Our curriculum journey

Our Curriculum 

After some years of developing our foundation subject curriculum, we have, since March 2020, invested in a revised offer, building on what we learnt and reflecting a developing trust-wide curriculum in the subjects' history, geography, science, art and DT. This was and continues to be a significant work, but it will enable us to develop closer links with our partner trust primary schools and create a robust curriculum offer for our pupils, drawing on staff expertise across all our primary school settings. This allows us to create links between staff teams in partner schools and thus positively impact workload and extend opportunities to share ideas and collaboratively moderate standards in the future.

Our curriculum is carefully sequenced and knowledge-rich; it aims to inspire pupils and promote excellent outcomes for all. The curriculum content in each subject area has been carefully selected based on national guidance, local knowledge and relevant research. Curriculum teams developed content, each subject organised to ensure progression and consistency, ensuring that children can build on their knowledge from year to year. In this way, the knowledge in the curriculum is cumulative, constructing firm foundations from which children can progress and develop deeper conceptual understanding and subject-specific skills over time. Subject content has been selected to provide a curriculum which is relevant to our own Daresbury Primary School children – to reflect their context locally – and establish the foundations for lifelong learning.

Values

The school curriculum is underpinned by the school's three rules: Kind, Safe and Ready and our three values: Kindness, Integrity and Tenacity. 

 

Preparing Children for Life Beyond Daresbury

At Daresbury, we believe education is about developing the whole child. Alongside a rich and ambitious academic curriculum, we deliberately develop the knowledge, attitudes, behaviours and experiences children need to thrive in their communities and in the wider world.

Our SHINE curriculum develops children who are Safe, Healthy, Independent, Nurturing and Engaged. We want children to make informed choices, think for themselves, care for and respect others, build positive relationships and understand that they can make a difference in the world around them.

This is strengthened by our school values of Kindness, Integrity and Tenacity and our learning behaviours of active listening, collaboration, independence, reflection and curiosity. These are lived through the choices children make every day: how they treat others, how they approach their learning, how they respond when something is difficult and how they contribute to our school community.

British Values are woven naturally through this approach. Children learn about democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and respect for different faiths and beliefs through the curriculum and through everyday school life. Pupil voice, decision-making, working collaboratively, understanding rules, making responsible choices, encountering different viewpoints and learning to disagree respectfully all help children understand what these values mean in practice.

Our My Happy Mind programme complements this wider approach by supporting children’s personal development and wellbeing.

We also recognise that some of the most powerful learning happens through experience. Residential, educational visits, visitors to school, performances, sporting opportunities, community activities and enrichment give children opportunities to practise independence, resilience, teamwork, curiosity and responsibility in authentic situations.

Through Junior Leadership and pupil voice, children have meaningful opportunities to contribute to their school, represent others, share ideas and take increasing responsibility. They learn that having a voice also means listening to others and playing an active part in their community.

Together, our curriculum, SHINE, British Values, My Happy Mind, learning behaviours, school values and wider experiences ensure that personal development is not something separate from learning. It is part of children’s everyday experience at Daresbury, helping them develop the knowledge, character, confidence and understanding they need for their next stage and for life beyond school.

For any further information about our curriculum, please get in touch with the school, and we will be happy to provide additional details.