Our Curriculum Statement

The national curriculum provides pupils with an introduction to the essential knowledge that they need to be able to make positive contributions to wider society. Our curriculum introduces pupils to the best that has been thought and said, instilling a passion for life-long learning as well as nurturing a strong sense of self.  The national curriculum is just one element in the education of every child: it provides an outline of core knowledge (substantive knowledge) around which teachers can develop exciting and stimulating lessons to promote the development of pupils’ knowledge, understanding and skills (disciplinary knowledge) as part of the wider school curriculum. At Claremont, we are developing a curriculum that will enable our children to achieve their full potential academically and socially regardless of their starting point.

Our decisions are evidence informed and based on Metacognitive Science. The Education Endowment Foundation has conducted a review of all the research in this area and concludes that metacognitive and self-regulation approaches to teaching have consistently high levels of impact on children’s learning. Metacognition refers to children’s ability to be aware of what they are thinking about; what they are learning about; choose a helpful thought process/strategy and monitor and evaluating their learning.

Our core school values are Human Kindness, Equality, Aspiration, Resilience, Teamwork and Self-belief. These are known as our HEARTS. Our curriculum development and planning are based on these shared values and being a Rights Respecting School underpins these aspects of our intent. Our curriculum is knowledge-led (subject-specific) and it focuses on the development of pupils’ long-term memory for fluency, which in turn, develops pupils’ application of skills.

Curriculum leaders are clear on the ‘sticky knowledge’ (substantive knowledge) that they want their pupils to know: these form the basis of long-term planning for progression and include the ‘key concepts’ in subjects such as perspective in art; settlement in geography and progress and change in history.

The curriculum is the progress measure. We determine progress as ‘knowing more and remembering more’.  The long-term planning of each subject involves carefully chosen year group components, to ensure key knowledge is stored in pupils’ long-term memory, before the crucial subsequent learning takes place. We believe that when new knowledge and existing knowledge connect in pupils’ minds, this gives rise to greater understanding and remembering.  Children are assessed in different ways at clearly defined end-points.

At Claremont we:

• are an outward looking school, actively engaging and celebrating the diversity of our wider community.
• foster a welcoming environment of equality, democracy, tolerance, respect for individual liberties and the rule of law.
• provide enthusiastic, adaptable teaching to enable all children to become independent, reflective learners.
• provide a range of enrichment activities and visits to develop our pupil’s cultural capital.
• create a physically secure, emotionally safe and socially supportive environment.
• offer opportunities for collaborative learning and developing shared responsibilities at all levels.

 If you have any questions about the curriculum please speak to your child’s teacher.

Useful Documents