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The Downs Primary School & Nursery

The Downs Primary School & Nursery

Curriculum Intent Statement

 

 

Quality of education

We want our children to have the best education so that they have the best life chances. Our motto is Believe, Achieve, Be Proud, so when developing our curriculum our aim was to ensure that our children develop all the skills they need for the next step of their learning journey, to believe in themselves, to achieve their best and to be proud of what they can do. Our curriculum is carefully designed to ensure progression. Children write for a purpose, apply their learning and develop their memory and retention through repetition.

 

Personal development

Children start in Nursery to develop their verbal skills through specialised programmes to support speaking and listening. We continue with this through extended opportunities, such as class assemblies to develop confidence. We have put reading at the heart of what we do and encourage children to read regularly and develop their comprehension skills. To develop the whole child and future citizens we focus on moral, spiritual, social and cultural understanding enabling learners who know that it is okay to sometimes struggle because this develops resilience and thinking skills.

 

Behaviour and attitudes

Healthy lifestyles is key to success and we spend time developing all areas of this. In PSHE we specifically teach our children how to have a healthy mind and a healthy body with lessons taught weekly in class. Children are invited to participate in various sporting opportunities and we involve outside organisations to extend our provision. Children develop their aspirations thorough annual events and they have the chance to apply for roles in school to contribute to the school community. Our relationships policy and participation in house events encourages children to work together. We provide an inclusive environment, promoting and rewarding good behaviour and effort.

 

Leadership and management

We want our children to remember school.  We do this by giving them memorable experiences and opportunities for school trips and having visitors come to the school. We want our school to be involved in and contribute to our local community. We also strive to involve our parents in school life and we value their contribution. Our subject leaders help staff to develop diverse and rich life learning opportunities with clear progression in all subjects. We are part of PCLC and working with other like-minded schools enables us to grow and share good practice.