Learning

Curriculum Statement

In KS1 we use the Cornerstones Curriculum to support our planning of foundation subjects. This creative and thematic approach to learning has been mapped to the 2014 Primary National Curriculum to ensure comprehensive coverage of national expectations. Our curriculum is delivered through Imaginative Learning Projects (ILPs) which provide a rich menu of exciting and motivating learning activities that make creative links between all aspects of our children’s learning.

Our curriculum is taught through a pedagogy that:

• Excites, promotes and sustains children’s interest
• Promotes problem-solving, creativity and communication
• Enables and fosters children’s natural curiosity
• Offers all children a memorable experience at the start of every topic
• Promotes innovation
• Enables children to reflect on and evaluate their learning and actively encourages and welcomes parents to take part in children’s learning and experiences.

We believe children learn better when they use their imagination and apply their learning to engaging contexts. Our curriculum provides lots of learning challenges throughout the academic year which require children to solve problems, apply themselves creatively and express their knowledge and understanding effectively across the curriculum.

Over the year Children complete five Imaginative Learning Projects (ILPs) and progress through four distinct stages of learning in each ILP – Engage, Develop, Innovate and Express. Assessment is a vital part of teaching and learning and as such helps teachers in planning work, identifying problems and helping children to make progress. We embed key skills and knowledge through additional cross curricular links – English, R.E., Maths and Computing.

Learning is designed around the four Cornerstones:

1. Engage Stage – Engage – Implementing the curriculum Children will have the opportunity to: Have memorable first-hand experiences and be introduced in exciting ways to the new topic or theme Investigate and Discover Begin initial research and set enquiry questions Have lots of opportunities to make observations Develop spoken language skills Take part in sensory activities allowing children to fully ‘engage’ with their new topic

 

2. Develop Stage – Implementing the curriculum Children will have the opportunity to: Dig much deeper to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding of a topic across the curriculum Practise their newfound skills Compose, make, build, investigate, explore, write for different purposes and read across the curriculum Research their own questions and those posed by others Follow new pathways of enquiry based on their own interests

 

3. Innovate Stage Evaluating the impact of the curriculum Children will have the opportunity to: Apply previous skills, knowledge and understanding in real life contexts Be challenged with real or imagined problems and situations to solve using knowledge and skills from the earlier stages Be inspired with imaginative and creative opportunities Have time to re-visit skills and knowledge Have the opportunity to take on different roles

 

4. Express stage Evaluating the impact of the curriculum Children will have the opportunity to: Become the performers, the experts, the informers Share their achievements with others in many different ways Evaluate finished products/processes Tie learning back to the beginning Celebrate their achievements

Download the below documents to find out what is covered by each year group.

• Year 1 Coverage
• Year 2 Coverage