Our curriculum has been carefully designed so that pupils gain more knowledge over time. Some knowledge is very important, and we return to this regularly to help it ‘stick’ in children’s memory. 

Knowledge is divided into two types:

Substantive Knowledge:  This refers to specific facts to be learned, such as, for example, the names of the       countries in the United Kingdom (geography), or in history key facts about an historic event such as World War 1. In our curriculum pages, we have given you examples of the substantive knowledge that pupils need to know and remember at each stage in their learning and in each subject. Substantive knowledge refers to knowing ‘what’ specific facts need to be remembered.

Disciplinary Knowledge:  Whereas substantive knowledge is about ‘what’ facts, disciplinary knowledge is about knowing ‘how’.  For example, in music I can know that a minim is the equivalent of 2 beats, a quaver a half beat and a semi-breve four beats (substantive facts), but disciplinary knowledge helps me use this information to clap a rhythm accurately having read it on a musical stave. Sometimes people refer to disciplinary knowledge as skills.

Our curriculum offer considers the community which we serve. As we have approximately 38% of our pupils eligible for pupil premium, we build into our curriculum experiences and opportunities to help pupils to progress and achieve success. Our intention is that pupils have both personal development and subject specific experiences which they may otherwise not have had. 

Our school values: Welcoming, Nurturing, Commitment. Togetherness and Respect underpin everything that we do at Broomwood and we believe that these values support pupils in how to be a good citizen in society.

Within our curriculum, cross-curricular links are encouraged. However, we recognise that at times some subjects need to be taught discretely as we avoid tenuous links. With many of our foundation subjects, we do however, create purposeful links and we implement this through an overarching topic within each key stage on a half-term or termly basis. Geography and History are the main drivers for the topics. We recognise that research shows that learning through a theme-based approach enables pupils to learn to make connections constantly, thereby developing a much deeper and broader level of understanding than traditional learning can compete with. Theme-based learning encourages the incorporation of different intelligences and caters much better for children with learning needs, enhancing our inclusive practice further. Whilst having a theme, subjects are still taught discretely with subject-specific knowledge and vocabulary being developed. The themes we have selected ensure that children meet the requirements of the National Curriculum but that they are also meaningful to our school community. Literacy and Maths are year group specific, and we have now implemented a year group specific science curriculum.

Our foundation curriculum is designed to work over a two-year rolling programme where each key stage works on the same theme. We block our progression of learning into the different key stages for most of our non-core subjects and computing, apart from RE and PSHE, in line with the National Curriculum. We recognise that the National Curriculum does not specify particular year groups, and we work towards the children achieving the end of key stage objectives. We believe that this gives children the opportunity to revisit learning and supports in our curriculum being sustainable. In addition, it enables teachers to work collaboratively together and share expertise linked to particular subject areas, ensuring that the implementation of substantive knowledge is carefully considered for each subject area. 

Learning within each subject is presented in an adaptive way to ensures that learning is equitable and that it can be accessed by all. There is a high expectation of how children present their learning, which can be in a variety of ways. 

Reading and vocabulary acquisition are at the heart of our curriculum. High quality texts are used to complement themes and enhance understanding and subject specific vocabulary is embedded within each subject area. 

• Pupils develop confidence, independence, resilience and a love of learning.
• All of our pupils have access to a broad and balanced curriculum. They are able to make links between different subjects and lessons.
• Pupils are able to retrieve key substantive knowledge across all subject areas. Pupils are able to talk about what they are learning both currently and what they have previously learnt, including the skills they have gained and the experiences they have had.
• Pupils are given the best possible opportunity to achieve the expected standard across all subject areas and for those who are able, opportunities are given to achieve beyond the expected standard. All pupils make progress in their learning, regardless of their starting point.
• Pupil’s written and oral work captures their increasing understanding of key concepts within each subject
• Pupils are able to form meaningful relationships based upon mutual respect and trust, recognising and celebrating difference, not only within the school community, but in the wider world as well.
• Our pupils have aspirations for the future and know that these can be realised with hard work and determination.