Curriculum Intent Statement

At The Stoke Poges School, we firmly believe that education is not just about knowledge, but about shaping young minds and nurturing the whole child.  Our curriculum is designed to fulfil our Vision statement:

To provide a rich and inclusive learning environment where children can become confident, independent learners with a passion to succeed.

Our school core purpose guides our curriculum development:

We will continue to be immersed in the local and wider community to create socially conscious, caring individuals whose contribution impacts on the wider world.

Learning…

Our curriculum places a strong emphasis on academic excellence, and we aim to ensure that all children reach their potential.  It has been designed to recognise children’s prior learning and has been carefully and coherently planned and sequenced so that knowledge and skills are built over time.  Key concepts and themes have been woven throughout to ensure that links are made both within subjects, across subjects and across year groups to create a 3-Dimensional curriculum. 

Subject areas are taught as disciplines: children will know the skills that they need to be a scientist, historian, geographer, artist, musician, Spanish speaker and sportsperson.  We benefit from having specialist teaching staff for Music, Computing, PE and Spanish (Year 5/6).  We have identified the important knowledge, skills and vocabulary in each subject taught from EYFS through to Year 6 to ensure progression.  The use of knowledge organisers and enquiry questions support children’s learning.

Reading is at the heart of our curriculum and children are supported to develop a love of reading.  Opportunities to develop the core skills of reading, writing and maths are built on across the subjects, to ensure that children are ready to progress onto the next stage of their education.

Values…

At the core of our curriculum are our school values.  Through these we promote the social and emotional development of all children and foster empathy, kindness and resilience.  We aim to provide opportunities for children to develop positive relationships through teamwork and collaboration, allowing them to thrive both academically and socially.  Children are also encouraged to be responsible citizens who will have a positive impact on society.  Our teaching and learning encourages children to nurture their innate curiosity about the world around them, to develop a sense of awe and wonder and promote the experiences of exploring, investigating and questioning. 

Enjoying and engaging…

We believe that learning should be enjoyable and engaging and our curriculum embraces a sense of fun.  Our curriculum recognises the importance of wellbeing and we want our children to be happy and healthy individuals who will remember their primary years with fondness and joy.  Memorable experiences are built into the curriculum to support learning, strengthen relationships and to build cultural capital.  We encourage our pupils to take risks, embrace challenges and develop a growth mindset, fostering a love of learning that extends beyond the classroom.

We deepen and extend learning through rich experiences, drawing on our supportive and diverse community and the advantages of our proximity to Black Park and Burnham Beeches, London and major sites of historic and cultural interest.