Curriculum intent statement

At Mallard Primary School, we want to provide a broad and balanced curriculum that meets the needs of all children. Through our curriculum, we want to enable children to meet their full potential, make progress through their learning journey and develop into well-rounded citizens.

We recognise the importance of developing children’s general knowledge and understanding of the world. Therefore, as a school we have made the decision to use the CUSP as a base curriculum for Reading, Writing, Science, History, Geography and Art.

CUSP is:

• ‘Connected’
• ‘Cumulative’
• ‘Coherent’

The school’s curriculum is developed from evidence-based research on how children learn and how knowledge is transferred into the children’s long-term memory.

We teach subjects in the following ways:

• Our English curriculum includes dedicated daily reading lessons in Key Stage 2 alongside a writing session. There are also additional reading lessons in Key Stage 1, alongside phonics and writing, as a feature. The English offer is planned with a rich literature spine with ambitious books to inspire and challenge pupils. It is carefully mapped to enable children to experience a diverse range of social, moral and ethical issues as well as a wide range of authors. Our writing curriculum draws on taught content from History, Geography and Science and from the study of core texts from the literature spine.
• Our Maths Curriculum follows the White Rose Maths Scheme. Learning is adapted and differentiated to meet the needs of the children.
• The wider curriculum subjects of Science, Geography, History, Computing and Art & Design are taught as a series of modules which are regularly revisited within each academic year and also built upon in subsequent years. This is to ensure that core knowledge is securely acquired through clear teaching sequences that are focused, interwoven and built around regular retrieval practice. We have an increased frequency of teaching and length of Science modules so that we are able to respond directly to the challenge of time and gaps in knowledge resulting from the recent disruption to learning.
• Time for PSHE and Modern Foreign Languages has been prioritised and given proportionally more space within the timetable.The arts have been given greater emphasis with Art/DT and Music being taught weekly in all year groups. We will continue to teach Beliefs & Values weekly across the school.

Our curriculum is vocabulary focused and aims to equip the children with the necessary academic and technical language required to talk about their learning in a precise manner, across the curriculum. Knowledge organisers are used within learning modules to support vocabulary development.

The acquisition of knowledge is underpinned by the implementation of a variety of teaching methods intended to help children retain and recall their learning. The children will access mini-quizzes at regular intervals within learning modules, challenging them to recall their learning; research shows that both the ‘spaced practice,’ and ‘retrieval practice,’ embedded within the curriculum will enhance pupils’ learning.

Our curriculum provides children with memorable experiences, visits and visitors from which they can learn. It is designed to encourage them to view the world outside of Doncaster with excitement and curiosity. We very much hope that this will support us in developing independent and confident learners who know about their community, the wider world and how to make a positive contribution.