At Blacko Primary School we implement a progressive and nurturing curriculum that provides high-quality opportunities for pupils to grow from tiny seeds into mighty trees. We have designed our curriculum in a way that we believe empowers our children with both skills and knowledge, therefore providing a foundation for achieving success, reaching deep understanding and being creative. The more children know, the more they can learn.

At Blacko, we recognise that a curriculum has to be broad, balanced and diverse. It must offer opportunities for children to develop a wealth of cultural capital which engages them with their world and enriches their life experience.

As a result, we have devised a curriculum that aims to ensure our pupils enjoy learning and feel prepared for both their next steps in their education and life beyond primary school, as lifelong resilient learners - one that is empowering and positively encourages self-improvement, reflecting our school motto of ‘Be Extraordinary'.

We deliver the curriculum through classroom-based and experiential learning. Thought has been given to making each unit of work meaningful to our children and the context in which they live, providing them with opportunities to learn about the world around them at a local, national and global level. We promote equal opportunities for all of our pupils throughout our practice in line with the Equality Act 2010. 

At Blacko, we endeavour to provide this by: 

• Upholding our Pennine Trust Values of ambition, respect and collaboration in every aspect of our teaching and learning.
• Encouraging a positive mindset amongst our children as it is often through mistakes, we learn the most.
• Developing a concept-led curriculum which is focused on the growth of children’s knowledge and skills across all primary subjects with the aim of ensuring pupils are ready for the next stage of their learning. 
• Being a reflective school who continually strive to improve our teaching and learning in light of the latest research.
• Promoting the diversity of life, celebrate difference, democracy and advocate respect for all. 

Coherence in Knowledge Sequencing 

Our curriculum is mapped out in discrete subject areas, with each unit of work linked directly to the 2014 National Curriculum programmes of study. The careful sequencing of content both within each year group and progressively from EYFS to Year 6, is the essence of our spiral curriculum. This approach aims to ensure that knowledge acquisition is built upon secure foundations resulting in conceptual understanding and knowledge that is remembered. 

Key elements of the curriculum are regularly revisited through a spiral approach including explicit practice and retrieval strategies. Although subjects are taught discretely so that children understand the key disciplinary concepts, authentic connections are planned in to mutually reinforce and enrich knowledge areas.

Classroom-based learning

A mastery approach and a culture of high expectations underpins our classroom practice.  Our lessons are structured carefully to allow small-step progression alongside opportunities for children to go deeper in the understanding of key concepts. Our children understand that learning from misconceptions and mistakes is as valuable as celebrating successes. Children's oral language skills and understanding are developed through a range of questioning and dialogic techniques alongside deliberate vocabulary development. When learning a new concept or skill, children are guided through a sequence of live modelling using visualisers, scaffolded practice, and finally onto independent practice. Teachers continually assess learning and provide feedback which enables children to address their next steps. As their confidence develops, they are encouraged to apply their knowledge in more challenging tasks. Meta-cognitive strategies are explicitly taught to build resilience and help children become life-long, independent learners.

Experiential and Enriched Learning

We believe that experiential learning is an essential building block for children's knowledge acquisition and understanding, therefore concrete experiences are deliberately mapped into every topic across all curriculum areas. Hands-on experiences such as handling objects in history, carrying out investigations in science and observing environments in geography, both within the school and through trips, not only allow children to build secure schema when moving to more abstract knowledge but also provide intrinsic learning opportunities that are central to primary education. 

We also provide an extensive range of extra-curricular opportunities in the form of after-school clubs; inter-school sports competitions; class presentations, including KS2 formal debates; music, art and drama experiences; residential trips for children from Year 6; community engagement projects; and local, national and international fundraising events. These opportunities are designed to enhance pupils’ learning experiences, form personal connections between pupils, their peers and their community, and teach skills essential for life after school.

Want to know more?

To find out more about how we are complying with our duties in the Equality Act 2010 and the Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014 by making the curriculum accessible for those with disabilities or special educational needs, please refer to our SEND and Equality information pages.

If you wish to find out more information about your child's curriculum, please contact the school office on 01282 616669 or via this email address and a member of our admin team will be happy to arrange for you to speak to the relevant class teacher.  Alternatively, you can click on each subject area from the 'our learning' section of the website, or click on the individual classes below to see how the subjects are broken down for each class.

• Class 1 - Reception, Early Years Foundation Stage
• Class 2 - Year 1 and 2 (Key Stage 1)
• Class 3 - Year 3 and 4 (Lower Key Stage 2)
• Class 4 - Year 5 and 6 (Upper Key Stage 2)

You can keep up to date with all of the exciting events and activities taking place across school by following our Blacko Primary Twitter page.

Further Curriculum Information

Early Years Foundation Stage

The Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum is delivered to children in Reception. There are 7 key areas within the EYFS, these are:

Prime Areas

• Physical Development
• Personal, Social and Emotional Development
• Communication and Language

Specific Areas 

• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Expressive Art and Design
• Understanding the World 

To read more about the statutory framework for the year years foundation stage click here.

The 2014 National Curriculum 

Our curriculum is devised from the National Curriculum is delivered to children in KS1 and KS2, the subjects are:

Subjects

• Mathematics
• English
• Science
• ICT
• Geography
• History
• Art
• Design Technology
• Music
• Physical Education
• Religious Education 

The vast majority of these subjects are taught as part of a concept-led creative curriculum approach. To read more about the National Curriculum, click here.

 

Remote Education

Where remote eduction is needed, the school signposts parents to the Oak National Academy or school based learning platforms.