At Longparish C.E. Primary School we are constantly developing and refining a carefully sequenced KNOWLEDGE and VOCABULARY rich curriculum that sits within our Christian values of ‘Excellence, Friendship and Respect’.

Our intent is to inspire pupils, promote excellent outcomes for all and provide our children with a rich, well-rounded foundation on which to build an understanding of the world and their place within it.

Knowledge underpins and enables the application of skill, whilst vocabulary and phonic acquisition underpins and enables all our children to be excellent readers. Books that are high quality in content, cover relevant themes and issues, and feature diverse and relevant characters will be used to drive and inspire our children’s love of reading. Their reading skills are the key that enables them to be successful learners across all aspects of the curriculum.

Acquisition of 'powerful knowledge' is at the heart of the curriculum. This means that pupils learn knowledge and vocabulary which empowers them to not only understand the world around them but to understand how each subject discipline works in order to extend this knowledge of the world. Knowledge Organisers are used to share with children and parents the knowledge that will be taught in each unit or topic of work. There is an expectation that children will learn this specified content and that Knowledge is acquired in long-term memory. We have planned the curriculum so that there are many chances for pupils to review what they have already learned and secure it in their memories. We expect all pupils to remember their learning into the future. Knowledge is also carefully sequenced over time. This means that we have thought carefully about the most effective order to learn new curriculum content in.  We have planned the curriculum so that each unit of work in a subject builds directly on what has been learned before. This helps pupils understand and remember their learning more effectively.

Our Christian values of ‘Excellence, Friendship and Respect’ are woven into our curriculum aim of developing  life-long learners.  As ‘Excellent’ learners we strive every day to do our personal best at all times. We view the joy of learning as we view the joy of ‘Friendship’; we want to find out more about what we are learning, we want to be curious and to use new-found knowledge to better ourselves and our environment. Just as we want to show interest in our friends, to find out more about them and what makes them the person they are. And we want a curriculum that develops our learners to be ‘Respectful’. To appreciate the diversity within the world and to recognise that diversity is a strength; which should be respected and celebrated by all those who learn, teach and visit us.

To help achieve our intent ‘to provide our children with a rich, well-rounded foundation on which to build an understanding of the world and their place in it’, teachers have identified two key concepts, or big ideas, that transcend the perspectives and limits of any one specific subject-area. These are around ‘migration and the movement of mankind’ (that over time mankind has always been on the move, and that there are many reasons for migration; war, economics, climate etc but that there is a lot to celebrate about the migration of people) and ‘climate and sustainability’. (That mankind impacts the physical environment in many ways: overpopulation, pollution, burning fossil fuels, and deforestation. Changes like these have triggered climate change, soil erosion, poor air quality, and undrinkable water. In order for there to be a sustainable future we must protect the planet (and all that live within in it) from climate change.)

These concepts have a ‘golden thread’ through our curriculum from Reception to Year 6. By returning to them frequently, we give context and a familiar language on which to build new learning. This principle is about making connections and constant reference to a bigger picture.  Future learning, authentic cross-curricular understanding and the detail of deeper learning take place within this coherent structure.