Curriculum Intent

Creating Confidence, Empowering Excellence, Igniting Independence

 

Curriculum Intent Statement  

 

The Governors and teaching staff at Portobello Primary School aim to provide an inclusive education that celebrates diversity, promotes respect, broadens horizons and aspirations and prepares our children to become successful, independent and motivated learners both now and in their future lives. We believe that the personal development of children, spiritually, morally, socially and culturally plays a significant part in their ability to learn and achieve. We provide opportunities for children to develop as independent, confident, successful learners with high aspirations who know how to make a positive contribution, not only to their community, but to the modern British society and the wider world. Our curriculum is designed to tackle prejudice and discrimination and encourages everyone to challenge stereotypes and promote equity.

 

Our aims are based on core values which underpin everything we do at Portobello; RESPECT, RESILIENCE, RESPONSIBILITY and EMPATHY are embedded within our school community and enable us to create a welcoming atmosphere and a positive, respectful, healthy learning environment in school.  Our key values are also shared through our ‘Learning Powers’ which help children to focus on positive behaviours for learning. Our ‘Learning Powers’ are; Enjoy Learning, Never Give Up, Be Curious, Have a Go, Keep Improving, Concentration, Co-operation and Imagination. All adults use and promote our ‘Learning Powers’ through positive reinforcement and the promotion of ‘Growth Mindset’.  

 

We have an inclusive approach when delivering our diverse, broad and balanced curriculum and recognise the needs and strengths of all our individual children. Our curriculum reflects this diversity and all children succeed in all curriculum areas because of our bespoke approach to their learning requirements. Teachers are trained to use formative assessment accurately within lessons to ensure the provision of targeted support and challenge effectively. Where appropriate, adaptations are made to the curriculum in response to individual or groups of children. In lessons children are supported in a number of appropriate ways until they no longer require the scaffolded support and are then encouraged to progress their independence, to embed skills and fully develop their own potential and to ensure independent excellence is achieved. The adults at Portobello enable and facilitate accelerated progress, high expectations and standards. We recognise the importance of retrieval and the impact that this has on learning for all our children to be able to remember and do more. Therefore, we ensure that sufficient time for high quality retrieval practice is firmly embedded into the teaching sequence. To strengthen their understanding and consolidate knowledge and skills we ask that retrieval practice takes place not just during the lesson but over time. Children actively participate in high quality rehearsal, summarising, analysing or application activities.

 

We provide a broad and balanced curriculum which is engaging, innovative and inspirational. We feel that in order to learn well, our children need to develop a ‘growth mind-set’, they need positive mental health and well-being, as well as a healthy body in order to achieve successful learning outcomes and maximise potential. Our curriculum is one which focuses on developing confidence and self-esteem of children, ensuring they have a desire to learn and develop positive attitudes towards school. There is also a strong emphasis on healthy living and the mental and physical benefits of exercise. We are proud of our achievements in promoting healthy living at Portobello Primary School. 

 

Our Curriculum has been carefully designed to ensure coverage and progression. It provides children with memorable experiences, in addition to diverse and rich opportunities from which children can learn and develop a range of transferable life skills. A primary focus of our curriculum is to raise aspirations, engender a sense of personal pride in achievement, and provide a purpose and relevance for learning. We recognise that our children need to grow as individuals and as members of our community, to develop their sense of identity, their self-value and aspirations for their own future and for the future of their community and beyond. To further support this development, children are encouraged to take up the additional challenges we offer such as; representing the school, attending the wide and diverse variety of afterschool clubs we offer, helping with lunchtime routines and standing as a member on our School Council and Rights Respecting Club.

 

Curriculum subjects are planned to ensure progression of knowledge and skills across the whole school. We have identified five key areas of knowledge that our children will remember from the teaching and learning and the new rich vocabulary they will be immersed in and will be able to confidently use. Inspirational teaching which ignites curiosity, creates motivation to learn, and generates excitement promotes achievement, confidence and success. High expectations of behaviours for learning are established and relationships developed to promote positive learning environments for all.