The Ridgeway Curriculum

Intent (Curriculum)

At Ridgeway, in the Early Years our curriculum is based on the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage, and in Years 1 to 6 the curriculum is based on the National Curriculum. Each of the learning and subject areas are tailored to our school’s approach to enhance our curriculum offer. Our Ridgeway Curriculum Subject Progressions can be found below.

Our curriculum intent is for children to:

Develop strong subject knowledge and a broad set of subject-specific skills;
Develop Lifelong Learning Skills that enable them to succeed at school and throughout their lives;
Develop a lifelong passion and interest in learning, so they maintain a desire to learn;
Develop a broad range of interests, that are stimulated by our ambitious, broad and balanced curriculum;
Understand the connections within and between subjects, so they appreciate the interconnected nature of the world and can apply their knowledge and skills in a broad range of situations.

Implementation (Pedagogy)

We have a variety of methods through which we ensure effective delivery of our curriculum:

Our pedagogic approach is varied, flexible and engaging. Our staff plan well-thought-through opportunities for learning that build on children’s knowledge and understanding and challenge them to consider learning deeply. Further details of the different ways our staff engage and challenge children can be found in our Teaching & Learning Policy [LINK].
Contexts for Learning [LINK to CfL page] provide the vehicle through which the richness of individual subjects are taught, whilst supporting children to make links and connections across all areas of the curriculum.
A Pre-think approach to home learning encourages children to explore learning in advance, which enables them to generate their own questions and lines of enquiry, which in turn gives them the opportunity to direct the learning that takes place in class.
We make highly effective use of Assessment for Learning during teaching, to evaluate children’s understanding. Purposeful, specific verbal feedback enables children to reflect on and make immediate improvements to their learning. Further information about Assessment for Learning can be found in our Teaching & Learning Policy [LINK].

Impact (Evaluation)

The impact of our curriculum and teaching is monitored and evaluated in a range of ways:

Class teachers will monitor children’s progress and outcomes in the short and long term, adjusting teaching and planning to meet needs for individual children and cohorts, as they arise.
Subject Team Leaders will monitor the quality of provision and outcomes for their subject. They will analyse outcomes and provide feedback and support to teachers and year groups as necessary, as well as whole-school professional development.
Our staffing structure provides for a Leading Practitioner in each phase group. Their role is to monitor, guide, mentor and coach staff within their phase to ensure high-quality provision for children. They support the Headship Team with monitoring the quality of teaching and learning.
The Senior Leadership Team monitors the quality of provision across the school and ensures our practice is effective and aligned with the school’s ethos and values. They also contribute to making strategic decisions about curriculum, alongside the Headship Team.
The Headship Team have overall responsibility for school outcomes and provide strategic direction about how to adjust school-wide systems and/or introduce initiatives to improve our provision. Alongside Leading Practitioners, they also monitor the quality of teaching and learning and analyse the quality of provision across all subjects and phase groups.
National assessments are also one indicator of our impact on children’s progress and learning, but only represent a sample of what children have learned, so these outcomes are used in conjunction with teacher assessment.