Our Curriculum

Our curriculum is broad, balanced, relevant and stimulating, promoting curiosity and engagement from all.

Principles

The curriculum encompasses all that takes place in the school, our ethos will be woven into lesson contents, individual, group, weekly and termly plans and schemes of work.

Staff and pupils will be provided with clear guidelines and expectations about what abilities, skills and knowledge are needed at different stages and levels. There will be consistency in how pupils are taught through the establishment of routines, an ordered learning environment and classroom culture. Staff will have short, medium and long-term curriculum maps that identify which standards are taught and when. Staff will check for understanding regularly through informal and formal assessments. Teaching will regularly be modified based on data from these assessments.

In line with our vision of nurturing every child, we offer a broad and balanced curriculum to cater for the needs of our pupil intake. We have a holistic learning approach which incorporates personal, community and international learning. This is crucial to help prepare students for wherever they may live and the challenges they will face as adults in the twenty-first century. Instead of adopting a single curriculum style, we tailor our curriculum to meet the learning needs of our students. Our rich, diverse, rigorous and goal- driven curriculum, with its emphasis on active learning experiences, is designed to be relevant and stimulating, to promote curiosity and enquiring minds, which will enable pupils to develop a love of learning and to enjoy school.

The school will deliver a curriculum that addresses global demands and personal development needs. Our curriculum is well rooted in the National Curriculum and the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Curriculum. Maths is delivered using White Rose, Numicon and Enrich schemes to instill confidence, inspire a genuine love of maths and help every child master mathematical concepts.

For English, Read Write Inc. (RWI) Scheme – designed to create fluent readers, confident speakers and willing writers; provides a structured and systematic approach to teaching literacy. Subjects including Science are delivered using schemes that have been cross-referenced to the National Curriculum and are designed to meet the needs of our pupils; to provide an experience that develops international mindedness, creativity and leadership in pupils. Throughout our schools, English, Mathematics, Modern Foreign Languages, ICT, Art and Music will be taught discretely as well as within other curriculum areas. We will employ specialists to deliver some of these curriculum areas as well as sports and physical education.

The strength of our curriculum was confirmed in the 2014 Ofsted report for Emmanuel Community School Walthamstow, which stated:

“The range of subjects offered by the school is very well organised to capture pupils’ interests. It ensures that pupils have very well-developed key basic skills with a strong focus on creativity and using the outdoor environment to enhance learning.”

“Effective and innovative use of information and communication technology is embedded in school practice. For example, pupils in the Reception class routinely use the interactive white-board. “

Our model has key features which we will embed in the school as we strive to provide a setting where pupils have outstanding experiences. These include:

Use of the outdoor learning environment: we will create a free flow of inside and outside learning areas to provide a stimulating, experiential learning environment. Pupils will have further opportunities to explore their environment with extra-curricular opportunities to enrich the curriculum such as clubs, visits to art galleries, museums, theatres, farms, places of worship, etc.
A curriculum based on the natural world and seasons: linked to the natural rhythms of life, Christian festivals, seasons and pupil’s life experiences.
Active Learning: Plenty of opportunity for active learning. Pupils will learn through ‘doing’, with clubs and activities covering physical, creative and academic development.
Collaborative team planning and use of specialists in some curriculum areas: thematic teaching which encourages teamwork and detailed planning where specialists lead teams in planning and delivery of areas such as PE, Languages and Music.
Understanding of the importance of play: play is central to the pupil’s approach to learning, channelling their natural curiosity.
Flexible groupings and freedom: pupils will spend some time in form groups (peer groups) and some of their time in ability groups that can be flexible, focused and allow for an integrated day model where activities can complement each other and teachers can use individual strengths and expertise to inform planning. This flexibility and freedom are essential for pupils and staff to be creative. This will be favourable to developing pupil’s academic ability at their own pace, facilitate personalised learning and relationships that nurture confidence and motivation as well as grow self-esteem.
Emphasis on the whole child and spirituality: creativity is something that unifies the learning experience, provides motivation and enjoyment while enhancing self-esteem. The school community will be educated in a holistic way, linking spiritual, moral, aesthetic, physical, social and intellectual strands in everyday practice. The child is seen as the centre of the educational process.
Involvement of the community: develop positive links with local and national community; invite visiting artists, poets, parents, authors, professionals, role models, etc.
Citizenship and global dimension: Emphasis on international perspective will be taught in subjects such as history, languages, geography and citizenship. Links will be made with learning communities in other countries and outside partnerships with the wider community to develop community cohesion.
Skills based curriculum that teaches key transferable skills across the curriculum; set of skills broken down by year group.
Leadership and character development being some of these key skills.
Dedicated focus on teaching of reading, language and communication: targets set for pupils to be reading at age appropriate level (minimum) by the time they are 6- 7 years old.
Curriculum weeks: with weeks dedicated to Maths, Art and Science,
Instrumental tuition
ICT skills taught as well as integrated into the curriculum.
Residential activity camps.