Days Lane Primary School

Days Lane Curriculum Intent Statement

At Days Lane, we have designed a curriculum that supports every child to develop a passion for learning and strive for excellence through fulfilling their potential. Developing the ‘whole child’ is at the heart of everything we do. We set high standards for all children and aspire for them to become confident, well-rounded individuals that are questioning and curious in their approach to their learning.

The curriculum that we have designed is underpinned by our school values to ensure that all children understand and demonstrate: Resilience, Respect, Responsibility, Compassion, Community and Excellence. Our curriculum supports children’s Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural Development and where possible we make links to the school’s locality, history and current affairs.

British Values are promoted both explicitly and across the curriculum. We recognise that the local demographic is not as diverse as the wider locality and therefore we plan opportunities for children to be exposed to, learn about and appreciate different cultures and religions. This prepares children for life in modern Britain.

We offer a broad and balanced curriculum for all learners. Children in the EYFS Foundation Stage are taught using the EYFS Framework, with an emphasis on using key skills, knowledge and understanding through direct teaching and structured continuous provision.

In KS1 and KS2 the statutory National Curriculum is taught. At Days Lane Primary School, our   curriculum is designed with knowledge at its heart to support children widen their vocabulary base and understanding of the world.

We have drawn upon current research about how memory works and understand that existing knowledge provides the foundation from which further knowledge and understanding can be built. Teaching staff are encouraged to employ teaching and learning strategies that support children to remember curriculum content in future years. We use knowledge mats to provide children with key information that they are expected to learn over the course of their learning journey in particular subjects. We believe that progress means knowing more and remembering more.

There is an emphasis on the acquisition of basic skills including phonics, grammar, spelling, arithmetic and times tables, which enable children to access the broad curriculum and ensure that they have increased their confidence to learn and succeed.

Our curriculum uses foundation subjects as a vehicle to create strong and purposeful cross-curricular links. High quality texts are woven into the curriculum to: immerse children in literature, develop their skills as readers and encourage a passion and enthusiasm for reading. Texts are carefully selected to ensure a broad range of genre, styles and subject matter, including at least one ‘classic’ book each year to engage children with a timeless narrative.

Children learn through lines of enquiry around a central theme, taking them on an exciting learning journey. As they progress, they develop key knowledge, understanding and skills, working both collaboratively and independently. Throughout each learning journey children are encouraged to ask questions and find new ways of discovering answers. Each learning journey provides the children with the opportunity to apply their knowledge and skills to produce high quality creative outcomes. These outcomes are shared with different audiences, including members of the school and wider community, so that children’s learning across a range of subjects is valued.

At Days Lane we believe that childhood should be a happy, investigative and enquiring time in our lives where there are no limits to curiosity and there is a thirst for new experiences and knowledge. We provide enriching opportunities including trips, visitors, workshops and themed weeks/days, which are integrated into our curriculum to bring learning to life and create memorable learning experiences.  

Children leave Days Lane with a sense of belonging to a tightly knit community where they have the confidence and skills to make decisions, self-evaluate, make connections and become lifelong learners.

‘Question everything, learn something’ – Euripides

To help children develop key knowledge and vocabulary related to topics, we have also introduced ‘Knowledge Mats’ in Science, Geography and History. These contain the essential knowledge that children will need to know as part of the new topic they will be studying in class.

These Knowledge Mats are also designed to be used at home by parents to help children learn the information contained within them. We want every pupil to be able to recall the information on these sheets off by heart by the end of the topic. We will also be learning the same information in class. The best way to use the Knowledge Mats at home is as follows –

• Children read the information from the section to be learned (possibly with an adult)

• They then try and recall the information (this can be written down or verbally)

• An adult tests them on the information

• The key to success is to repeat this regularly over the week

• It is also important to keep revising the information that has already been learned in previous weeks to keep it fresh in the memory.

We are confident that these Knowledge Mats will help our children to develop knowledge on a wide range of topics and will significantly improve their vocabulary. This, in turn, will make them more confident in class and help to develop their reading and writing skills. All Knowledge Mats can be found by clicking the tab 'Our Curriculum' and then 'Knowledge Mats'.