Curriculum Introduction
The curriculum at Clifton Primary School is designed to meet the needs of our children and families alongside the requirements of the National Curriculum. We want our children to be equipped with the skills and ambition in order to enjoy and be successful in their opportunities, responsibilities and experiences in later life.
We are situated in an area of high socio-economic deprivation close to Birmingham City Centre and a vast majority of our children and parents have English as an additional language. They also have very limited experiences in the wider environment and as a result, the majority of our children enter school at a very low baseline; working well below the expectation for their age.
We are, therefore, proud to offer a curriculum that is underpinned with developing children’s fluency in speaking and enriching them with a wide range of vocabulary; a curriculum that is focused on embedding those vital early reading skills and creating critical speakers and listeners.
This is to empower them to become independent, inquisitive, collaborative and resilient learners, having a passion to achieve right across the curriculum.
Read more about the curriculum in each different subject on our Subject Overviews page.
Whole School Impact
We want our children to leave Clifton with a secure understanding of the curriculum content; with an awareness of and respect for diversity and other cultures; knowing how to make positive contributions in different situations and to endeavour to be the best that they can be.
To be able to achieve this, we carefully monitor the learning experiences of our children. Teachers use a variety of strategies to check children’s understanding during lessons and take action as and when necessary.
A well planned out, interconnected programme of pupil and teacher interviews; scrutinies of teachers’ marking diaries and children’s work; regular question level analysis of tests; pupil progress and attainment meetings and teaching and learning observations enables the school to constantly evaluate and make improvements to enable children to develop essential learning behaviours in order for them to:
- Embed their learning and recall knowledge;
- Make connections across their learning;
- Think for themselves;
- Have ownership of their learning;
- Draw upon and apply various strategies;
- Apply, justify and communicate their knowledge and learning effectively using relevant and appropriate vocabulary;
- Solve problems and take on challenges with confidence, learning from mistakes;
- Have a thirst for learning.
National Curriculum Guides for Parents
The following documents, from Rising Stars, give a guide to the new national curriculum at each year of primary school: