Curriculum

Intent

Our Bilsthorpe curriculum, underpinned by current research, is knowledge rich and ensures key concepts and vocabulary are reinforced in meaningful contexts. It is structured as a 3D curriculum - vertical links are deliberately constructed within a subject so that over the years, key “high return” concepts are encountered repeatedly e.g. chronology is taught every year allowing the history knowledge for that year group to be linked to the concept and built upon each year. Alongside this, are horizontal links within a year between subjects allowing children to see how their learning is linked across the curriculum e.g. when learning about Vikings invading Britain – links could be made to invasion games in PE.  Diagonal links join concepts across year groups and subjects e.g. source – place a river begins but is also the person that provides information for a news story.

Our aim is that with a sophisticated understanding of our concepts, our children have a head start when they arrive at secondary as the concepts have been identified as ones which will be built upon in subjects through KS3 and KS4 thus ensuring our children will be well-rounded individuals who are prepared for the next stage of their journey.  Our project-based approach takes children on a journey of memorable learning through rich and purposeful experiences, culminating in authentic outcomes which leave a legacy on the wider world. Our curriculum ensures we are teaching for long term memory. Our key purpose is to build semantic memory to pass on the knowledge built up over years linked with the concepts.

Fluency in the core subjects, with reading at the heart, enables access to the full curriculum and is therefore integral to our approach. The curriculum is carefully designed through project drivers History, Geography and Creative Arts. These projects ensure coverage, progression and retention of transferrable knowledge and skills by linking to the community-driven concepts.  

It aims to provide inclusive and aspirational environments where learners thrive and build the cultural-capital they need to make aspirational choices about their own future, overcoming any barriers. In order to achieve this, our curriculum is underpinned by the following principles: 

• Relevant and current (because our children need communication and language skills and need to know more words we ensure a language rich environment and curriculum, speaking opportunities e.g. public speaking, widen vocabulary, debating, improv and drama, use talk for writing) 
• Empowers children (vocabulary rich, reflect on learning e.g. learning journals/ brain books, enable table, widens their horizons) 
• Promotes character and heart (resilient, independent with high aspirations for future selves, reasoning, researching, coding, interactions, problem solving, high expectations) 
• Memorable (concepts, build upon and transferrable)  
• Provides Opportunities (FHP passport)  

   

Our English curriculum vision

English teaching at Bilsthorpe Flying High Academy aims to:

• Inspire children through a range of ‘hooks’.
• Enable children to develop a love of reading.
• Give children opportunities to express themselves in different ways including through poetry and drama.
• Encourage positive attitudes to all areas of English by making it purposeful and fun!
• Ensure that children are confident and creative writers across a range of text types.

The National Curriculum for English aims to ensure that all pupils:

• read easily, fluently and with good understanding
• develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information
• acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions for reading, writing and spoken language
• appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage
• write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences
• use discussion in order to learn; they should be able to elaborate and explain clearly their understanding and ideas
• are competent in the arts of speaking and listening, making formal presentations, demonstrating to others and participating in debate.

For more details on writing, reading and phonics please see the relevant links below:

https://www.bilsthorpeflyinghighacademy.co.uk/writing/

https://www.bilsthorpeflyinghighacademy.co.uk/reading/

https://www.bilsthorpeflyinghighacademy.co.uk/phonics/

Our philosophy for the teaching and learning of mathematics

For individual calculation policies please see relevant link below. 

We are taking a mastery approach to our teaching of mathematics.  Children are supported and challenged to grasp concepts and understand them more deeply.  Differentiation occurs in the support and intervention provided to different pupils (e.g. models and images used, adult support, questioning).  Any pupils having more difficulty in grasping a particular aspect of curriculum content are identified very rapidly and provided with extra support to help them master that content before moving on to new material.  Pupils who have grasped concepts quickly, are challenged with sophisticated problems that deepen their knowledge of the same content.

We believe that deeper understanding can be achieved for all pupils by questioning that asks how and why different mathematical techniques work and to make deep mathematical connections.  These questions are accessed by pupils at different depths and are used both to support and challenge.  For children to master curriculum content, they need to be fluent (not just accurate) and this involves reasoning mathematically and solving problems.

Our aim is for pupils to experience deep, sustainable learning of increasingly sophisticated mathematical ideas as they move through their primary mathematics education.