Curriculum Statement

Statement of Intent

At Bracken Edge Primary School, it is our intention to provide all children with a voyage of learning through our unique curriculum, tailored specifically for our cohort, that allows every child to participate through belonging to the school community, enjoying their learning experience, persevering through the challenges and succeeding to their potential, from Nursery through to Year 6.

At Bracken Edge, we pride ourselves on our inclusivity and celebrate the wide variety of cultures that make up our unique and exciting school community. BEPS2SUCCESS is at the forefront of everything we do and through this the children will grow on their voyage of learning academically, socially, emotionally and physically.

BELONG:  We actively seek to remove the barriers to learning and participation that can hinder children’s progress so that every child feels they are a valued and appreciated part of the school community.

ENJOY: It is our utmost intention to take all BEPS children on a voyage of learning throughout their school life that will excite and engage them into becoming inquisitive, independent learners.

PERSEVERE: Every experience for the children will involve a challenge that will require perseverance and this will allow them to grow after overcoming their difficulties.

SUCCEED: We appreciate that success looks different for each individual child and we will ensure that every child will have the opportunity and encouragement to succeed on their own terms so that they can become the best that they can be.

The curriculum we offer incorporates the statutory requirements of the Early Years Statutory Framework 2017 and National Curriculum 2014 and has been designed by us to meet the needs of all our learners.  If you want to know more about our curriculum, please get in touch with our Curriculum Leader: Mr Mark Crossland.

TOPICS

We have chosen six engaging, whole-school topics that will develop deeper thinking and build upon knowledge, skills and understanding in all subject areas. By having a specific topic each half-term, the children will be able to re-visit and review their learning on a regular basis. In Early Years, staff will also work alongside the children and allow children’s interests to lead the learning.

Our whole school topics are:

Our bespoke curriculum allows teachers to plan carefully for the needs of the children and have a clear vision of the impact upon the child’s learning. Allied to this is top-quality teaching and high professional standards across all staff members, which results in excellent classroom practice that places the needs of our children at the heart of everything we do.

The importance of reading, writing and maths is paramount to everything we do and we make links to develop these through all subjects and experiences and provide real-life opportunities to embed these three skills.  We ensure that children’s vocabularies are increased throughout each topic and as well as having a rigorous and systematic approach to the teaching of reading, it is our intention that each child will develop a love of reading for pleasure.

As well as academic ability, social, emotional and physical health and well-being are key elements of our curriculum, as they support the development of the whole child and promote a positive attitude to learning and life in general. We will endeavour to provide each child with a positive mind-set and instill a sense of self-worth that will allow them to believe that with determination, resilience and effort, they can achieve their full potential.

BRITISH VALUES

The curriculum also aims to promote British Values as well as celebrating the diversity, skills, knowledge and cultural wealth of our community at Bracken Edge, whilst always supporting the children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. The varied demographics, with 35 different languages spoken, that make up the Bracken Edge community is something we are extremely proud of and seek to celebrate at every opportunity. Ensuring that all ethnicities, cultures and religions of our varied community are celebrated is a thread that runs through everything we do at BEPS and is a constant within our curriculum, which reflects the wider community of our school and the personal pride that our children have in their heritage.

We will improve each child’s wider knowledge of the world as well as that of their own community. We aspire to achieve this by providing an eclectic range of experiences throughout their voyage of learning at Bracken Edge Primary School that will serve them well within their education and beyond. Therefore, our curriculum is enhanced through a wide range of after-school clubs, trips, visitors and first-hand experiences. We also actively encourage our children to share their learning with parents, carers and the wider family by inviting them to celebrate the work and achievements of our pupils.

Curriculum Intent

Through an ambitious curriculum that celebrates the diversity of Bracken Edge Primary School along with local links and British values, we aim to enable all children at BEPS to Belong, Enjoy, Persevere and Succeed. Access to high-quality texts is at the heart of our curriculum and is a theme running through all subjects from EYFS to Year 6. We are also very proud of our ground-breaking partnership with Leeds Museums & Galleries, which expands the cultural capital for all our children as well as offering expertise in all areas.

Our carefully crafted curriculum places all BEPS children at the heart of learning and is designed to enable and support every child to become life-long, independent learners through enquiry-based learning. By combining excellent classroom practice through high-quality teaching with exciting wider experiences, the children will develop their confidence and independence along with a strong sense of self-worth and belief.

The curriculum at Bracken Edge Primary School is tailored towards making connections in children’s learning across all subjects, which is designed to ensure pupils have a strong recall of knowledge as well as developing the skills required to be successful learners.

At Bracken Edge, we pride ourselves on our inclusivity and celebrate the wide variety of cultures that make up our unique and exciting school community. The curriculum also aims to promote British Values as well as celebrating the diversity, skills, knowledge and cultural wealth of our community at Bracken Edge, whilst always supporting the children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

The curriculum we offer incorporates the statutory requirements of the current National Curriculum and has been designed by us to meet the needs of all our learners. We aspire to achieve this by providing an eclectic range of experiences that celebrate the diversity of our school as well as the local links we are proud to have, such as the Leeds West Indian Carnival and the blue plaque on our site that celebrates Gertrude Paul, the first black headteacher in Leeds.

 BELONGING + ENJOYMENT + PERSEVERANCE = SUCCESS