Curriculum Statement

                                                                                                       Intent

At Iver Heath Junior School, our pupils are at the heart of everything that we do. Our aim for every child, regardless of their starting point or any barriers to learning they may have, is to make significant progress in all areas of their development and leave us well-prepared for their next stage of education and life beyond that.

We value a broad and well-planned curriculum that promotes and instils a love of learning, challenges children to achieve high standards and develops their awareness of the wider world.

We recognise and teach each and every child as a whole and unique individual who has personal talents and challenges; likes and dislikes; passions and differences who is starting to find their place in the world.

Throughout this journey, we aim to support them to learn:

• Academic skills and knowledge in core subjects that will become the bedrock of their future learning. Reading is the foundation to learning.
• Broader curriculum skills and knowledge that will enhance their understanding and enjoyment of the world through a creative, engaging and high-quality curriculum that inspires and challenges all pupils.
• Personal skills such as being organised and time-keeping to enable them to cope well with real world expectations particularly in later stages of education and employment in modern Britain.
• Psychological skills such as resilience, a positive learning attitude, self-soothing and inner-belief to provide them the independence to succeed in life’s many challenges.
• Interpersonal skills such as empathy, kindness, politeness, teamwork and friendship to allow them to become members of communities that enhance their own life and the lives of those around them.  
• Self-reflection skills such as critically reflecting on their own experiences, actions and behaviours to allow them to recognise how they influence the world around them both positively and negatively so they may better themselves through their life.
• Mistakes are the first part of learning any new skill and they should be recognised as a positive sign that a new learning journey has started or continued not as a point to give up.

Our curriculum is underpinned by our school values, through our Values, we aim to cement the learning that is taking place in our school, which provides a valuable foundation for each subject to be delivered on.

We are ACHIEVERS!	We are a COMMUNITY!	We are PROUD!	We are INCLUSIVE!
We have opportunities in every lesson to celebrate success and all children are able to make progress whilst achieving their learning objectives. We hold a weekly celebration assembly, which celebrates pupils’ achievements both inside and outside of school.	Our curriculum enables parents to be a part of our curriculum regularly, which helps the children see the real value across the broader areas. We work closely with the local community to help to give our pupils a sense of belonging. We have adopted an action plan for sustainability and climate change to establish a sense of belonging of the wider world.	Children are proud of their work across a range of lessons and this is recognised in many ways including celebration assemblies, newsletters and other elements of school life.	Each learner has the chance to progress in every lesson regardless of their start points and they feel successful through the help of our scaffolded curriculum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Knowledge is carefully planned and sequenced in all curriculum areas, so that pupils can build on prior learning, make connections and consolidate, promoting a depth of understanding. Our curriculum promotes deep learning and knowledge acquisition by revisiting learning over time. This approach, carried out at increasingly challenging levels, ensures that pupils meet and exceed national Curriculum objectives.

We have created a knowledge rich curriculum from high quality resources which act as the spine for our whole school curriculum. These resources are the spine of the learning within our school. However, expert teachers consider the needs and abilities of every individual and adapt and enhance them to ensure that every child achieves. Our curriculum documents explain the learning journey of each topic that every child will encounter here at IHJS. Each topic is based around a ‘Big Question’ enabling prior learning to be incorporated along with how their learning cements their place in the world.

For full curriculum mapping, skills progressions and other curriculum documents, please see

individual curriculum subject documents.

Implementation

The way in which a curriculum is delivered can be the difference between reaching ambitious goals and not reaching them. So, at Iver Heath Junior School we strive to deliver our curriculum in a way that engages our pupils and makes them want to achieve. We want all pupils to feel safe and encouraged to learn in an enjoyable, active and self-motivated way. Our aim is to develop children’s skills and knowledge so that they are well prepared for the next stage of their education and ultimately for their adult life and future employment

 

We ensure the curriculum is delivered successfully by:

• Creating safe and engaging learning environments so children feel encouraged to take risks, make mistakes and achieve
• Focusing on developing positive learning attitudes and growth mindsets within all children
• Basing every lesson on high-quality inclusive teaching, which has most benefit for the pupils who find learning hardest
• Understanding the range of barriers that pupils may face to their learning
• Celebrating success of the children regularly
• Promoting and develop independence in children
• Ensuring children of all abilities are challenged in their learning by scaffolding and stretching where appropriate
• Having specialists deliver the learning to children for identified areas of the curriculum where available
• Ensuring teachers have good subject knowledge
• Encouraging children to discuss their learning in lessons to share and hear good ideas
• Using effective questioning to deepen children’s understanding
• Using high-quality modelling
• Sharing learning opportunities with parents, when possible, to create a supportive relationship for success
• Providing timely feedback to pupils in a variety of ways to best communicate their successes and development points
• Offering a wide range of enrichment opportunities to help enhance and embed learning
• Investing in high quality resources to allow children the best opportunity to learn
• Creating eye catching displays to support and celebrate children’s learning
• Using formative and summative assessment to identify where a child is on their learning journey and plan the next steps
• Having subject coordinators to champion and develop each curriculum area within the school
• Providing regular training to help staff with up-to-date subject knowledge and coordinators are given time to manage their subject effectively

In addition to traditional classroom instruction, our curriculum incorporates visits, workshops, school & community events, and competitions. These experiences not only provide opportunities to embed and enhance learning but also contribute to the development of cultural capital.

Our curriculum places a strong emphasis on personal development, ensuring that pupils not only excel academically but also grow into well-rounded individuals. This focus extends to all aspects of SMSC (Spiritual, Moral, Social, and Cultural) development.

The integration of fundamental British values is also a key aspect of our curriculum, fostering a sense of citizenship, respect and responsibility among our pupils. This integration extends beyond the classroom and becomes a focus in our extra-curricular activities.

                                                                                       Impact

After their time at Iver Heath Junior School, children will leave us ready and well prepared for their secondary education academically, socially and recognising their social responsibilities in modern Britain. They will be self-motivated and independent learners who recognise that learning is a life long journey and embrace this to pursue their interests and ultimately gain employment in a field that they choose, which they enjoy and succeed in.

Our children’s books are a celebration and record of some of the learning that has taken place in lessons and we aim to support our pupils to articulate their learning confidently to both adults and peers.

 

For more information, please see our Teaching & Learning Policy.