At Portway Junior School, we are dedicated to fostering life-long learners and developing the whole-child. We are passionate about inspiring each individual pupil to become an enthusiastic and curious learner, with a desire to explore the world around them. We believe that by fostering a love of learning, we can provide our pupils with a solid foundation for success in all aspects of their lives. Our curriculum intent is designed to equip our pupils with the essential knowledge and skills necessary to prepare them for their future academic and personal pursuits, while also promoting their social and emotional development.
Based on the National Curriculum, it is designed to be broad, balanced and ambitious. We have taken great care to ensure that our curriculum reflects both our context and the locality of our school, making it relevant and meaningful to the lives and experiences of our pupils. Subjects are taught discreetly to enable our pupils to develop a strong foundation in each subject, acquire subject-specific skills and be better prepared for secondary education.
Our curriculum is knowledge based and has been carefully sequenced so that subject knowledge is built on prior knowledge and becomes more complex each academic year. Below are our long term plans which show the content of our curriculum for each year group in every subject:
At Portway Junior School, we pride ourselves on the high level of subject knowledge and expertise our teachers bring to the classroom. We believe that a strong foundation in subject matter is crucial for effective teaching and student learning. Each teacher takes a leadership role in a specific subject area, immersing themselves in the latest developments, research, and best practice within their respective disciplines. This subject leadership role allows our teachers to become true experts in their subjects and continuously expand their own knowledge. Our subject leaders play a vital role in sharing their subject knowledge and expertise with their colleagues. This collaborative spirit promotes a vibrant learning community, where our teachers inspire and support one another in delivering the highest quality education to our students.
Equitable delivery
At Portway Junior School, we are committed to creating a inclusive curriculum that is delivered in an equitable manner, providing all students with an equal opportunity to succeed. We believe that maintaining high expectations for all learners, coupled with high quality teaching, plays a pivotal role in fostering an environment where every student can access and excel in the curriculum. Our teachers use a range of teaching strategies, such as flexible grouping, metacognitive strategies, explicit instruction, technology and scaffolding, to support SEND learners across the curriculum.
Assessment
We believe that assessment is an integral part of the learning process. Our assessment practices are designed to help our pupils embed and use knowledge fluently. They allow our teachers to check pupil understanding and inform future teaching. Formative assessments, such as class discussions, quizzes and questioning, occur during the lesson. These assessments allow our teachers to monitor our students' progress, provide timely feedback and make adjustments to instruction to meet individual needs. Formative assessments also encourage our students to reflect on their learning, identify areas for improvement, and take ownership of their academic growth. Summative assessments, such as end-of-unit tests, projects, and presentations, provide opportunities for our students to demonstrate their understanding of key knowledge, concepts and skills acquired. These assessments help our teachers gauge students' overall proficiency and guide future instructional planning.
Monitoring
At Portway Junior School, we are dedicated to ensuring the effective implementation of our curriculum through rigorous monitoring practices. Through a combination of learning walks, pupil voice, and book looks, our senior leaders and middle leaders ensure that the delivery aligns with our curriculum intent. During learning walks, senior leaders and middle leaders observe teaching and learning in action across various year groups and classrooms. They provide an opportunity for leaders to gauge the overall implementation of the curriculum, identify strengths and areas for improvement, and provide constructive feedback to our teachers. Pupil voice activities, such as surveys, focus groups or individual conversations, provide leaders with our students' experiences and perceptions. We gain valuable insights into their engagement, understanding, and overall satisfaction with the curriculum. Their feedback informs our decision-making and helps shape future curriculum enhancements. Book looks help our leaders to gain an understanding of the progress our pupils have made, the level of challenge they are provided with and the effectiveness of our teacher feedback. They also help us to evaluate the extent to which the curriculum objectives are being met, identify patterns or gaps in our student understanding, and provide targeted support where needed.
We are committed to the broadest educational offering, and that means looking beyond the National Curriculum. An enrichment programme underpins our curriculum so that our pupils can have experiences that enhance their vocabulary, understanding and knowledge. The programme is planned throughout the year.
Trips and Visits
• We plan a series of trips throughout the year for each year group and these are communicated to parents at the start of the academic year.
• The trips are directly linked to our topic work.
• We organise residential trips for our Year 4 and 6 pupils
Themed days and weeks
• We also have themed days and weeks throughout the year.