Educating the whole child, achieved through an inclusive and supportive ethos, with kindness and community at the heart of our provision.

Our Curriculum - The Barley Hill Way

Curriculum Intent

At Barley Hill Primary School, our firmly held belief of ‘Educating the Whole Child’ underpins every aspect of our carefully designed curriculum, which inspires, excites and enthuses our life-long learners –

The Barley Hill Way.

We have a caring, supportive and inclusive learning environment where every child is valued as a learner and citizen. We also value being a prominent and active part of our local community that reflects in our curriculum opportunities.

Our ambitious, broad and rich curriculum, captures the imagination of the children across all subjects, enabling them to be creative, critical thinkers. The varied, stimulating opportunities and skills-based lessons enable the children to connect and build their knowledge progressively over time across all subjects to ambitious end points, ensuring challenge for all and that each child is ready for the next step of their learning through school and become ready to be successful in the real world.

Curriculum Implementation

At Barley Hill, we have used the National Curriculum alongside specialised schemes to ensure that children are taught the full National Curriculum targets across all subjects and are taught key skills and knowledge in a progressive way from EYFS to Year 6. Our curriculum design ensures that pupils can achieve both knowledge and skill. These skills in many subjects revisit key knowledge and skills to further embed these at a more complex level as they move through the school.

We offer a 'Knowledge Engaged' Curriculum. This means that children learn skills alongside knowledge, ensuring that both are explicitly developed. There is a strong emphasis on quality first teaching in order to make the curriculum relevant and meaningful to pupils and for putting knowledge into context.

Curriculum Pedagogy

At Barley Hill Primary School, the curriculum is designed around the spiral curriculum approach, ensuring that concepts are revisited and built upon from the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) through to Year 6. This method allows students to deepen their understanding and skills progressively, with each revisit increasing in complexity.

Key Elements of Barley Hill’s Curriculum Pedagogy:

Spiral Curriculum:

Revisiting Concepts: Core concepts are introduced in EYFS and revisited in subsequent years with increasing difficulty. This ensures that students reinforce their understanding and build on prior knowledge.
Progressive Learning: Each revisit of a concept is more challenging, helping students to develop a deeper and more comprehensive understanding over time.

Clear Learning Journeys:

Prior Learning: Teachers make connections to previous lessons, helping students see how their learning builds over time.
Learning Journeys: These are clearly outlined for students, so they understand the path their education is taking and how each lesson fits into the bigger picture.

Retrieval Baskets:

Previous Learning: Classrooms have retrieval baskets containing materials and activities related to past lessons.
Testing Knowledge: Students regularly use these baskets to test their recall and understanding of previous topics, reinforcing their learning.

Wallow on a Word:

Key Vocabulary: This strategy focuses on identifying and understanding key vocabulary terms. Students spend time exploring and using these words in various contexts to ensure they grasp their meanings and applications.

Task Breakdown and Teacher Modelling:

Step-by-Step Guidance: Tasks are broken down into manageable steps, with teachers modelling each part to demonstrate what is expected.
Clear Instructions: This approach helps students understand the process and develop the skills needed to complete tasks independently.

Inclusive Curriculum:- Adaptive Teaching: Teachers understanding the needs of all children and making adaptations where required to make our curriculum accessible for all.