Our Curriculum of Possibilities at Stoke Bishop Church of England Primary School flows from our vision:

‘Believing it’s Possible’

Our goal for each one of our pupils is for them to be curious and knowledgeable learners, analytical thinkers, problem-solvers, who are creative and independent. We aim to achieve this through carefully chosen themes, texts and authentic enrichment experiences, which engage the children and provide plenty of opportunities for them to revisit and build on their prior learning.

Put simply, our ‘Curriculum of Possibility’ takes our pupils on a true learning journey, from the time they begin in Reception to the day they depart for secondary education (In Reception, the children continue to follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS curriculum 2021.)

By regularly reflecting on their knowledge, the children become more aware of where they are in their learning and of what they need to do to improve. We challenge them and help them to progress across the curriculum through creating a climate where they are as prepared to fail as to succeed and be proud of their and others successes.

Our ‘Curriculum of Possibility’ mainly focuses on the humanities (History & Geography) and Science; children of all ages also have the opportunity to create ‘quality work for a real audience’ through a range of exciting and practical Art & DT projects.

English skills are taught separately through core reading and writing units of work, but these are still linked to the wider curriculum through the texts chosen; opportunities to read and write are also planned for within other subject areas.

Maths skills are also taught separately but opportunities to re-visit and practice key skills are built into the long-term planning of the wider curriculum.    

RE, PE, PSHE, ICT are also timetabled individually, but some aspects of these subjects may be covered through another curriculum area being studied.

Developing Our Curriculum

Intent: At the centre of our wider curriculum subjects is the ambition to encourage pupils to be aspirational thinkers, to be the best they can be, Believing we are all unique and deserve to be valued and that it’s Possible to do or be anything we set our minds to if we try our best. Underpinning our vision, we celebrate our four Christian values: Grace, Integrity, Courage and Passion.

Working alongside parents, governors, staff and pupils, we have worked to develop a curriculum that is broad, balanced and offers experiences that inspire our learners to be ambitious, have self-belief and ultimately achieve their goals and dreams. Our Curriculum of Possibility is well balanced, innovative and creative, with knowledge and skills embedded throughout.

Implement: What we are doing to deliver our intent. The strategies we have been putting in place in the way we work (Hubs) and our focus on particular areas of the curriculum, are aimed at developing strong core skills that are thoroughly woven into the wider curriculum through interesting, varied and challenging enquiry themes. We are also developing key principles that support the children’s development such as independence, active Learning, advocacy and parental participation.

Impact: What success will look like. We should see children who are confident about themselves, the skills they have and the skills they are developing. Who are aware of the world around them personally, locally, nationally and globally. Who want to interact with it and have a voice in making it a better place for everyone. They will have made good progress academically, socially and emotionally.

We have key Teaching & Learning principles underpinning the content of this curriculum that impact on how the content is approached and, together with our School Values of Passion, Integrity, Grace and Courage, provide children with a successful platform for their ongoing development as successful learners throughout their lives.

Our Curriculum Drivers

In order to deliver the most appropriate curriculum to our pupils at Stoke Bishop Church of England Primary School, we identified three curriculum drivers.  We worked with all stakeholders in school to evaluate exactly what our curriculum needed to offer the children in our local community. We assessed our children’s starting points and backgrounds, and explored in great detail the knowledge and experiences that we believe our children need in order to be successful in the future. These drivers underpin the curriculum we provide for our children and weave through every subject we teach.

Possibilities

We want our children at Stoke Bishop to have the opportunity to learn about their local community and develop their understanding of the wider world and different cultures. We will encourage children to develop a strong sense of ambition and always strive to be the best they can be. Our children will understand there are a wide range of career prospects and possibilities for them to Achieve: locally, nationally and internationally; and that we want them to recognise modern job roles as valid careers and develop the skills and knowledge needed to achieve their goals.  Our children will understand the importance in the accumulation of knowledge, behaviours and skills that a person can acquire over time and that this will develop their own specific cultural competence and social status in society.  We want our children to experience different forms (socially and educationally) of embodied cultural capital and we believe our ‘Curriculum of Possibility’ will provide this balance.  

Community

Our curriculum has also been shaped by our Community driver. When designing our curriculum, we believed it was vital that our children develop a secure understanding of their local and wider community, and how they fit into these as individuals.

The majority of our children live in the local area, a medium-sized outer city suburb in the north-west of Bristol. At the same time, our children are part of the wider Bristol community. Our curriculum has evolved to embrace this exciting and ever-changing community. The world around our children is becoming increasingly diverse and includes many people of different religions, languages, economic groups and cultures, and our curriculum explicitly teaches this to our children and seeks out the opportunities to explore and celebrate it further. We want our children to know about their local history and town, in order to be successful members of the community as they grow older.

Alongside our children’s understanding of their local and wider community, we aspire to educate our children about the wider global issues we currently face. Our curriculum ensures our children are successful members in their local community, but we also believe that they should develop as global citizens, individuals, who one day will become confident, agents of change. We aspire to foster in our children a sense of belonging in the global community, who can effectively debate and problem solve the problems of tomorrow.

Spirituality

Our focus on spirituality is built on our Christian values, which runs as a continuous thread, ensuring that we give our children the opportunities to become aware of the world in new ways: we wonder about things in life that are amazing and things that make us question what is happening – children are learning about life in all its fullness. Children are given opportunities to reflect on their experiences, to think about life’s big questions and consider some possible answers. We develop in our children a sense of belonging and understanding of their place in the world.

Our Curriculum of Possibility

At Stoke Bishop, we follow the National Curriculum. The concepts, themes and subject areas are mapped out in our whole school ‘Curriculum of Possibility’ two year overview. This document outlines the Cycle A and B Enquires that are taught in each specific Hub and also ensures coverage so that our children receive a well-balanced and cohesive curriculum.

Each year group has a long term plan that is reviewed each year. This sets out what is being studied from a subject perspective:

Curriculum Presentation Evening 12/10/22

Please see the relevant documents below: