Curriculum
What is the intent of our curriculum?
At Jenyns First School and Nursery, our curriculum supports our children to be engaged, motivated and resilient learners. Our creative curriculum is designed to be knowledge rich across all subjects, through a topic based approach, to ensure skills can be applied in each subject area. The curriculum has been designed so it is meaningful for children, but also inclusive and celebratory of other cultures and beliefs.
All learning styles are considered when teaching, to ensure every child can reach their full potential while developing personal characteristics to grow into a well-rounded citizen.
We teach a Values Education, whereby children explicitly learn the skills and characters that are needed to equip them for everyday life as an adult, both when learning and in general life situations. Children’s characters are nurtured and developed just like the knowledge and skills of our curriculum.
With high expectations, we create a learning environment where every child is valued and respected.
How is our curriculum implemented?
Staff lead a subject area within their expertise to ensure that their curriculum area has a high status across the school. Teachers and support staff have sound subject knowledge with areas outside of their main expertise and training is given to ensure they offer discussions about the subject being taught.
The curriculum is sequenced to ensure that children revisit skills and knowledge of the National Curriculum across each Key Stage. For every piece of new learning, the children are taught why they are learning what they are and how they can use this knowledge across other subjects areas- learning is always explicit. Key vocabulary is taught to provide the children with a vocabulary rich learning environment and is shared on the working wall, which children are encouraged to refer to, so they can be resourceful in supporting their own learning. An emphasis is placed on talk, heavily centred around the learners to ensure that staff are checking on misconceptions and responding as necessary to these.
Children’s love of books is celebrated and reading materials closely match each child’s phonic knowledge. Teachers assess through feedback and marking and use this information to ensure that the next lesson is progressive from the last. They are given opportunities to revisit all aspects of the curriculum to weave into larger concepts, regular reviews of learning are carried out at the end of a topic to ensure that teachers can gauge the knowledge a child has built up and how they apply this.
What impact will this have?
The children will leave Jenyns as confident learners ready for their next stage of life. They will hold the skills required to learn independently, solving problems and having high aspirations of themselves. Because they are well-rounded children they will choose a profession suitable to their interests, skills and aspirations!
At Jenyns, our results are evidence of the high expectations we have of the children at our school.
Curriculum Overview
For further information on the National Curriculum visit
PSHE and RSHE Policy
"To embrace the challenges of creating a happy and successful adult life, pupils
need knowledge that will enable them to make informed decisions about their wellbeing,
health and relationships and to build their self-efficacy. Pupils can also put this
knowledge into practice as they develop the capacity to make sound decisions when
facing risks, challenges and complex contexts. Everyone faces difficult situations in their
lives. These subjects can support young people to develop resilience, to know how and
when to ask for help, and to know where to access support.
High quality, evidence-based and age-appropriate teaching of these subjects can
help prepare pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life.
They can also enable schools to promote the spiritual, moral, social, cultural, mental and
physical development of pupils, at school and in society. The duties on schools in this
area are set out in legislation". (Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education) DfE 2020