Curriculum Explained
At Portfield, our curriculum ambition is that all children 'AIM High' in all areas of their lives. We believe that children will reach their potential if they are fully engaged in their learning and working hard. To ensure our pupils have the best possible chance of achieving success in the future, we have developed a broad, moral-focused and knowledge-rich curriculum.
AIM High - Our curriculum develops:
A moral compass
Independent learners
Mastery of core knowledge and techniques
Click on the purple year group boxes to find out what topics our curriculum covers. Click on the green box to find out the moral themes that our pupils explore throughout our curriculum.
If you would like to find out 'how we teach' or would like more information about our curriculum then please see our 'Curriculum and Pedagogy' document (click the grey box) or book an appointment with a member of our senior leadership team through the school office.
a moral compass
where pupils develop their character through philosophical, moral and social debate and actively participate in the world through cultural experiences and authentic learning projects that positively impact their communities
We believe that having a well-developed moral compass is the key to succeeding in the modern world. A strong knowledge of how to treat others and how to 'give our all' are at the core of our school community.
Our school values are a constant reminder to live in a caring, aspirational, resilient and respectful way. All of the decisions we make as a school have these values at the centre so that we are intentionally helping those within our community to develop into well-rounded individuals with a deep sense of duty and responsibility.
independent learners
where pupils learn how to learn and how to work hard so that they can achieve their best
At Portfield, we want everyone in our community to know how to learn well and work hard.
We want our behaviour to be underpinned by positive habits, behaviours that are so ingrained in us that we do them without thinking - they are just ‘who we are’.
However, we understand that this will take time to achieve and so know the importance of the stages of development leading to the end goal. We see it as a priority to help children to move through the stages of development by showing and discussing with them what they are aiming for. We believe that the quicker children master positive learning behaviours, the more effective they will be as a learner.
mastery of core knowledge & techniques
where pupils learn the core building blocks of all subjects through clear instructional teaching, the study of masterpieces and by applying their knowledge to problems that deepen understanding
At Portfield, we believe that having a strong knowledge of the world and secure physical and mental techniques are key for long-term success. We see it as a core responsibility to ensure that our pupils have this knowledge and these techniques firmly embedded in their long-term memories.
Within our curriculum, we refer to two main types of memory - declarative and procedural:
Declarative memory refers to the part of memory which stores knowledge that can be declared or communicated in words. This includes 'substantive knowledge' (facts and events, e.g. London is the capital city of England) and 'disciplinary knowledge' (knowledge of how subject specialists think).
Declarative memory also stores memories of experiences or events. For example, looking at a particular painting in an art gallery on a school trip or climbing a tree during a forest school session.
Procedural memory refers to the part of memory which stores memories of ‘how to’ do something. At Portfield, we refer to these as techniques. For example, 'how to catch a ball' or 'how to use a sculpting knife'.
Using the National Curriculum, Ofsted Curriculum Research Reviews and research from subject expert organisations (such as the Historical Association), we have selected concepts that we believe to be most useful for our pupils.
The knowledge and techniques within our curriculum have been selected because it supports the learning of these key concepts within the given subject area. For example, in history, one example is that pupils learn that 'the Romans came to Britain to claim resources and to expand their empire' which supports their understanding of the historical concept of invasion.
We have mapped out the knowledge and techniques so that it is sequenced in a useful order for pupils to be about to build on previous learning. All of the knowledge and techniques that we teach are recorded in conceptual knowledge & techniques progression documents. Within our curriculum, we have clearly planned out opportunities for our pupils to revisit previously taught core knowledge and techniques so that they don't forget, but instead remember more over time.
Each subject within the Primary National Curriculum includes a slightly different amount of declarative knowledge and procedural techniques. For example, history requires a strong 'fact-based' understanding (declarative knowledge), whereas physical education (PE) requires a pupil to have a strong understanding of 'how to' physically move their body (procedural techniques).
For this reason, although the principles stated above act as the underlying basis of how our curriculum has been designed, we recognise that each individual subject needs to be treated as a unique discipline with slight differences in approach from one another.
Please see individual subject pages to learn more about these differences and to view our conceptual knowledge and techniques progression documents.