Intent 

At Peninsula East Primary Academy, we are passionate about putting our pupils at the heart of our curriculum and our learning opportunities are both innovative and inclusive. Our curriculum has been carefully designed to enable the depth and breadth of the National Curriculum to be explored through the transdisciplinary themes of the IB PYP framework. Our Programme of Inquiry carefully interleaves the wider range of subjects, ensuring not only a clear sequence of learning, but that the children are able to retain key facts and knowledge into their long term memory. A key aspect is to help children develop their understanding of being a global learner as their international mindedness is developed, and how they can make a positive contribution to their community and the wider society through engagement with the Sustainable Development Goals. The curriculum celebrates the diversity and utilises the skills, knowledge and cultural wealth of the community while supporting the children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, ensuring that children are well prepared for life in modern Britain and as global citizens. The IB Learner Profiles are an integral part in developing the whole child and are embedded within the ethos and values of our schools. Our children learn through relevant and purposeful contexts, building upon prior learning and our curriculum promotes this by being challenging, engaging and motivating to all pupils, fostering a real thirst for knowledge that we want them to take with them as they move  into their secondary schools and beyond.

Implementation 

Our EYFS, Key Stage 1 and 2 bespoke curriculum is planned collaboratively across school with each member of staff mapping out their appropriate curriculum frameworks (the Primary National Curriculum) through the transdisciplinary themes of the IB. 

These are:

• Who we are

• Where we are in place and time

• How we express ourselves

• How the world works

• How we organise ourselves

• Sharing the planet

We initially map out the National Curriculum skills under the transdisciplinary themes to ensure complete coverage for the children by the time they leave us in Year 6. This also allows us to guarantee that no skills outside of each year group are repeated at any one time; if there are similarities between the teachings of inquiries, we collaboratively plan to make sure that there is always progression between what has been taught previously. Furthermore, the nature of collaborative planning supports teachers to create opportunities for inquiries to explore the national curriculum and because teachers plan collectively they can utilise teachers’ subject strengths. We then focus on the key and related concepts, presenting these to our children so that they can lead the learning through their interests and questions. Teachers can then plan engaging learning opportunities which allow for the coverage of the skills within the National Curriculum. The teachers are skilled in ensuring that prior knowledge is built upon and referred back to where appropriate so that the children can make the links between what they have learnt and develop their long term memories. 

In order to ensure pupils are globally aware and internationally minded,  children are aware of the sustainable development goals. This teaches them about the wider world and the impact that each person can have, giving them an opportunity to make a difference to the lives of others. Across the school, our children are part of local projects, such as working with a local care home, our local church and AGE UK and the Haven park. We draw upon our links to the local community and so that the children learn about their local area and the impact it has on their lives.

The curriculum will be delivered by: 

• Teachers who have good knowledge of all subjects

• Teachers present subject matter clearly and they check learners’ understanding systematically, identify misconceptions accurately and provide clear, direct feedback.

• Teachers respond and adapt their teaching as necessary.

At consistent points throughout the year, all staff will be given opportunities to reflect on the last unit of inquiry and feedback on what went well, what did not go well and how this will impact on future learning throughout the rest of the academic year. Additionally, this is blended with the use of the SOLO taxonomy which teachers use this to assess the learning. We believe that children should be given continuous feedback throughout the school day in order to move their learning on and so they know the next steps for improvement and this should mainly be through verbal interactions built into the school day – this also ensures that they can make links between their learning. As part of this feedback, the children will be able to reflect on the IB Learner Profile attributes against the work they have completed. 

Impact 

Through our curriculum implementation as stated above our children will become:

• Learners who develop detailed knowledge and skills across the curriculum and, as a result, achieve well and which is reflected in results from national tests.

• Learners who are ready for the next stage of education.

• Learners who will have fully rounded characters with a clear understanding of complex values linked to PYP Learner Attributes.

• Learners who have an enjoyment of the curriculum promoting achievement, confidence and independence. 

• Pupils who regularly have the opportunity to showcase learning through school based and external events, performances and competitions.  

• Learners who become global citizens and who are inquisitive and develop life skills for the future.