Our curriculum supports our children and the whole Federation community in ‘Living Life to the Full.’ This means the curriculum must endeavour to:
Our core curriculum is based on the National Curriculum for England that must be taught in all maintained schools:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-curriculum
Taking the National Curriculum as our core document, we think about putting learning into meaningful contexts that will build upon each other as children progress through the school.
We take time to consider:
- What we know about our families and our children;
- What is happening in our locality, in our nation and in the world;
- What we have found to be successful in enabling children to learn in our setting;
- What research tells us about successful teachers and learners;
- What our children tell us about their learning.
If consideration of the points above means we must deviate from our set plans in order to meet current needs, we do so. Over time we ensure we have covered all elements of the National Curriculum.
Our New Federation Curriculum, September 2025
From September 2025, we have launched a new curriculum across the Tas Valley Federation. The starting point for curriculum design was the vision: ‘living life to the full’. The vision has shaped our projects, including the values and big ideas which will be taught.
We strive to teach active, informative lessons that inspire ALL children to learn and make progress. These high expectations apply equally to those working above, at, or below age-related expectations, as well as those who have been identified as having Special Educational Needs.
When planning, our teachers seek to make innovative cross-curricular links across many subjects so that children can make sense of their learning and relate it to the wider world. Teachers are clear about the subject specific knowledge, skills and vocabulary that are being taught. Learning is logically sequenced; it builds upon prior learning and equips pupils for future learning.
There are many advantages to the new curriculum model. These include:
A curriculum which reflects the Federation’s vision and strategic goals.
Consistency in teaching and learning and equitable learning experiences in both our schools.
Effective use of resources, including planning, assessment, resources and professional development.
Improved curriculum quality through monitoring, review and refinement.
Enhanced pupil outcomes including broader opportunities for enrichment.
Our teachers have a wide range of skills and expertise and continue to share good practice across the Federation.
We have developed a concept-based curriculum, with a 2-year rolling program of projects to allow for teaching in mixed-aged classes. Alongside this, is a 1-year curriculum for our Reception children. The starting point for our planning is the school vision. Across the Federation, there is strong cohesion with the learning for each class bound together with a whole-Federation project title, key values and big ideas. The curriculum is under constant review to ensure the best outcomes for our pupils.
Although we proactively seek to make cross-curricular links, we recognise that systematic building of knowledge and skills in some subjects is best achieved through routine well-planned and taught lessons that may be discrete from other curriculum areas for much of the time – for example, Languages or PE.
We believe that effective learning takes place when children are engaged and excited by the curriculum, when key skills and knowledge are placed in an interesting and relevant context and when resources are chosen for impact. We recognise the importance of visits and visitors in enriching learning, and we seek to provide experiences that are memorable for our children. We consciously seek ways to support the social, moral, spiritual and cultural development of our children through all areas of the set curriculum and ensure that our PSHE curriculum is rich in opportunities for children to explore and express these areas of development.
Phonics
From September 2022, we have adopted Little Wandle Letters and Sounds for the teaching of Phonics and Early Reading. Click here for our Early Reading and Phonics Policy.
RSHE
We use Discovery Education for RSHE
Religious Education
We use the Norfolk Agreed Syllabus.
Curriculum Documents
