Curriculum Intent

At Chigwell Row Infant School our vision is to empower every child to be caring, respectful and successful learners. 

 At the heart of Chigwell Row Infant School curriculum is the National Curriculum. With the expertise of a curriculum team of subject leaders from across the Trust and a strong cohesive vision from the school’s leadership, we have developed a curriculum based on a clear progression of knowledge and skills across the subjects as well as ensuring appropriate content coverage.

Every child in our school is recognised as individual and unique. The ability to learn is underpinned in curriculum subject areas by the teaching of basic skills, knowledge, concepts and vocabulary. There are clear, identified end points in each phase of learning which build upon what has been taught before and gives pupils the required knowledge and skills for their next stage of learning. Our curriculum at Chigwell Row Infant School is not solely focused on academic subjects and achievement. We provide pupils with rich learning experiences, educational visits, residentials, extra-curricular activities and enrichment opportunities. We also aim to ensure that our pupils know how to make a positive contribution to their community and wider society. Chigwell Row has a very close community and we want our pupils to recognise this and play an active part in contributing to the character of the area.

Alongside the teaching of knowledge, skills and vocabulary, here at Chigwell Row Infant School, we aim to promote positive mental health for every member of our school community including, staff, pupils and families. We pursue this aim using both universal and whole school approaches as well as specialised, targeted approaches aimed at vulnerable pupils. A bespoke emotional health, well-being and resilience programme is embedded in our curriculum alongside the teaching of knowledge, skills and understanding in all other curriculum subjects. We aim to provide pupils will the tools and strategies needed to cope when faced with challenges within school or home life.

Curriculum Implementation

How is our curriculum overseen?

Subject Leadership

The role of the subject leader is pivotal in the successful implementation of our curriculum. We aim for all subject leaders to have the knowledge, expertise and practical skill to be able to lead their areas effectively. Each curriculum subject has a dedicated subject leader with clear roles and responsibilities. They are responsible for the curriculum design, delivery and impact in their own curriculum area. Subject leaders and leaders at all levels, including our dedicated Governing Body, regularly review and quality assure the subject areas to ensure that is being implemented well and coverage and breadth and balance is adequate.

CPD

In order for us to be able to deliver the best and most up to date curriculum, we provide staff with regular opportunities to attend high quality CPD in their subject specific areas of leadership or teaching role. Following CPD, staff feedback to each other about what they have learnt and we then discuss the impact of this on a class teacher, subject leader and whole school strategic level. As Chigwell Row Infant School is a small school, subject leaders have more than one subject area to lead. As a member of the EFSPT, we are able to access regular Subject Leaders meetings and have created subject leader pairings with Buckhurst Hill Community Primary School to ensure every staff member feels supported in their role. 

Planning

The curriculum at Chigwell Row Infant School is carefully mapped out to ensure that pupils acquire knowledge, vocabulary and skills in a well-thought out and progressive manner in every curriculum subject ensuring sufficient coverage across each subject. New learning is based upon what has been taught before and prepares pupils for what they will learn next. We know that if our pupils are learning our curriculum, they are making progress and are being prepared for the next stage of their educational journey.

Reading

The teaching and acquisition of reading skills is prioritised at Chigwell Row Infant School to allow pupils to access the full curriculum. Pupils in EYFS focus on developing their speaking and listening skills and this is built upon in Year 1 and Year 2 classes with daily phonics teaching sessions. Where a pupil has been identified as not on track to achieve Age Related Expectation, intervention is put in place through 1:1 reading support and small group phonics activities. Pupils who do not pass the phonics screening test in Year 1 are also immediately identified for planned intervention and targeted support to help them reach the threshold by the end of Year 2. Throughout their school life pupils at Chigwell Row Infant School engage with rich and thought provoking texts that encourage a love of reading. We want our pupils to be competent and avid readers so that they can access our broad and balanced curriculum and become lifelong learners.

Assessment

Assessment at Chigwell Infant School is designed thoughtfully to shape future learning. It is not excessive or onerous as is part of the day to day working practices of the classroom. Teachers ensure that pupils embed key concepts in their long term memory. Key skills and objectives for curriculum areas are revisited throughout the year and applied in different contexts. Assessments are reliable and are moderated by all Teachers and Leaders to ensure that expected outcomes are fully understood by all staff. Chigwell Row Infant School use a variety of assessment resources to support summative assessment and the children experience age-appropriate ‘test’ style conditions at least once a term to prepare them for end-of-year formal assessments.

Curriculum Impact

Monitoring and Evaluation

A curriculum subject leader is responsible for the monitoring and evaluation of their own subject area. The information from the monitoring and evaluation then forms the basis of the impact assessment for that curriculum area and any next steps required.

Judgements on the impact of the curriculum on pupils are based upon a triangulation of different monitoring and evaluation activities within school. Time for the subject leader and the teacher to evaluate children’s books together, pupil voice discussions and learning walks alongside the regular reviewing of assessment data are all used as tools to help senior leaders assess the impact of the curriculum.