A solid foundation for your child's future...

Curriculum Intent

At Twickenham Primary Academy we recognise the importance of securing knowledge, rehearsing that knowledge and working hard to become confident and resilient thinkers and learners.

At Twickenham Primary Academy, children will experience a learning environment that will equip them to be successful in a rapidly changing world.  They will learn to be resilient, creative and have a growth mindset. They will learn that struggle and challenge are vital parts of the learning process and will be able to cope with, and adapt to, change.  They will have sequential learning and hands-on experiences and we will continue to foster the natural insatiable curiosity that they are born with into sustaining a lifelong love of learning.  This will start right from our reception classes and continue into Year 6. 

Our curriculum is broad and our commitment to building firm foundations and encouraging academic mastery is unswerving. We work on the premise that great teaching; based on formative assessment; great questioning; AfL and retrieval practice, is key. Precise assessment, teaching that closes any gaps and thinking about ability differently are all part of our approach. Our curriculum is well-planned, progressive and sequenced effectively to ensure pupils know more - do more – remember more.

We intend that each child challenges themselves every day, taking risks, learning from mistakes and persevering towards their most ambitious goals. Our children will be encouraged to aim as high as they can whilst also enjoying their childhood and benefiting from a variety of broad opportunities and experiences.

Our curriculum and approach to learning and teaching has been designed to meet the needs of our pupils. Our intention is that children are taught to read, write and use mathematical skills from their individual starting point as rapidly as possible.  We have high expectations for all our children.

We engage interest and provide vocabulary in context to support all learners (especially SEND and EAL). We provide clear retrieval and instructional practice to ensure learning ‘sticks’ by building neural pathways and schema in the long-term memory.     

We intend that our curriculum is ...

·        a curriculum where all children are able to learn and are successful and make as much progress as possible

·        a curriculum that provides the children with the knowledge and skills to know more, remember more and do more

·        a curriculum that prepares children for the next stages of education and life in society

·        a flexible curriculum that assesses progress and provides intervention for both academic and emotional needs

Implementation

Our Curriculum delivers the National Curriculum 2014 and beyond. It is designed to be exciting for children and staff with stimulating topics which the children become fully absorbed. It enriches our children as learners and leaders for the future, offering them unique, bespoke opportunities over their seven-year primary journey and preparing them for the future.

High-quality texts lie at the heart of the school’s curriculum and these are used to engage children in the topic at hand.

We model and scaffold the children as learners so that they are able to know how to make the right choices for them to ensure they have the chance to excel. We do not have fixed ability groups, instead all learners are able to access more support or more challenges depending on the topic or subject being studied.

Interwoven throughout our Curriculum are the British Values and SMSC (Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural) development of our children. Our weekly celebration assembly ensures we celebrate all of our children’s effort achievement both inside and outside school. We hold House Days where different year groups learn together in their House groups and work collaboratively on project-based learning. External workshops are held and children have access to experts who enrich their experience. Our year 6 House Captains are instrumental in helping to organise our House events before and during the day. 

Once a term each class is taken out of the school on a visit directly linked to what they have been learning about in the classroom.       

Impact

We believe in ‘learning for life’ and this can be seen throughout our curriculum and in books and through discussions with pupils.

Through our approach, children at Twickenham Academy achieve highly. Our curriculum and environment fosters pupils who are respectful, polite, and honest and contribute to the community in a positive manner. As a school, we are determined that our children will leave us as confident, ambitious and independent young people, ready for the next stage in their education and we work closely with secondary schools to ensure a smooth transition.

Our teachers continually use assessment of the children’s responses and the work they produce to measure impact. A regular programme of monitoring, evaluation and review is in place. This includes book scrutinies, learning walks and lesson observations to measure the impact of teaching and learning, as well as pupil voice to gauge children’s engagement and enjoyment of the curriculum.  Teachers and leaders also have the school’s curriculum assessment data to support judgements on the impact our curriculum is having.

Curriculum enrichment

At TPA we believe that the academic life of our pupils and staff should include much more than what happens in the mainstream curriculum. As our school day runs longer than most, we are able to offer a wide range of experiences and challenges that enrich our curriculum. This is to ensure that our pupils are inspired to learn outside of the classroom and develop the skills required for the world beyond their primary education. All children at TPA have access to a wide range of after school and in school clubs that enrich and enhance their learning across the curriculum.

Furthermore, each year group organises a variety of enrichment activities and experiences over the course of the academic year to extend pupils learning and experiences of a modern British society. Subject leaders develop activities that provide whole school enrichment and collaborative working across year groups. Enrichment events and events to promote cultural capital are shared with parents through our website and newsletters.

Our learning environment

Our classroom environments both support and enrich the learning of all children.  As well as being vibrant and welcoming, the classroom environment is a learning resource, the second teacher, a way of engaging children and building the class community.  Our classrooms create a sense of ownership and are used to support and promote learning, as well as celebrating children’s work.

We use the classroom environment as an interactive resource which supports teaching, learning and assessment. Our working walls show clear progression and are reference points for our pupils.

At Twickenham Primary Academy, we believe that a well organised and stimulating environment has a direct impact on the quality of teaching and learning, and therefore supports raising standards.  It enables pupils to develop independence as learners, building on good Foundation Stage practice and moving beyond. We provide consistent expectations for all pupils in order to support them, whilst challenging them to give their very best. We develop a shared sense of what high standards look like