Our knowledge based curriculum information

Curriculum Intent

At Fulmer Infant School we use the Primary Knowledge Curriculum as the basis for teaching the foundation subjects. This is a well-sequenced, knowledge-rich curriculum with the following underlying principles:

· Knowledge is valued and specified

· Knowledge is well-sequenced

· Knowledge is taught to be remembered

The content in the Primary Knowledge Curriculum has been carefully chosen by subject experts and has been sequenced in a meaningful way that enables children to make connections and progress from unit to unit, term to term and year to year. Each subject is recognised, valued taught discretely, ensuring that our children develop a deep understanding and love of each distinct discipline. Where appropriate, links are made across disciplines to enable children to make more meaningful connections (e.g. our children learn about the UK in geography before learning about the Romans in Britain in history). Every school who works in partnership with PKC is encouraged to make adaptations to include local history, geography, and other locally relevant subject content. We specify exactly what we teach in each subject and communicate this with parents and families.

 Our intended curriculum can be found in these documents:

•Our year group overviews outline the units covered in each subject across the year

•Subject curriculum maps detail exactly what we cover in each subject

•Subject rationales explain the reasoning behind how our curriculum was developed for each subject

•The Knowledge Goals (what we plan for all children to know by the end of each lesson) and Assessment Goals (what we expect all children to remember by the end of each unit) are set out in our planning documents for each subject.

 Curriculum Implementation

Our intended curriculum is taught over time in the classroom following a structured approach. Teachers are provided with detailed documents for each unit, prepared by subject specialists, to support with subject knowledge and planning. This ensures every teacher has secure subject knowledge and reduces workload, enabling teachers to spend more time thinking about how each lesson can be effectively enacted in their classroom to support their class. Each lesson starts with a prior learning review, where children are supported to retrieve prior knowledge and make connections. We explicitly teach vocabulary, and each lesson starts with introducing, orally rehearsing, and engaging with key vocabulary (e.g., looking at

the etymology of new words). Key vocabulary is contextualised throughout the lesson and children are given opportunities to apply new words. Our teachers enact our intended curriculum using research-based pedagogy, such as Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction, ensuring that information is presented in small steps, clearly explained and modelled. Children are given many opportunities to talk, answer questions, explain their learning and work independently. Throughout lessons, teachers assess and monitor pupil responses (e.g., through questioning with both written and oral responses, answering multiple choice questions and using knowledge organisers) and provide effective feedback.

 Curriculum Impact

As we have clearly specified what we want our children to know, do and remember, when reviewing impact, we assess against the Knowledge Goals laid out in the intended curriculum, enabling us to check whether children can remember what we set out for them to learn. We carry out subject specific monitoring and curriculum reviews to assess impact and use these to plan for future development. As we know that curriculum intent, implementation and impact go hand in hand, one cannot be successful without the other and the curriculum cannot be successful without careful thought in all three areas. We are always reflecting upon the impact of our intent and implementation and identifying ways in which we can improve outcomes for our children. Our curriculum work is never finished - it is at the very core of our purpose and our children deserve the very best curriculum we can create.