Curriculum

Curriculum Statement

Our curriculum at Highfields Spencer Academy is based on building knowledge and developing growth mindsets, so is named the RAINBOW curriculum. It will challenge and stimulate our children into asking searching questions, shape their learning and enable them to develop into independent critical thinkers and learners. The curriculum is based around a new text every half term which the children will receive. This allows for vocabulary to be developed and a love of books and literature to be developed at an early age. The delivery of the curriculum will have a strong emphasis on talk, active learning and be project based.

Building resilience is crucial in ensuring that our children are lifelong learners and have a positive mental health and well-being. Children be given opportunities to develop their growth-mindset through reflection time, believing that with hard work and determination, anything can be achieved.

Varied enrichment opportunities will be provided to all children to consistently enhance their learning experiences and at least one visit or visitor will be used to bring learning to life each half term. Our curriculum offers opportunities to inspire creativity, curiosity and build aspirations. It is extremely important to us that the curriculum unlocks potential in all of children and allows them to flourish. Our curriculum is based upon providing children with the knowledge and skills they need to enable to unlock their potential in all stages of life.

Developing the holistic child is of upmost importance and, with this in mind, we offer a broad and balanced curriculum which encompasses the whole national curriculum. Children will explore and learn about a theme each half term which will enable them to take a step back in time through their History topics and travel around the world with their Geography topics. The other foundation subjects will be linked into our half termly theme ensuring that children learn about their topic through a range of mediums e.g Art, Music, PE.

Children will learn a modern foreign language and this will be enhanced through the study of at least one book per year written in a different country.  This may be an African folktale, a Japanese picture book or a Chinese traditional story.

Through our links with Universities we will look at opportunities to invite students from different cultures to spend a week in a classroom so that children can learn first-hand about different places and ways of living. Our links with our local Trust secondary schools will give us the opportunity to use secondary specialist equipment and facilities, as well as provide our children with positive role models.

In Reception, children will follow the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum with a focus on learning through purposeful play, phonics, books and literacy. Extensive use will be made of outdoor learning with opportunities to develop reading, writing and numeracy skills woven through all activities.

The curriculum will be full of ‘WOW’ moments so that learning is real, exciting, fun and challenging. We will use Class Dojo to make meaningful communications home and to share personal achievements.

We aim to put community at the heart of our school and of our teaching and learning by encouraging involvement with the locality to add an extra dimension to our children’s learning.