Curriculum | The Priors School

The Priors School Curriculum

The curriculum is the bedrock of what we teach the children at The Priors School. We use the 2014 National Curriculum to inform our planning process, although we supplement this with our own school based curriculum. We devised four main curriculum drivers to underpin the work we do at school. These drivers are incorporated into all we do and provide the children with the best possible opportunities for life.

The Priors School Curriculum Drivers

Possibilities	Independence	Enterprise	The Outdoors
Pupils at The Priors will have the opportunity to learn about their local community and develop their understanding of the wider world and different cultures. We will encourage children to develop a strong sense of ambition and always strive to be the best they can be. The children will understand there are a variety of possibilities for themselves.	Pupils at The Priors School will develop their independence and self-help skills. They will become competent problem solvers and will demonstrate a strong sense of self-motivation. The children will strive to demonstrate their best work at all times and will identify areas for self-improvement. The children will demonstrate a caring attitude to others.	The Priors School is a school that values entrepreneurial skills. We encourage children to take risks and to think outside of the box. We want children to have the opportunity to fund raise and manage money. We want the children to develop a strong sense of team work and collaborate together to achieve an end goal.	The Priors School is exceptionally lucky to have access to amazing outdoor spaces. Living in a rural community, the children have the opportunity to learn about the great outdoors first hand. We will encourage the children to be physical and active using the outdoors environment. We want to foster an appreciation of the environment and an appreciation of environmental issues.

Curriculum Principles

Through its curriculum the Priors School endeavours to ensure that the following key principles are met:

Every child has the knowledge and skills to pass examinations with an ability to understand and demonstrate the inter relation between subject areas to a level of mastery.

Every child is prepared so that they will be able to participate in the global economy by providing them with the skills necessary to learn throughout their lives. In this sense we set the early foundations upon which pupils may build through their senior school education so that they become confident, employable young adults who can find their way in the world and therefore are able to make a difference to their own lives and have a positive impact in the wider community.

Every child is encouraged to have an independence of mind and action and develop individual interests and talents.

Every child’s imagination is excited and their natural curiosity about the world in which they live encouraged. Children have the opportunity to solve problems and demonstrate critical thinking.

The classroom curriculum, however, is just one element in the education of every child. Through extra- curricular clubs and activities there are opportunities, which are outlined elsewhere on the website, to range beyond the curriculum and excite and inspire our pupils to new levels of interest and knowledge in the world around them.

In this section of our website you will find:

The National Curriculum
School Topic Map
School Skills Progression Map
Our approach to phonics and reading

It is from these programmes that our teachers develop exciting and stimulating lessons to promote the development of pupils’ knowledge and skills as part of a wider school curriculum.

If you would like further information about our curriculum, please speak to a member of staff.

Our Curriculum

You can find a more detailed overview about each topic we cover in the Class Pages of our website.

National Curriculum Programmes of Study

Primary National Curriculum

Phonics and Reading

Approach to Phonics and Reading

Computing Skills

Geography Skills

History Skills

Science Skills

Religious Education

RE Curriculum

Our Wider Curriculum

At The Priors School, we focus on providing children with a wide range of experiences to develop their curiosity, love of learning and provide opportunities that they might not otherwise experience.

The arts are very important to us as a school. We employ a music teacher, Mr Hudson, to teach curriculum music to children in Years 1 to 6. As part of this, Mr Hudson leads whole class tuition for the children to learn how to play the ukulele. We also have peripatetic music teachers for the children to have the opportunity to learn how to play the guitar, keyboard, recorder and violin. We also place an importance on art and design at The Priors. We would never "squeeze" this out of the curriculum, as we understand how important it is for the children to develop these skills. We also bring in external artists and technicians to work with the children to produce some outstanding art work, such as our sculptures in the Wild Garden.

We place a high value on sports at The Priors and ensure the children have a wide range of opportunities to learn sports, but also compete in them. We have offered many different sporting events over the past two years, such as archery, fencing, table tennis, street dance, rhythmic gymnastics, yoga, musical theatre and indoor rowing, as well as more traditional sports such as cross country, football, netball and cricket.