Curriculum Drivers

 Diversity and Equality

           Community                       

Global Citizenship

Excellence

The Crossways Curriculum is taught through the lens of four Key Drivers.  These drivers help us to interpret the National Curriculum and EY Framework in a way that makes it meaningful for our pupils and supports us to fulfil our vision: ‘to inspire a love of learning, nurture positive emotional and social wellbeing, empower all to be their personal best and thrive within our community’.

Curriculum Driver

Focus areas

Rationale

Diversity and Equality

Religions

We believe that to be successful and happy in modern Britain and in the wider world children need a deep understanding of others in order to build tolerance, compassion and a desire to know and learn from others.   Understanding equal opportunities in society is critical to them being able to thrive in adulthood.

Equal opportunities

Respect

Community

Contribution

Being part of something bigger and being connected to others around us supports mental well-being and happiness.   As a medium sized growing market town Thornbury benefits from a strong sense of community and we want our pupils to feel part of this but also understand the need to contribute to it.

Connection

Locality

Global Citizenship

Sustainability

Learning how to find their voice, develop viewpoints and drive change is a critical skill for our pupils.  Our planet is a precious resource and understanding how to preserve it as part of the global community along with feeling empowered to lead others will ensure our pupils have the skills they need to be successful in the modern world.

Aspiration

Leadership

Excellence

Curiosity

Excellence is not the same as perfection.   Being curious to learn and understand more whilst critically appraising their work and that of others will develop pupils’ resilience and drive.  We want them to be creative thinkers who can express themselves through perhaps writing or art sharing ideas with others. 

Creative thinking

Critical thinking

Our Curriculum Intent

Driven by the above it is our aim that the curriculum enables all pupils, regardless of starting point or background to thrive in our school.  We intend our pupils to be: 

Life Long Learners: Passionate pupils who love learning and can talk about what they enjoy. They ask questions, find ways to develop ideas further and are interested in new ideas. 

Aspirational for themselves and others:  Pupils who want more for themselves but also those around them.  They celebrate and lift others with respect and tolerance.  They strive for more in all areas of their learning. 

An ethic of excellence: They listen to feedback, refine what they do and make it better.  They are able to provide challenge to others and share their own ideas.

Our Curriculum Implementation

Understanding the implementation of our curriculum begins with the Whole School Curriculum overview.   This sets out what each year group will cover in each subject and has been carefully selected or written to align with our curriculum intent.   This is then broken down into year group overviews and on into Learning Pathways which break the learning down across the term for each subject.  Teachers are then able to use this to support their short-term planning.  This ensures that there is coverage of the National Curriculum content with opportunities to revisit learning and deepen children’s understanding of key concepts. In some subjects, there are areas where we have chosen to go beyond the National Curriculum.  This is because we believe that children benefit from further teaching in these areas, either in preparation for the next phase of their education or to better understand life in modern Britain.  The curriculum is delivered through discrete subject teaching.  Where appropriate, attention is drawn to meaningful links to enhance understanding. 

Our Curriculum is overseen by the Curriculum Lead.  They are the gate keeper of the Curriculum; ensuring that content is covered and monitoring outcomes against our curriculum intent.  They liaise with Subject Leads to support the development of their subjects and maintain a wide understanding of the curriculum.  Subject Leaders champion their subject and ensure that substantive and disciplinary knowledge is progressively built on through whole school subject planning.  They also monitor outcomes, capture pupil voice and evaluate learning in their subject. 

Understanding how well children achieve in their learning informs our evaluation of the curriculum and teachers’ planning process.   This is evaluated through low stakes quizzes in science, history, geography and RE.  In other subjects, outcomes, including discussion and practical work are evaluated by teachers each lesson.

Our Curriculum Impact

We reflect regularly on our curriculum and its intent to ensure that it is supporting our children to thrive at Crossways.   The curriculum drivers inform our evaluation of impact and we expect that by the time children leave us in year 6 they have developed: