Curriculum

Our Carefully Crafted Curriculum

We are proud to present our carefully crafted curriculum – it is the essence that makes us Muscliff Primary School; it reflects our unique identity as a community school and it is OURS. Our curriculum is bespoke. It is designed by us, for us.

Our curriculum continues to evolve. And we recognise that it will perpetually change and be reshaped and remolded so that it reflects our ever-changing world and local community. We are always seeking ways to improve our curriculum offer to the children of Muscliff. Whether the change is fuelled by our passion for books (for example, if we come across a new beautiful book that we feel our children simply must read) or if it is prompted by significant events and the changing landscape, we remain adaptable and reflective.

When we make changes to our curriculum, we consider what we know about the needs of our learners and look to evidence-based research; our curriculum is rooted in our culture of enquiry. By embracing change, we are creating a curriculum that is successive and durable.

Not only does our curriculum teach Resilience, Curiosity, Aspiration, Responsibility and Kindness, its very creation is derived through these five values.

The impact is that everyone at our school is passionate about learning: our children experience high quality provision and our teachers grow pedagogy and passion for the content they teach.

Muscliff is a school with a clear vision and identity that has created our culture.

At Muscliff Primary school, our curriculum is designed to enable our children to explore the world around them, as well as the world of the past and their own future, through first-hand learning experiences and inspiring curriculum content focused on linking key skills and knowledge from Reception to Year 6 and beyond.

We believe that learning at Muscliff should be centred around our ‘beautiful’ texts and our core values:

Aspiration:

Reading broadens imagination and inspires ambition, and so should our curriculum. It will enrich the choices and opportunities available to all children, developing a desire to learn and an eagerness to find out new and wonderful things together (or on their own). Our curriculum will support our children to have a growth mindset, showing them examples of how others have reached their dreams by embracing mistakes as a tool for growth (e.g. the Wright brothers, Rosa Parks, Alexander Graham Bell, Neil Armstrong and JK Rowling).

Here is our Aspiration Progression Map:

Resilience:

Our curriculum will embed learning with layering of skills and knowledge throughout the years, enabling children to form connections across year groups and between subjects. We will establish strong routines and layers of support to develop self-regulation and use of strategies to help our children grow and recognise themselves in our world. Our curriculum will enable children to develop a positive self-image and confidence in their own ideas, with the ability to communicate their own ideas: we want them to reach for the stars and place no limits on what they can achieve.

Here is our Resilience Progression Map:

Kindness:

We will look at similarities across cultures (past and present), looking towards a better future for all. We will support our children to evaluate and delve into the past to challenge concepts and established facts, using this to develop ideas of equality and fairness. We will celebrate our differences and ensure that our curriculum looks at the world through the eyes of others.

Here is our Kindness Progression Map:

Curiosity:

Our children will be encouraged to develop critical thinking, investigation and exploration of their own ideas and existing ones. We will encourage them to make their own choices; coach them to be flexible thinkers, cultivating an active mind and body; help them feel confident to explore and express their ideas and imagination. Our children should ask questions about their learning (and the world) to develop their understanding.

Here is our Curiosity Progression Map:

Responsibility:

We want our children to take an active part in this world, and our curriculum will help our children to explore global issues that are (and will be) important to them: climate change, recycling, human rights and technological developments, among others. Awareness of these changes will enable them to have a greater personal impact on society and a balanced view of the world as they move on to secondary school.

Here is our Responsibility Progression Map:

National Curriculum 2014

Primary schools in England must offer a curriculum which is balanced and broadly-based and which:

• promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school, and
• prepares pupils at the school for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life.

'The National Curriculum is just one element in the education of every child. There is time and space in the school day and in each week, term and year to range beyond the National Curriculum. The National Curriculum provides an outline of core knowledge around which teachers can develop exciting and stimulating lessons to promote the development of children's knowledge, skills and understanding as part of the wider school curriculum.'

National Curriculum in England 2014

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-primary-curriculum

Please look at the year group curriculum maps below, and the 'class pages' for home learning and photos of the children enjoying their learning!