At St Andrew’s Major Church in Wales Primary School, we are excited to be developing a bespoke curriculum for our pupils. We began our journey by reviewing our school vision, gathering the ideas and desires of pupils, parents, governors and the wider community. Over the last 4 years, we have trialled many methodologies and practices through action research as well as practitioners being engaged and involved in professional learning activities such as curriculum workshops and training.

The curriculum is both proactive and reactive to changes within the local, national and global community. Our curriculum is broad, balanced and flexible in its design and purpose. We continue to listen to our learners in order for them to be part of the evaluation and design process.

How our curriculum meets the required elements set out in the national framework

Central to, and underpinning, everything that we do are the four purposes. These are the starting point and aspiration for our curriculum. Ultimately, the aim of a school's curriculum is to support its learners to become:

Our children will learn:

• Literacy skills – listening, speaking, reading and writing in Welsh and in English.
• Numeracy skills –using numbers in everyday life.
• Digital skills.

Learning will be done through the 6 areas of learning and experience as part of a chosen theme. The 6 areas are:

• Expressive arts – pupils will explore through Art, Dance, Film, Drama, Music and Digital Media.
• Health and well-being – Pupils will learn about having a healthy body and a healthy mind. They will understand about healthy relationships and how to make good life decisions.
• Humanities – Pupils will explore history, geography, business studies and social studies. They will explore and learn about religions, values and ethics.
• Languages, Literacy and Communication – Pupils will learn and understand different languages. They will learn to use English, Welsh and Makaton. We will also be introducing other international languages from September 2022.
• Maths and Numeracy – Pupils will understand and use numbers and symbols. They will learn about shapes and measurement. They will learn how to collect and use information to make decisions.
• Science and Technology – Pupils will learn about nature and living things. They will learn skills to design and build things. They will understand how technology works and how to use it to solve problems.

Children will also learn about:

• Human rights.
• Respecting people’s differences, like their beliefs or where they come from.
• Learning about work and how to choose the kind of work you want to do.
• Learning about Wales, your local area and the world.
• Relationships and sexuality, learning about things like feelings, healthy relationships and how we think about ourselves.

How we are approaching learning progression and its arrangements for assessment

As a school, we use a multi-layered, universal cycle of assessment which places the child at the centre and answers the question ‘How do you know a child is making progress in their learning?’

Staff have engaged with the Statements of What Matters, The Progression Steps, The Skills Frameworks and other curriculum guidance.

Descriptions of learning provide guidance on how learners should progress within each Area of Learning and Experience as they journey through the continuum of learning. These are arranged in five progression steps which provide reference points for the pace of that progression. While the learning continuum is the same for each learner, the pace of progress through it may differ. As a result, the progression steps only broadly relate to age, with a set of expectations at ages 5, 8, 11, 14 and 16. Assessment should focus on identifying each individual learner’s strengths, achievements, areas for improvement and, where relevant, barriers to learning.

This information is used by the teacher along with other formal assessment data (e.g. national literacy and numeracy tests). We are embedding assessment into day-to-day practice in a way that engages the learner. In discussion with the learner, we ascertain the next steps that are required to move learning forward, including any additional challenge and support required.

How our curriculum will be kept under review

Our curriculum is reviewed termly as part of the school improvement process.

AoLE teams and senior leaders will monitor and evaluate, which in turn informs future developments.

We will continue to explore the effectiveness of our curriculum and assessment processes on a regular basis, with input from learners, staff, parents and governors.