Manorside Academy's Ambitious Curriculum
At Manorside Academy we are resolute on three things:
- Every child deserves a curriculum that will inspire, motivate and enable them to achieve their full potential;
- All learning is underpinned by experiential learning opportunities that should bring alive the curriculum;
- Every lesson we teach or concept we deliver must be founded in skill or knowledge acquisition, delivered sequentially and connected to prior knowledge to help build pupils’ understanding.
Our curriculum does not:
- Teach random or disconnected facts that lead to cumulative dysfluency.
- Favour or focus teaching on skill development over knowledge acquisition.
- Attempt to compartmentalise concepts into standalone components of learning – we connect the curriculum through subjects.
We ensure that:
- Through using the curriculum as a driver – we are able to connect pupils’ learning to local area and their immediate surroundings.
- Our curriculum is benchmarked against the National Curriculum but we go above and beyond to exceed that wherever possible to give our pupils the best possible opportunities and basis for learning before the progress onto Key Stage 3.
- The curriculum builds schema over time and through different subject areas to help pupils commit knowledge to long-term memory. For example: Y2 learning about the WW2 in History, also read Goodnight Mr Tom in Whole Class Reading and learn about how art can represent the emotions felt in WW2.
The curriculum begins in EYFS – not Year 1!
You’ll notice, as you navigate the curriculum sub-pages, that each of our curriculum subjects have an established EYFS curriculum. This is because our children’s experiences in those EYFS years are crucial to building the foundation blocks to future key stage study.
For example in History – before entering Key Stage 1 (Year 1 and Year 2) – pupils in EYFS learn about different cultures and religions, must know that some things were the same and some different in the past and be able to understand the past through storytelling and books they have read. The knowledge and skill choices we have decided must be learned to ensure that children build on their understanding sequentially and over a period of time.
Curriculum Leadership
Our curriculum was researched, curated and developed by our Principal, ensuring that it is relevant and engaging for our cohort, building links with the local area and challenging our pupils across all subjects. Because of this, curriculum leadership is strong – with a focus on developing the subject knowledge of staff to help them impart the exciting knowledge and skills we have chosen for our children to learn.
Our PE and Music curriculum are led by subject specialists who deepen our pupils’ knowledge and skills through practical application within these subjects. Specialists work alongside the Senior Team to ensure that the same curriculum journey is carved from EYFS through to Year 6.
Experiential Learning – Trips and Visits & Cultural Capital
Every pupil at Manorside will experience trips and visits that will bring alive the curriculum being studied. It is only through this experiential learning that pupils will embed their understanding of concepts, ideas and events.
We have an ambitious trips and visits schedule, but one we know will support our children on their journey to know more, remember more and achieve more!
A curriculum for EVERY child – Supporting SEND & EAL
At Manorside Academy we work hard to ensure that what we deliver is accessible to all learners, irrespective of their needs. Many of our pupils arrive at our school at different stages with multiple barriers to learning. These could include:
- Pupils who do not speak English as a first language;
- Undiagnosed learning needs from previous schools, or previous countries;
- Knowledge and skill gaps;
- SEND needs that prevent retention of new knowledge and understanding;
- Emotional needs that need to be met to enable learning;
- Mental health issues where pupils require a feeling of safety to learn;
- A lack of value in education and learning.
We are committed to providing appropriate, targeted support to every child. Inclusion is everybody’s responsibility. Therefore it is an integral part of our teaching practice at Manorside Academy. Through our Inclusion Lead and their direct support of teachers and pupils to our Continuous Professional Development (CPD) programme and a rolling agenda of SEND and EAL input.
Our Inclusion Team work closely with all teachers to identify needs early and assess what type of provision and support is necessary. We monitor the progress of our pupils using the ‘Assess > Plan > Do > Review’ model to ensure that support is appropriate and undertaken effectively. We know that often the progress of children with SEND needs can be invisible to those who do not know the child holistically. Their developmental milestones and goals may not always be academically focused – but we ensure that they are measurable and progressing nonetheless. Where possible, we integrate these wider skills into classroom practice to enable teachers to co-deliver learning experiences that push the academic as well as the life-skills or SEMH.
How is the curriculum adapted?
Our curriculum has been purposely built to challenge and engage our pupils. It is pitched as such that it sets high aspirations for pupils and their learning. Teachers differentiate and scaffold by adapting resources and outcomes to suit the learning level of individual pupils. It is expected that teachers consider the wide spectrum of needs – whilst ensuring that all pupils have the opportunity to engage in the key knowledge and skills that the curriculum offers. Some of our SEND pupils may be working on pre-key stage targets. These will still be linked to the relevant year group’s context but broken down into accessible targets to support these learners.
As suggested in the Code of Practice 2015, we advocate a ‘graduated response’ to learners and their needs. Please see our Whole School Provision Map which shows the adaptations that may be made to support pupils to access the curriculum.
Curriculum Maps
Please have a look at our Curriculum Maps for each year group so you can see what is being taught when across the school.
Curriculum Project Map – Nursery