At Stratford Upon Avon Primary we follow a theme based, localised curriculum which is designed to inspire our pupils. Each theme has either a history or a geography focus, inspired by Curriculum Maestro.
When we design each of the curriculum themes for each half term, we develop a hook through Super Starters; we keep the children engaged with Marvellous Middles and inspire them to want to learn more with their parents through Fabulous Finishes. Each class hosts Topic Sharing events throughout the year, where parents and families can work with their child(ren) in school and experience a hands-on learning experience.
Our curriculum policy can be found at the bottom of this page.
You can access Long term plans for each year group under their class pages. These will give you more information about each area of the curriculum.
Our photo gallery demonstrates the experiences the pupils have to extend their skills, knowledge and depth of understanding.
Central to our whole curriculum are the core subjects - English, Maths and Science - you can link to The National Curriculum at the bottom of this page.
We aim to give our pupils a breadth of experiences through:
- Outdoor learning - we have access to a green area known as The Paddock; the Heart of England Forest (a short drive away); a butterfly garden, The River Avon and look for lots of opportunities through visits and visitors to widen children's understanding and skills.
- Communities (local, global and cultural perspective) - through our connections with The Royal Shakespeare Company, links to businesses, other schools, local and through our trust, parents and more we develop the pupils as global citizens.
- Healthy living and sport - we love sport at Stratford and are in the process of developing the pupils as sports leaders so they can learn to develop our curriculum. Again we link with local schools, invite visitors in and look for opportunities to promote healthy living.
- Use of technologies - the pupils have access to laptops and IPad's. A new apple server ensures that the children can access a range of apps to increase their knowledge.
- Creative arts - we participate in Stratford Literary Festival; Shakespeare Week; Shakespeare's Birthday celebrations; Escape Arts; we invite visitors such as artists to share skills, look for opportunities to extend the children's musical ability e.g. Rock Music Academy, Galliano Orchestra, Music workshops.
- High expectations & academic standards are key to our curriculum development. We teach the children that they can achieve whatever they want to achieve. We help them to develop their skills and knowledge in all areas.
- Real life situations - children may at some point work with a professional chef to learn nutrition and knife skills and recipes for life. We look for opportunities for them to develop themselves in the business world and run mini enterprises. Enterprise Term enables the children to plan for, set up and deliver their own Enterprise Project every summer term.
- Pathways of Experiences - all children are able to access different curriculum learning experiences through our Pathway of Experiences, which runs from Reception to Year 6. These experiences include opportunities that we believe they should encounter throughout their learning journey with us; We also have work experience learning opportunities and multi-cultural learning experiences.
- Balance of independence and teamwork is key to their learning.
- Spirituality & reflection - mindfulness sessions; opportunities for debate, including taking part in Parliament Week; Picture News and debating big questions.
- Cultural - we hold an annual multi-cultural week, visit different places of worship or invite visitors in, explore different cultures, follow Warwickshire RE syllabus to ensure all children have opportunities to ask questions and understand.
Assessment and Monitoring
- Clear Learning Objectives
- Success Criteria - developed with pupils (REMEMBER TO...)
- Work evaluated by own child/peers/ teacher
- Share Successes & Next Steps through half termly topic sharing events
- Whole school tracking and data analysis
- Learning Walks
- Governor visits
- Children’s books and discussions
- Views of parents
- Planning
- Pupil progress meetings, assessment, feedback marking and moderation
- Staff curriculum evaluation and regular planning meetings •
- Strong liaison with our Hub schools in The Multi Academy Trust
