Curriculum

We believe that children must have the best education in order to thrive. The curriculum is defined as any activity which promotes learning.  In addition to the formal requirements of the National Curriculum, we support children’s personal growth and development in a variety of ways.  This includes a wide range of extracurricular activities which enrich the lives of the children and a curriculum for behaviour. It also includes a ‘hidden’ curriculum where children learn through a strong character education. We have high expectations for all children and ensure everyone is treated fairly and respectfully. 

Three core values permeate everything we do: these values are the keystones on which the school is built.

Humanity - a culture of visible kindness where everyone is treated fairly and respectfully.

Creativity - an environment where children have the skills to think creatively, take risks, explore the world and communicate their findings with others.

Ambition - high expectations for all learners ensuring equitable access to the curriculum and other opportunities within school.

Our curriculum is broad and balanced reflecting the intercultural community that the school serves.  Whilst meeting statutory requirements, it has been carefully crafted and adapted to suit local needs following three main drivers: London and beyond; social justice; sustainable future. Children begin to develop a sense of where they fit in the world as they learn about London, the UK and the rest of the world. We foster their curiosity as they journey through the school, encouraging them to be socially responsible citizens who understand not only what came before but also think positively about the future and their place in it. Through a carefully constructed curriculum, we ensure that our children develop the skills and knowledge necessary to be prepared for the demands of the 21st century.

Click here for the Curriculum Overview

For further detail about any of the areas below click on the blue subheadings.

EYFS

In the EYFS, our aim is to create a learning environment which supports children in building relationships which model visible kindness. We ensure that all children feel respected and that they learn to treat everyone fairly and respectfully. We aim to create a learning environment which supports and enhances a child’s curiosity and confidence. We want all children to have the skills to be able to think creatively and to take risks and to explore the world around them. All children should be able to access our curriculum and to flourish regardless of their background, circumstance or needs. We have high expectations for all learners and ensure that children have equitable access to experiences and opportunities which will enhance their learning.

English

By encouraging curiosity and enabling them to hone the necessary skills, children at Edmund Waller become independent learners who explore the world and develop their ideas through: 

The curriculum, which is underpinned by dedicated, highly skilled teachers with expert subject knowledge, is built on an integrated programme of oracy, reading and writing, where children have opportunities to consolidate, reinforce and extend their literacy skills. 

Reading

We understand that reading enables pupils to access the rest of the curriculum and therefore believe that fluency in reading is fundamental to children’s educational success. Our curriculum is ambitious in its high expectations for all learners and thus a critical priority is given to ensuring that all pupils achieve both accuracy and sufficient speed in word reading in order for them to be able to comprehend what they read and, importantly, to take pleasure in reading. This in turn enables children to read and appreciate the depth and power of the English literary heritage.

Phonics

At Edmund Waller, we use a phonics programme called Sounds-Write.  Sounds-Write is a highly structured, multisensory approach to teaching children to read and spell.  

From Reception, children are taught the 1–1 correspondences through lessons that teach them the basic concepts which underpin our writing system. These are: 

• Letters represent sounds 
• Sounds can be spelled with more than one letter 

The important skills of blending, segmenting and swapping sounds in and out of words are taught so that pupils become proficient at using these skills when reading and writing. 

Once children have mastered these basics, the programme moves on to introduce two further concepts. These are: 

• Sounds can be spelled in different ways 
• Spellings can represent more than one sound 

At this stage, lessons are focused on developing these concepts and teaching the ways in which specific sounds can be spelled (e.g. the sound /ee/ is most commonly spelled as me, team, sleep and happy).  

Children are taught phonics in class groups; teachers and teaching assistants work together to support all children to access the lessons. Some pupils may receive extra support to enable them to keep up with their peers.  

We believe that support from parents and carers is very important and encourage parents to access the free Sounds-Write courses for parents and carers here: https://www.udemy.com/user/54e5c34e6b89b/ 

Maths

We aim to create fluent, passionate and curious mathematicians through teaching a coherently sequenced, experience-based maths curriculum underpinned by dedicated, highly skilled teachers with expert subject knowledge. We want our pupils to acquire a deep, long-term, secure and adaptable understanding of maths; to achieve mastery that enables them to move on to more advanced material.

Our Whole School Maths Vision is:

• For all children to become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics so that they develop conceptual understanding along with the ability to rapidly recall and apply knowledge fluently and accurately.
• For problem-solving to be at the heart of mathematics, having mathematicians who thrive on challenge and have the opportunity to apply their knowledge to a range of concepts.
• For all children to develop a range of strategies, selecting the most efficient for the context and being able to explain why this is.
• To develop all our children’s confidence and resilience in mathematics through promoting fascination and excitement of the subject and having a classroom culture that celebrates and learns from mistakes.
• For all children to reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, developing an argument and proof, conjecturing relationships, and organising their thoughts to provide clarity.
• To promote the importance of mathematics in everyday life with children learning through real life contexts and having maths exposed in a range of subject areas.
• To provide opportunities for pattern seeking and making connections between mathematical concepts.
• To have the CPA approach built-in to our lessons, using a range of models and manipulatives to develop both procedural fluency and conceptual understanding.
• For mathematical language to be rooted in our practice, ensuring opportunities to develop confidence in using this.

Science 

In science, our aim is to give all children a strong understanding of the world in which they live while enabling them to acquire specific skills and knowledge to help them to think and work scientifically.

Our curriculum gives children an understanding of scientific processes and provides the foundations for understanding the world through the specific disciplines of Biology, Chemistry and Physics. Children are taught to think about the uses and implications of science, both for today and in the future.

Science is taught in discrete lessons on a weekly basis and cross-curricular links are made explicit to help children understand that science encompasses every aspect of our daily lives.

We want children to continually ask questions and be curious about their surroundings. Visitors and offsite educational visits enhance the delivery of our science curriculum while we use the different environments within our school grounds to anchor learning within familiar and everyday contexts. 

Art 

Children are taught through discrete art lessons which are thematically linked to other aspects of the curriculum. This ensures that children understand the purpose and context of art, craft and design in the wider world. Children are given equal access to knowledge, learning and experience, so that all are given the cultural capital to reach their full potential within our school and the wider world. 

Computing

The computing curriculum at Edmund Waller aims to equip our learners with the skills to be confident, productive and creative members of modern society. The impact and importance of computing as subject on almost every aspect of our children’s lives cannot be overstated. Also, due to the nature of the rapid pace of development, it is a subject where the development of transferrable skills and knowledge are absolutely crucial to the children as they progress through the school.

At Edmund Waller, we follow Switched on Computing schema. The overall aim of the computing curriculum is that pupils leave primary school as confident, capable and creative users of digital technology, with a secure understanding of the fundamental principles of computer science and as safe, responsible and discerning digital citizens.

DT

We provide all children with opportunities to engage fully in DT. We want our children to design and make products that solve real and relevant problems, for a specific purpose, taking into consideration the users wants and needs. Our DT curriculum builds on children’s prior knowledge and allows them to re-visit prior learning.   

Geography

Our geography programme helps children to develop an understanding and curiosity of their place in the world as well as their role in it and responsibilities that come with sustainable development. In addition to this :

• We help children to appreciate how personal identity is linked to the area in which we were born/live in/grew up in. 
• We teach children how to understand the fascinating complexity and scale of the natural world and the people who live in it and to appreciate and respect the cultural diversity that exists.
• We address misconceptions about indigenous peoples and teach children to have cultural awareness and challenge stereotypes that can lead to discrimination. 
• Geography learning helps children to understand the interdependence between human societies and the physical, chemical and biological components of the Earth.
• Geography learning helps children to understand the changes to landscapes and the environment over time - such as climate change - as well as human movement such as migration.

History 

The history curriculum supports children’s understanding of their place in the world, and in the long story of human development. It also:

• Teaches our children about a wide range of places, societies and cultures in the past, considers their achievements and includes the perspective of different places and their people. 
• Helps children to understand the experiences, decisions, and actions of people in the past and empathise with other perspectives.
• Supports children in developing positive and secure identities by teaching the rich, diverse and complex history of our local area and London as a whole.

Music

We recognise the importance that Music plays in the curriculum and are committed to providing all children with opportunities to engage fully in musical learning and performing opportunities. Our Music curriculum builds on children’s prior knowledge and allows them to re-visit prior learning.   

The ability to make, control and perform music sits at the very heart of what makes us human. Throughout history, music has been a shared human experience and integral to society and its development.  Music facilitates human contact, shared experience, human meaning, creativity and understanding. For many children, the music they love will be part of the narrative of their lives and bring colour to the experiences that shape them.

PE

At Edmund Waller, we recognise the importance Physical Education plays in the curriculum and are committed to providing all children with opportunities to engage fully in PE.  Our PE programme is in line with our school values:

• We teach children how to cooperate and collaborate with others as part of an effective team, understanding fairness, respect and equity of play to embed life-long values. 
• We help children to build self-esteem, confidence and resilience.
• We teach children how to lead healthy, active lives.
• We provide opportunities for children to engage in competitive sports and activities.
• We ensure that all pupils are provided with access to lessons.

PSHE

In PSHE we learn to put into place the key building blocks of healthy, respectful relationships. This sits alongside the essential understanding of how to be healthy and safe. Our mental wellbeing is central to these subjects, and we learn how to seek help, if we need to.

RE

At Edmund Waller, we recognise the importance Religious Education plays in the curriculum and local community and are committed to providing all children with opportunities to engage fully in RE. 

Within a culture of kindness, children are taught to have mutual respect towards others in a diverse multi-religious and multi-secular society. We provide opportunities for children to consider their own personal backgrounds, influences, beliefs and values. Misconceptions about religion and world views are addressed and children are taught to challenge stereotypes that can lead to discrimination.

Spanish

We aim to inspire and generate a love of languages and a thirst for learning through relevant learning experiences and practical activity wherever possible. By developing a love of language learning, we hope to start our children on the route of learning a variety of languages as they get older, so learning should be both relevant and fun. We want children's language learning to contribute to their knowledge as global citizens.