At Dean Field our ultimate aim is to provide opportunities for children to develop as independent, confident and successful lifelong learners with high aspirations who know how to make a positive contribution to their community and wider society. We ensure all children are challenged and encouraged to perform to their full potential.
We take a thematic and creative approach to the curriculum encompassing skills and knowledge through scientific investigations, creative arts, historical and geographical enquiry as well as having a relentless focus upon Reading, Writing and Mathematics. The school’s focus on curriculum development provides pupils with memorable experiences, in addition to diverse and rich opportunities from which children can learn and develop a range of transferable skills.
Our curriculum is divided into half-termly topics within each year group which alternates between Geography and History. Their topic ensures progression in those subjects throughout the school. Underpinning the entire curriculum are the basic skills of Writing, Reading, Mathematics and Computing. The children at our school are given every opportunity to use and apply their skills in these areas when studying a topic.
Planned into each of the six topics covered by our children throughout the year, are Excellence and Enjoyment Days – either a trip or in school workshop devised to extend and inspire the children’s learning, engage them into the topic and widen their experiences. This in turn impacts on their ability to write.
We have a whole-school writing overview to ensure coverage and progression is planned out well in Years 1-6. We also use a scheme for ICT (PurpleMash), PSHE (Jigsaw), PE (Real PE), French (Rising Stars) and Phonics (Read, Write, Inc.). Other subjects including Science, Art and Design, Music, D&T, RE and Maths are mapped out in long-term plans to accommodate progression across the school (from Nursery – Y6). More information on these subjects and the way they are taught can be found on our website in the subject policy, action plan and long-term plan.
We firmly believe that our curriculum should provide our children with opportunities to learn about their own heritage alongside developing their understanding of other cultures and religions. The curriculum is designed to ensure coverage and progression with selected ‘Must Knows’ for each year group to ensure children retain key knowledge. Our role at Dean Field is to spark curiosity, creating a world of opportunity, awe and wonder. We aim to equip our children with the knowledge, skills and values to lead productive, healthy and inspired lives in modern day Britain.
Our curriculum design ensures that the needs of individuals and small groups of children can be met within the environment of high quality first wave teaching and ‘Teaching to the Top’. Teaching to the top ensures we never put a ceiling on a child’s learning so that they are able to maximise the opportunity to achieve their full potential and to impact in a positive way on pupil outcomes.
Enjoyment of the curriculum promotes achievement, collaboration, confidence and excellent behaviour. As a result, children excel in their learning and feel safe to try new things. Our immersive curriculum is designed to: recognise children’s prior learning, provide first hand learning experiences, allow the children to develop interpersonal skills, build resilience and become creative, critical thinkers.
Establishing close links between home and school is vital to enable pupils to achieve their full potential, therefore the half termly curriculum overview is sent out via our Seesaw App and is available on the school’s website for parents to access. Children are also offered a wide range of extra-curricular activities with a full range of after school clubs. We believe that childhood should be a happy, investigative and enquiring time in our lives where there are no limits to curiosity and there is a thirst for new experiences and knowledge. Alongside this, each subject within our curriculum ensures they are providing opportunities to support cultural capital to ensure all children have the same opportunities and exposure to children around the country.
When children leave our school at the end of Year 6, we strive for them to be well rounded individuals who have the necessary literacy and numeracy skills to succeed in life whilst having experienced an inspiring curriculum which gives them every chance to succeed.