Curriculum overview

The Ark White City curriculum is the planned experiences and interactions our children encounter every day. It aims to develop curious and confident learners and provide all pupils with opportunities to achieve high standards. It is designed to develop a capacity to accommodate new knowledge, always building on prior knowledge and experiences.

The teaching of our curriculum is complemented by a wide selection of resources such as Chromebooks, mathematical equipment and a wide range of texts in English. We utilise the skills of our teachers to inspire all of our pupils to achieve their full potential. We value cross curricular learning, and we create strong links between core and non-core subjects by closely assessing which skills each academic discipline requires and finding the points of crossover.

In designing our curriculum, we have a dual focus on what children should be learning and how best to teach it. In making decisions about what to teach, we first ensure that all National Curriculum requirements are covered, and then draw on elements of exceptional practice from UK and beyond. As a team we have conducted extensive research into how children learn best, and actively apply these principles to our curriculum delivery. 

Children arrive at primary school with a real curiosity and zest for learning. They bounce through the doors of nursery or reception with a world of opportunity before them. Our curriculum inspires those young minds to stay curious and keep learning; it shares with them deep and meaningful knowledge, and gives them the courage, confidence and ability to communicate their thoughts, ideas and new learning effectively.

We pride ourselves on:

• Quality teaching every day: Learning and equality of opportunity for all is fundamental at Ark White City. We promote a collaborative learning model, where children teach and learn from each other, leading to a deeper understanding of content. We prioritise the development of teachers’ expertise, so they can support all our pupils to make significant progress. Teachers know their children extremely well and when any pupil falls behind, they go the extra mile to provide the support needed.
• Reading at the heart of the curriculum: Reading is at the heart of our curriculum because we know that the child who excels in reading will excel across the whole curriculum. We strive to nurture lifelong readers who take pleasure in reading everything from literary classics to exciting new fiction and non-fiction works which inspire curiosity in the world.
• Strong curriculum design: We provide a culturally rich and vibrant programme of learning. We continually establish cross-curricular links to give cohesion across units of work, and each subject contains carefully chosen skills, knowledge and vocabulary to expand children’s experience and thinking potential - as outlined in our curriculum overviews and progression maps. Our lessons are well taught and appropriately sequenced, and we provide both scaffolding and deepening opportunities to ensure the success of learners of all abilities.
• Enrichment and outdoor learning: We supplement our core curriculum with frequent local trips, workshops and visits. These culturally rich experiences enhance our children’s learning and make a marked difference to all areas of the curriculum once back in the classroom. We also endeavour to take learning outside into our extensive grounds as often as we can.
• Our cultural values: Threaded throughout our school and revisited continuously are our cultural values: Aim High, Be Brave and Keep Learning. Through their promotion, teachers develop pupils’ self-esteem and resilience as they progress through school, ensuring our children delight in challenge, strengthen their imagination and become risk takers who do not fear failure.

Effective assessment provides key information to improve teaching and learning. We have a rigorous progress and target setting model, and base our lesson plans on a detailed knowledge of each pupil's progress and attainment.

We provide children with regular feedback on their learning so that they understand what they need to do to improve. We also give parents/carers regular reports on their child’s progress so that teachers, children and parents/carers can all work together to raise standards for all our children.  

Aims and objectives

• The aims and objectives of assessment in our academy are:
• To enable our children to demonstrate what they know, understand and can do in their learning
• To help our children understand what they need to do next to improve their learning
• To allow teachers to plan learning that accurately reflects the needs of each child
• To provide regular information for parents/carers that enables them to support their child’s learning
• To provide the Headteacher and governors with information that allows them to make judgements about the effectiveness of the academy
• To help us to plan highly effective learning opportunities

Targets
To achieve the best for every child, we have set very challenging targets at Ark White City Primary Academy. Our current academic targets are as follows:

Foundation Stage

• At least 90% of our pupils achieving expected progress (Development Matters)
• At least 30% of our pupils exceeding expected progress (Development Matters)  

 
Key Stage 1

• At least 90% of our pupils will reach NC 2a in English and Mathematics
• At least 30% of our pupils will reach NC 3c in English and Mathematics  

Key Stage 2

• At least 90% of our pupils will reach NC 4a in English and Mathematics
• At least 30% of our pupils will reach NC 5c in English and Mathematics
• At least 5-10% of our pupils to achieve level 6 in English and Mathematics