Shaping Positive Futures – Achieving Our Full Potential
Intent

At Burlington Junior School our curriculum aims and core values are carefully threaded through everything that we do. Our curriculum aims are to ensure that all our children:

• Are equipped with the skills, knowledge and understanding to be confident learners.
• Are emotionally healthy, socially confident and understand how to have positive relationships with others.
• Enjoy enrichment experiences to gain knowledge and develop rich vocabulary.
• Are motivated and driven to achieve their full potential.
• Respect diversity and individuality and make a positive contribution to society.

We achieve these curriculum aims by developing the core values of resilience, respect, tolerance, calmness, kindness and responsibility.

At Burlington Junior School we deliver the content of the National Curriculum and we enhance it in order to make it even more engaging, rich, varied and meaningful for our children.

In order to ensure that children build skills, knowledge and vocabulary in a sequential and coherent way each subject is planned following a progression model. Leaders liaise closely with the Infant school to ensure that learning in KS2, across each subject is built on prior knowledge. The progression model supports all staff to plan effective learning knowing what came before and what will come next.

Teachers use the progression model for each subject to organise a long term plan for their year group curriculum. Teachers then carefully create medium term plans which provide more detail and include subject specific knowledge, skills and vocabulary and meaningful links across different curriculum areas.

Where possible subjects are taught under the umbrella of an engaging theme. Teaching also makes explicit the subject specific content to be learned in each lesson.

Implementation

Lessons across all subjects start with a review of prior learning. New learning is introduced in small chunks and modelled to children in a subject appropriate way. Children then have the opportunity to practise new learning with support. Scaffolding is then used where needed to support children to be independent. Throughout this process in all subjects, subject specific questioning is used to check for misconceptions, assess knowledge and deepen learning. Effective feedback is given to move learning forward.

It is vital for our children to have and be able to use effectively varied and rich vocabulary which will help them be successful learners and be prepared for later life. Throughout the curriculum there is a strong focus on developing and explicitly teaching vocabulary. A range of strategies are used to teach vocabulary which includes using flash cards, knowledge organsisers and quizzes. Children are also provided with numerous enrichment experiences and opportunities to enhance and broaden their background knowledge and vocabulary.

Impact

The impact of our curriculum through the core areas will be measured in the outcomes of national testing. In addition to this pupils work will demonstrate high expectations, challenge, the development of vocabulary and a clear sequence of teaching. Pupil voice will demonstrate pupils’ improved ability to use subject specific vocabulary to explain what they know and remember.