our knowledge-rich curriculum is designed to ensure that the knowledge is taught to be remembered.  

BHTP also understands the value and importance of a diverse curriculum which enables the children to gain a wider understanding of the world around us and brings to life our core values of Respect, Kindness and Truth.