Our Curriculum
Children at Laureate Community Academy are inspired to learn through a purposeful, inclusive and engaging curriculum which demands higher level thinking from all.
Our comprehensive and balanced curriculum delivers the requirements of the National Curriculum and is underpinned by a firm foundation of knowledge and subject specific vocabulary, which is enriched by regular opportunities to apply and extend understanding in preparation for the next steps in the learning journey.
Our curriculum is tailored to meet the needs of all learners and aims to:
- Develop children’s knowledge and understanding of the world around them;
- Focus on children’s learning behaviours, developing resilient problem solvers who can face and overcome challenges;
- Raise children’s aspirations and make them ambitious to succeed.
To support teaching and learning across the school, we use a number of teaching resources. In English across Key Stages 1 and 2, we use ‘Curriculum with Unity Schools Partnership for Reading and Writing’. In Maths we follow the ‘Maths Mastery’ programme. Our wider curriculum is mainly supported by the ‘Curriculum with Unity Schools Partnership’. This is planned around key knowledge and concepts that are well sequenced and engaging. The content of our curriculum is age-related and matched to the National Curriculum. Each subject is taught discretely to allow children to build on previous knowledge and skills and to enable links to be made as their learning progresses. Knowledge Organisers, Knowledge Strips and quizzes are some of the tools that teachers use to help children retain and recall their learning.
Within Early Years, our children follow the Early Years Foundation framework. This consists of 7 areas of learning – three prime areas and four specific areas:
- Communication and Language
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development
- Physical Development
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding the World
- Expressive Arts and Design
Children in Early Years learn through a play-based approach with staff engaging in meaningful, teachable interactions. ‘Maths Mastery’ is used to support teaching within EYFS as well as ‘Little Wandle’ for supporting phonics.
As well as securing the necessary knowledge and understanding, children are challenged to develop the skills that they need to become lifelong learners. Laureate Learning Characteristics are used to encourage and support children to talk about how they are learning in order to develop positive learning attitudes; these characteristics are linked to our ‘REACH’ values, e.g. ‘Team Workers’ and ‘Respect’. These skills are embedded across the curriculum and throughout the school day, but are explicitly taught in Early Years through the Characteristics of Effective Learning, and in Key Stages 1 and 2 through Commando Joe’s, with a particular focus on self-regulation, resilience and collaboration.
Our intention is to provide our children with a rich variety of life experiences in order to raise aspirations, unlock potential and ignite individual passions.
Subject Links
Please follow the subject links for further information and resources on the subjects taught at Laureate Community Academy.