Curriculum Overview

OUR CURRICULUM

Curriculum Intent Statement 

At Orchard Grove, we are committed to providing a broad, balanced and ambitious curriculum that enables all children, from age 2 to 11, to develop the knowledge, skills, vocabulary and cultural capital they need to succeed in life.

Our curriculum is underpinned by the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and the National Curriculum (DfE, 2014), ensuring a clear, progressive journey of learning from Nursery through to Year 6. We recognise that learning begins well before statutory schooling, and we place high importance on early language development, communication, and personal, social and emotional development as key foundational skills to future success.

Ambition and High Expectations

Our curriculum is ambitious for all pupils, including those with SEND and disadvantaged backgrounds. We ensure:

  • Clear progression in knowledge and skills across all subjects

  • High expectations for every child, regardless of starting point

  • Equal access to rich learning opportunities

We ensure every pupil:

  • Acquires deep subject knowledge

  • Develops fluency, resilience, and independence

  • Is prepared for the next stage of their education and beyond

Curriculum Design: Knowledge-Rich and Coherently Planned

Our curriculum is carefully sequenced and coherently planned to reflect expectations for subject content and progression. It:

  • Identifies the essential knowledge children need to remember

  • Builds learning cumulatively over time

  • Supports children to make connections within and across subjects

We prioritise:

  • All foundational skills

  • Language and vocabulary development across all subjects

  • Reading as the gateway to the curriculum, with a strong emphasis on early phonics

  • Mathematical fluency and reasoning

Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)

In our EYFS provision, we follow the EYFS statutory framework, ensuring that learning is:

  • Play-based, engaging, and purposeful

  • Focused on the prime and specific areas of learning

  • Responsive to children’s interests and developmental needs

We provide a rich environment that supports:

  • Communication and language

  • Physical development

  • Personal, social and emotional development

This ensures all children develop the foundations for lifelong learning and are well-prepared for Year 1.

Implementation Principles

To realise our curriculum intent, we:

  • Deliver high-quality teaching informed by research and best practice

  • Ensure teaching staff have strong subject knowledge and pedagogical understanding

  • Use assessment effectively to check understanding and inform teaching without creating unnecessary workload

We promote:

  • Active engagement and curiosity

  • Opportunities for practice, retrieval, and consolidation

  • Adaptation to meet the needs of all learners without narrowing the curriculum

Personal Development and Cultural Capital

Our curriculum extends beyond academic achievement to include:

  • Character development, including resilience, respect and responsibility, through our Orchard Grove Attributes

  • British values: democracy, rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance

  • Opportunities to experience the wider world, enriching pupils’ cultural capital

We ensure pupils are ready to:

  • Participate positively in modern Britain

  • Understand diversity and equality

  • Make informed decisions about their future

Inclusion and Equality

We are fully committed to inclusive practice, ensuring:

  • All pupils can access the full curriculum

  • Learning is adapted, not diluted

  • Barriers to learning are identified and addressed early

Impact: Outcomes for Learners

As a result of our curriculum:

  • Pupils know more, remember more and can do more

  • Gaps in learning are reduced over time

  • Pupils are confident, articulate and ready for the next stage

  • Children move onto the next step in their educational journey as successful learners, responsible citizens and confident individuals

Summary

Our curriculum is designed to ensure that every child experiences:

  • Ambition – high expectations and aspirations

  • Equity – access to meaningful and enriching learning

  • Excellence – strong outcomes across the curriculum

All of these enable all children to thrive.