Overview of Our Curriculum

Our Approach

At Eckington Junior School the curriculum is designed to provide a broad and balanced education that meets the needs of all learners. Every child is recognised as a unique individual. Our curriculum design is broad and balanced and progressively builds on skills, knowledge and conceptual understanding year on year.

Before developing our curriculum we asked staff, children and parents to voice their opinions regarding the content of the curriculum. This has given everyone in the school community a sense of ownership of the skills and knowledge that they are learning through the new curriculum. 

Our curriculum encourages our children to;

• be independent, 
• be knowledgeable
• be critical thinkers, 
• be creative, 
• be confident, 
• be team players

Our curriculum is designed with knowledge at its heart which the children then have opportunities to embed through a skills based approach.

Creative, whole school planning ensures that cross curricular links are made and the National Curriculum 2014 Programmes of Study for KS2 are allocated to the topics.

Hooks for learning and experiential learning opportunities engage all children and address social disadvantage. Each topic is designed to have an authentic outcome which gives learning a real purpose.

Our curriculum drivers

We aim to build resilience and encourage a positive mindset amongst our children as it is often through mistakes we learn the most.

We believe that childhood should be a happy, investigative and enquiring time in our lives, where there are no limits to curiosity and there is a thirst for new experiences and knowledge. 

Aspiration
When consulting with stakeholders it was identified that we needed to give the children in our school an opportunity to expose them to further education, career opportunities and travel beyond the local area.

Children should not be limited by their life chances due to socio-economic factors. In a world of online gaming and You Tubers we need to make our children aware of all the opportunities open to them.

Children will learn how hard work, determination and perseverance pays off. Through our curriculum the children will learn about inspirational people in a range fields locally, nationally and globally.

Our curriculum monitoring and evaluation ensures that the children are equipped with the skills and knowledge to reach their potential and that they can achieve anything they want to.

Community
The children get to know the local area of Eckington and the surrounding area. They will be provided with new and real experiences. Staff build upon the children’s interests by the visits they arrange, as well as helping them to learn about people and places.

By drawing on resources in the local community this gives the children a sense of pride about where they live. Children will build on these skills as they progress through school and develop an appreciation for the area they live in and the wider community

There will be opportunities to develop links with businesses, care homes, church and other schools.

Through our work on community the children will learn about individuals from the local area that have had an impact on the community (local and wider).

Equality
Our main theme that is woven through our curriculum is Equality. Eckington Juniors is a small school based in a community that does not reflect the diversity of wider society. Therefore, it is important that we offer a curriculum that offers opportunities for children to learn about and celebrate diversity.

Our curriculum is designed so that children learn about different cultures and promotes discussions.Many of our children have limited experiences of different religions, cultures and beliefs. The children will explore different cultures and develop their own multicultural awareness including tolerance and respect.

Through the topics they will learn about children’s rights, equal rights for women and how people have shaped History and the world we live in today.