Intent

At Steeple Claydon School, everything we do is driven by our vision: Giving every child the chance to shine. We want every child to recognise their own strengths, develop their confidence and believe that they can achieve great things. Our children are Steeple Stars, and we want them to leave us with a genuine love of learning, a thirst for knowledge and the skills, values and experiences they need to flourish in the next stage of their education and beyond.

Our curriculum is designed to be ambitious, inclusive and inspiring. We teach the National Curriculum, but we want to offer our children much more than a set of statutory subjects. We want them to understand the world around them, develop their interests, discover new passions and become well-rounded individuals.

Our three school values of Respect, Resilience and Curiosity underpin our curriculum and the experiences we provide. We encourage our children to be curious about the world, resilient when faced with challenge and respectful of themselves, others and the wider community.

We believe that children learn best when they have a strong foundation of knowledge and vocabulary which they can build upon over time. Our curriculum therefore provides opportunities for progression, repetition and purposeful connections, helping children to know more, remember more and apply what they have learned.

We teach subjects discretely because we believe that children need to understand what it means to be a geographer, historian, scientist, artist, musician, designer, computer scientist and mathematician. By giving subjects their own identity and ensuring that subject-specific knowledge and skills are explicitly taught, children develop a deeper understanding of each discipline.

Our curriculum is a curriculum for all learners. We recognise that every child arrives at Steeple Claydon with different experiences, knowledge, skills and starting points. We therefore adapt and scaffold our teaching so that all children can access ambitious learning and make progress from their individual starting points. We do not believe that inclusion means lowering expectations; instead, we provide the support, challenge and adaptations needed to enable every Steeple Star to succeed.

We also recognise that education extends far beyond the classroom. Personal development is an important part of our curriculum. We want our children to develop confidence, independence, resilience, communication skills and a strong understanding of their place within their community and the wider world.

Our curriculum is enriched through a wide range of experiences. Every year group has a trip each term and we provide opportunities for children to meet authors, experience different cultures and traditions, participate in music and dance, compete and collaborate through sport and develop interests beyond the academic curriculum. From author visits and Diwali dance routines to our developing OPAL approach to play, we aim to provide memorable experiences that children may not otherwise have the opportunity to experience.

Implementation

Our curriculum has been carefully designed to ensure that learning builds progressively from the Early Years through to Year 6. Teachers plan learning around clear knowledge and skills, revisiting important concepts and vocabulary so that children can make connections and build upon what they have previously learned.

Teachers are given the professional freedom to adapt learning to meet the needs of the children in their class. We recognise that a curriculum should not be delivered in exactly the same way regardless of the children in front of us. Assessment, professional knowledge and an understanding of the children's starting points inform how lessons are taught.

English

In English, we use Ready Steady Write as the foundation for our writing curriculum. This provides a clear progression of writing skills and opportunities to develop vocabulary, composition, grammar and punctuation.

However, we recognise that resources should be adapted to our children rather than our children being expected to fit the resource. Teachers select and adapt texts to ensure that children experience a diverse range of authors, characters, cultures and perspectives. Books are carefully chosen to broaden children's experiences and develop their understanding of the world.

Reading is at the heart of our curriculum. Through our phonics programme, whole-class reading and carefully selected texts, we aim to develop confident, fluent readers who read widely and develop a genuine love of books.

Mathematics

We follow the White Rose Maths curriculum, which provides a carefully sequenced approach to developing mathematical knowledge, fluency, reasoning and problem-solving.

As with all aspects of our curriculum, White Rose is a framework rather than a script. The needs of our children determine the pace of learning. Units may be lengthened when children need additional time to secure understanding or shortened when children demonstrate that they are ready to move on. Teachers use formative assessment to identify misconceptions and provide additional support or challenge.

Our aim is to develop mathematicians who understand the mathematics they are using, can explain their thinking and can apply their knowledge to solve problems.

The wider curriculum

We teach the foundation subjects discretely, ensuring that children understand the specific knowledge and skills associated with each subject. We want children to know what it means to be a historian, scientist, geographer, artist or designer and to understand that each subject has its own vocabulary, concepts and ways of thinking.

Our curriculum follows clear progression within each subject, with teachers revisiting and developing knowledge and skills as children move through the school.

We use established programmes and resources to support high-quality teaching, including Kapow for Religious Education and PSHE and Charanga for Music. These are used alongside teacher expertise and adapted where necessary to reflect the needs and experiences of our children.

Our curriculum provides opportunities for children to make meaningful connections between subjects.

We know that our children have different starting points and different needs. Our teachers therefore continually assess understanding and adapt lessons through scaffolding, modelling, questioning, additional practice, targeted support and appropriate challenge. This means that all children can access the same ambitious curriculum, whilst receiving the support they need to make progress.

Our curriculum is particularly mindful of developing vocabulary, oracy and background knowledge. We recognise that children cannot be expected to understand new concepts if they do not have the language or prior knowledge to access them. We therefore deliberately build opportunities for discussion, explanation, questioning and vocabulary development into our teaching.

Impact

To truly understand the impact of our curriculum, come and see us!

Our biggest measure of impact is the children themselves. We want our Steeple Stars to be engaged, curious and proud of their learning. We want them to be able to talk confidently about what they know, explain how they have developed their skills and make connections between their learning.

We assess the impact of our curriculum through a combination of formative and summative assessments.

From Years 1–6, children's attainment and progress are assessed termly. Teachers use formative assessment throughout lessons to identify what children understand, where misconceptions exist and where further teaching is required. Summative assessments provide a broader picture of attainment and progress and help teachers and leaders identify trends and areas for development.

Assessment information is used to inform future teaching rather than simply record what children have achieved. Teachers adapt their planning, revisit learning and provide additional support or challenge where necessary.

In the foundation subjects, teachers use the identified knowledge and skills within each unit to assess children's understanding and development. We look for evidence that children can remember knowledge, use subject-specific vocabulary and apply the skills associated with each subject.

Since the introduction of our revised curriculum in 2023–2024,  we have seen continued improvements in pupil achievement. Outcomes in Reading, Writing, Mathematics and Science are now in line with, and in some areas above, both local and national averages, demonstrating the positive impact of our ambitious, carefully sequenced and inclusive curriculum.

The impact of our curriculum is also seen in the wider development of our children. We want our pupils to become increasingly independent, resilient and curious. We want them to demonstrate respect for others, communicate confidently and take pride in their achievements.

Ultimately, we want our children to leave Steeple Claydon as well-rounded Steeple Stars, equipped with the knowledge, skills, experiences and attitudes they need for their next steps.