Curriculum

At Orchards C of E Academy, we aim for all pupils to be successful learners, confident individuals and responsible citizens.

Overview

We aim to support all children to become independent and collaborative learners. We will provide a broad and balanced curriculum that will enable each child to develop personally, socially, emotionally, spiritually, physically, creatively and intellectually to their full potential.

 

At Orchards Church of England Academy, we aim to:

  • Provide a happy, safe, stimulating and challenging programme of learning and development for the children to experience as they begin their journey through school.
  • Provide a broad, balanced, relevant and creative curriculum that will set in place firm foundations for further learning and development in Key Stage 1 and beyond and enable choice and decision-making, fostering independence and self-confidence.
  • Use and value what each child can do, assessing their individual needs and helping each child to progress.
  • Develop excellent relationships with parents and carers to build a strong partnership in supporting their children.
  • Provide a caring and inclusive learning environment, which is sensitive to the requirements of the individual child including those who have additional needs.


At Orchards Church of England Academy we greatly value the importance of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) in providing a secure foundation for future learning and development. 


Our curriculum is designed to recognise children’s prior learning from previous settings, and experiences at home before providing first hand learning experiences.  Every child is recognised as a unique individual and we celebrate and welcome differences within our school community.  The ability to learn is underpinned by the teaching of basic skills, knowledge, concepts and values. Children are encouraged to be independent in their learning, with adults facilitating as required.  At Orchards we track the learning and development of all children and adapt teaching strategies where necessary to ensure all children make progress.  Early intervention is offered swiftly, to enable children to get additional, specialist help when required. 


We provide enhancement opportunities to engage children in their learning and believe that their first experiences of school should be happy and positive, enabling children to develop a lifelong love of learning.

The National Curriculum sets out what children should know, understand and do in each year group in the following subjects: English, Maths, Science, Computing, Design and Technology, History, Geography, Music, Art and Design, Physical Education, Personal, Social and Health Education. We follow a local Cambridgeshire syllabus to teach Religious Education.


Our Curriculum is more than the National Curriculum and is designed to develop subject knowledge skills and understanding and develop key social and learning skills.


We plan topics and themes which will engage children and make learning meaningful, utilsing outdoor learning where possible e.g. Forest School, to deepen the impact. These themes draw together different parts of the National Curriculum. The school also follows E4L to support pupils’ social and emotional well-being.