The Vision behind the Knowledge Curriculum

The Knowledge Curriculum was introduced in September 2019 and is a bespoke innovative knowledge rich curriculum that encompasses the following subjects: Science, Geography, History, Art and Design and Technology. 

It is a carefully sequenced knowledge rich curriculum which aims to promote excellent outcomes alongside developing pupils; resilience and confidence and overcome inequality of opportunity by inspiring pupils from Reception to Year 6.

Knowledge Curriculum is inspired from the work by E.D. Hirsch and is produced by a curriculum team consisting of West Norfolk Academies Trust leaders and teachers who hold subject specialism qualifications, including degrees in the subject areas. 

The Knowledge Curriculum is produced by teachers for teachers.

An experienced Director of Primary Standards, who has revolutionised whole school curriculum, leads the Knowledge Curriculum team. To support the development of the curriculum the Knowledge team have worked in collaboration with other larger MATs. In addition to this, a Civitas Curriculum Advisor provides external quality assurance of the Knowledge Curriculum.

The Pedagogy that informed the vision

The National Curriculum 2014 encouraged schools to place more emphasis on teaching knowledge.  Researchers such as E.D Hirsch and Bernstein have influenced how knowledge is considered in the curriculum. 

As a Trust, we have asked the questions about what content should be taught, in what order, and also reflecting upon what children remember and how they remember it.  Importantly, findings from cognitive science are beginning to influence practice in the classroom.  The Knowledge Curriculum is the ‘perfect interruption’ (Bernstein,2000) between what is concrete in a child life and what is abstract. ‘This has to occur if pupils are to enter into the world of powerful knowledge’ (Young 2010) where they can ‘think the not yet thought’ (Bernstein 2000).

What is the Intent?

At West Norfolk Academy Trust we offer an aspirational Curriculum which is built upon powerful knowledge. The intention of our Knowledge Curriculum is for pupils to have the requisite knowledge, skills and wider understanding to be successful, independent and motivated learners, in readiness for their next stage of education. 

This enables pupils to retain high quality knowledge in their long term memory, knowledge that can be applied across the curriculum and from year to year.  As a result, the working memory is able to deepen their critical thinking skills whilst learning new knowledge.

Our curriculum, which meets the National Curriculum, is tailored to meet individual needs and aspirations, ensuring all children are interested and motivated to learn. This methodology is underpinned by the Bloom’s Taxonomy theory which uses questioning to develop, secure and deepen understanding.

How is the Knowledge Curriculum implemented?

The Knowledge Curriculum is implemented by the class teachers following high quality short-term lesson plans that follow the knowledge outcomes set in the year overview.  These short-term lesson plans are supported by knowledge organisers, which are multi-purpose.  They are shared with the pupils at the beginning of each unit, sent home and used as a constant resource throughout.  The teachers use them as a reference tool as to the essential knowledge the pupils must learn.

Lessons ensure that teachers present the subject matter clearly, develop a broad and rich vocabulary and promote appropriate discussion about the subject matter being taught.  The vocabulary content of Knowledge Curriculum is taught with the purpose of addressing the ‘word gap’.

Pupils’ books will demonstrate pupils of all ages study a range of subjects in depth, enabling them to make progress and build up their knowledge and understanding of key concepts. 

Pupils are assessed in a multi-faceted manner:

• Application of vocabulary, both within lessons and through written work.
• Skilful questions during all lessons are a vital aspect of assessment for learning.  This ensures knowledge has been retained lesson by lesson in order to impact the long term memory.
• Presentations of work links learning to prior learning.
• Key pieces of work are assessed to show retained knowledge

What is the intended impact?

Children’s attainment in core and foundation subjects will be in line with, or exceeding National expectations, due to;

• Improvement in pupils’ long-term memory through high quality knowledge across a wide range of subjects.
• Enhanced pupils’ writing outcomes in all areas of the curriculum.
• Significantly reduced the word deficit in the most disadvantaged communities.
• Providing the foundation and direction of a coherent, cumulative and content-rich curriculum.
• A broad and deep comprehensive curriculum helps pupils to achieve high literacy and academic success.
• Providing teachers with the relevant subject knowledge, enabling them to think more creatively about teaching.
• Creating a common ground for communication, in the classroom and beyond.

Curriculum requirements for all subjects are delivered through the Primary National Curriculum (2014).

Early Years

EYFS CURRICULUM MAP 

PRE SCHOOL CURRICULUM MAP

EYFS CURRICULUM MAP

EYFS Rationale: 

Our Early Years curriculum is ambitious with high expectations for all children. We have designed our curriculum carefully with a balance of adult-directed learning, planned provision and interactions through play; ensuring that our pupils visit and build on important concepts ready for Year 1. Increasing access to cultural capital is a key part of our rationale as our pupils are located in a rural part of Norfolk, many with very limited experience on entry to their first full year in school. 

 

As pupils start the transition into full-time school, we purposefully visit familiar themes which secure learning in the prime areas to embed self-regulation, managing self and building relationships.  For example, in the Autumn term, children learn about themselves and their bodies.  In Reception, as well as singing familiar songs about bodies, children learn about their families, about their heart, lungs, skull and ribs.  Our Autumn unit "Marvellous Me" enables pupils to start school confidently, learning to apply knowledge and vocabulary through familiar concepts such as ourselves, family, homes, routines and our school. Subsidiary and disciplinary content is revisited in Y1 through subject-specific teaching about the Human Body in Science, developing mark making, pencil grip to draw representationally in Art, making maps and talking about our local area in Geography. 

The content of our EYFS curriculum is planned to flow into the wider world in Autumn 2 with threads of diversity and global connections. Pupils look at familiar celebrations such as Bonfire Night and Christmas and compare this with Diwali, continuing to introduce concepts, knowledge and vocabulary which ensures readiness for Y1.  For example, in Light and Celebrations, pupils will be taught about experiences and learning about the Seasons and Weather. Continuous provision enables them to practise and rehearse this knowledge and skills - remembering more. These concepts are re-visited in Y1 as Science units with pupils expanding what they have learnt in EYFS - the purpose is to help children learn more, remember and make progress. As the year progresses, Spring and Summer build on what children know by learning more about the UK, London, The King, Transport and The Sea. The content here is developed further in Y1 units so learning is transferred to the long-term memory. We aim for children to develop their knowledge and vocabulary which is then repeated and built on within KS1.  We want knowledge to be ‘sticky’ so that children retain some of the knowledge they have been taught about, showing genuine interest and curiosity in learning about the world they live in.

Implementation 

Planning

We have detailed plans and a timetable to support the delivery of the curriculum. We have a long-term map which is broken into half-term plans for Literacy, Mathematics with Knowledge Rich plans covering the EYFS curriculum. Content and vocabulary are identified clearly.  These plans work with our continuous provision so that the learning in our environment builds over time and children can make connections between prior and current learning and vocabulary. The weekly timetable allocates plenty of time for continuous provision to develop prime areas but also has direct teaching daily for the specific areas of learning. The timetable builds appropriately over the year. 

 The role of adults

Quality interactions between children and adults are vital for helping children learn and make progress.  Adults in our settings enjoy playing with children - they listen, encourage, develop vocabulary using Shrec, praise effort, recall, help articulate feelings and ideas, model, wonder out loud, challenge, narrate, story tell, as well as teach specific skills and knowledge. Many interactions happen throughout the day to teach, clarify, support, enable and enrich: some are planned, others are spontaneous and all are opportunities for children to embed prior learning, develop or gain new learning.  Adult interactions are supported by the environments we provide both indoors and outdoors, enabling meaningful interactions to occur frequently.

Parents and carers are a vital part of the learning process. Our knowledge organisers are shared with families with summarised goals and more detailed questions for families so they can share what we do at home. We run workshops and sessions for families to build a partnership in learning. 

Provision and resources

Every classroom in EYFS is set up with areas of continuous provision which support learning in planned ways.  Resources are organised and clearly available for children to use independently, which supports children’s self-regulation and confidence.  Children know where to locate resources within the classroom and where they should look if they want to engage in a particular activity. The continuous provision is built up over time and is linked to our Knowledge-Rich Curriculum.  This provides children with opportunities to continue their learning beyond the adult-led class sessions, to develop their interests further and to explore at their own pace.  We provide inspiration through examples of art, textures, books, objects of interest and from the natural world to demonstrate ideas from the wider world, beyond children’s experience. To give our children the best there is to offer, see and know in order to build cultural capital.  We believe that children developing their sense of awe and wonder about the world in a variety of ways enables them to begin to feel a sense of belonging to the wider world and all the possibilities that it holds.  

Literacy Fundamentals

Our EYFS children are taught reading and letter formation using the RWI lessons and resources.  We supplement this with additional handwriting to secure a tripod grip and accurate line direction and orientation.  We know the value of becoming a reader and the wider impact this has on a child’s ability to learn more and to access more of the whole curriculum as they progress through school, so early skills to decode through blending and segmenting are vital. Our children begin their reading journey on their first day in Reception.  Children are assessed every 6 weeks and re-grouped according to the stage which best matches their reading development.  We want every child to become a fluent and confident reader and writer with a real love of reading, books and a love of stories. Together we enjoy a variety of high-quality texts, sharing opinions, favourite stories and modelling a real love of books.  

 

Mathematical Fundamentals

Mathematics is taught using the mastery approach and the White Rose planning tool.  We aim for children to develop a deep understanding of number and mathematical concepts through exploration, play, games, songs, adult-led activities and direct teaching.  Teaching in Reception focusses initially on working within 5, before progressing to using 10 frames and numbers up to 10.  Children are encouraged to use a wide range of manipulatives to support them in exploring and playing with numbers and the relationships between them. For example – 5 and 10 frames, double-sided counters, buttons and natural objects for counting, number tracks, fingers and numicon.  Children begin learning to manipulate concrete resources, subitise numbers , moving to pictorial representations when their understanding has progressed.  We want children to become problem solvers who can apply their mathematical understanding helping them in practical ways.   Elements such as shape, time, pattern, length and capacity are all taught throughout the year in maths lessons and the continuous provision.

 

Enrichment opportunities

Enrichment activities complement our knowledge-rich curriculum and provision, building further on themes.  Our enrichment map ensures a broad and interesting variety of visits: visitors, special days to celebrate, community links and assemblies. 

Impact 

The impact of our curriculum is measured through increased outcomes in EYFS overtime, our GLD remains in line and above national averages. Our pupils are also read for KS1 due to the resilience built throughout the year. Effective learning behaviours and a focus on fundamentals such as oracy, early reading and number, letter and number formation help our pupils develop into well-rounded individuals and life-long learners. 

 

 

Please click here to view our subject overviews

Maths is taught on a daily basis. We aim to ensure that all our pupils are confident with all aspects of maths. Significant importance is placed on developing the ability to use maths in everyday situations. Children are taught to use and apply mental and practical strategies to solve problems that they may face in day-to-day life.  We aim to make maths as practical and fun as possible, using it in other areas of the curriculum as appropriate, especially in Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

In daily lessons children are taught skills in reading and writing through a range of planned activities. Differentiated activities support the less able and extend the more able pupils. Skills and techniques are demonstrated and shared by the teacher through role modelling, shared class work, group and individual activities. Regular guided group work in reading and writing is led by the teacher or another adult in the classroom, including the use of the Letters and Sounds programme in the Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1. Speaking and listening skills are taught through circle time activities and developed across the curriculum.  The school teaches phonics through the RWI and uses the Oxford Reading Tree as a reading scheme.

Essentially science is about exploring, investigating and discovering things to gain knowledge and understanding about the world we live in. We aim to provide children with the skills needed to investigate and explore ideas independently. As science is such a practical subject it is taught using a hands-on approach wherever possible.  Consequently we have built up a full range of equipment and resources for children to use. Science is taught through as a discrete subject every week and activities make the subject more meaningful. 

A number of clubs are held each week to allow children to follow particular interests and develop skills, including Football, Music and Art.  Voluntary activities are an important part of school life and encourage involvement and commitment on the part of children, staff and parents.  All classes take part in regular curriculum linked school trips.  Full risk assessments are carried out for all school trips and visits – and only take place when approved by the Headteacher and the Local Authority.  Trained first aiders are always in attendance on all school trips and visits.

Every term, teachers  send out knowledge organisers, explaining what children will be learning about during this period.  If you require more detail, please make an appointment to speak to your child's class teacher who will be happy to supply you with further information.