Curriculum Intent

We are proud to deliver our newly designed curriculum to our students – enabling them to access everything the 21^st Century has to offer.  We have worked hard to develop a more knowledge-based curriculum which is fit for purpose and will ensure our children achieve their full potential whilst at primary school. We have also endeavoured to ensure that our locality and our children’s context is taken into consideration. 

Our ambitious and bespoke curriculum has been designed to take in to account the legal requirements of the early years’ foundation stage, the National Curriculum and the locally agreed syllabus for Religious Education. It is progressive in nature and a high priority is given to children knowing and remembering more.

Centred around our school motto of, ’Care, Challenge and Fun!’, our curriculum is fully inclusive and is designed to enrich the experience of every child, giving them a wealth of opportunities in which to master basic skills, develop new interests and skills and to foster a life-long love of learning.

Our curriculum extends beyond the academic though and through our ‘Hamer Heroes’, assemblies and theme weeks, children are encouraged to develop lifelong skills and attributes such as resilience and perseverance.

A key feature of our school is the strong relationships that exist. We refer to ourselves as the ‘Hamer Family’ and we aim to provide a rich and supportive learning environment which is appropriate for the needs of all our pupils and in which they are encouraged to thrive. 

The key principles behind the design of our curriculum are for our children to:

• Be confident, articulate and responsible individuals; having a voice and understanding that their contributions are valuable and can impact change
• Be independent, reflective and resilient; displaying a thirst for learning
• Be kind; showing empathy, compassion and valuing diversity
• Understand how to keep safe in different situations
• Achieve academically across the entire curriculum – to do more, know more and remember more
• Have aspirations for the future and know that these can be reached through hard work and determination
• Be well prepared for the challenges of the next phase of education
• Have an understanding of what they are good at and to have developed strategies to overcome potential obstacles in other areas
• Be competent historians, geographers, scientists, technologists, linguists, musicians and artists. 

Ultimately, we want all our children, to be the best they can be, making a positive contribution to the world in which they live.

Curriculum Implementation

At Hamer, we begin with a recap of prior learning so that we can be sure we are building on any prerequisite knowledge/skills. Many units of work are supported with Knowledge Organisers, which set out key learning and vocabulary within that unit of work. Units of work in History and Geography are also supported with Learning Journeys, which link to lesson objectives and allow pupils the opportunity to reflect on learning at various points. Learning is enhanced by the use of formative assessment and retrieval, with end of unit tests being delivered in subjects such as History and Geography. Rehearsal of basic skills underpins our work in Maths and English, with retrieval and revision built in.

Our subject leaders work with staff to ensure that their subject knowledge is effective. There is high focus on Rosenshines Principles and approaches included in Teacher Walkthru materials – a focus for staff CPD over the last 2 years. The focus throughout is on children knowing more and remembering more.

Our children are expected to work hard and demonstrate positive behaviours to both maximise their own individual learning potential as well as contribute to the school and the wider community. We have high expectations for attendance, academic achievement and pupil behaviour. We are committed to working in partnership with our families as we believe that when home and school work closely together we get the very best outcomes for our children.

Our fundamental task is to teach our children to speak clearly and articulately and to master basic skills in reading, writing and maths. Reading is a priority in our curriculum in order to extend and deepen understanding and use of vocabulary. We want our children to develop a love of reading at Hamer and be exposed to a range of literature – our Poetry Spine and Hamer 100 are integral to this.  PHSE is an important thread in our curriculum; health and wellbeing, self-awareness, relationships and the wider world are all incorporated.

Our children have opportunities to be actively involved in whole school decisions and hold many positions of responsibility.

Our curriculum recognises the importance of children’s physical and mental well-being in shaping their long-term lifestyle choices. The children have opportunities for visits and visitors coming into school; these are carefully chosen to deepen understanding and we make use of the Forest School area to enhance hands-on learning experiences for our younger children.

Children from across school have access to a wide range of extra-curricular activities both after school and at lunchtimes.  Continuing professional development is a priority to ensure staff have the necessary skills and knowledge to deliver the highest standards across the entire curriculum. Sports specialists come into school to further enhance our offer in PE.

Curriculum Impact

We aim for our children to leave each school year having met the expectation for their age group across all subjects. In addition, we are very keen for them to be fully prepared for their next stage of education and recognise the importance of children doing well in end of key stage assessments.  To support what we do, we use assessment purposefully in order to highlight gaps so that provision may be adjusted accordingly.  

We believe the success of our curriculum can also be measured in terms other than the purely academic, with children:

• Demonstrating confidence, independence, resilience and a thirst for learning.
• Being able to form meaningful relationships based upon mutual respect and trust, recognising and celebrating difference.
• Having access to a wide and varied curriculum, allowing each of them to excel as individuals and be the best they can be.
• Being well prepared to access the challenges of the secondary school curriculum.
• Having aspirations for the future and knowing that these can be realised with hard work and determination.
• Growing up being able to make a positive contribution to the world in which they live.