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Curriculum Overview
The KMPS 'Stretch & Reach' Curriculum
Introduction
At KMPS, we know that the curriculum is the vehicle by which we equip children with the knowledge, skills, attitudes and character that they need to grow, thrive and succeed in education and life.
We recognise that every lesson, interaction, experience and opportunity to play is an opportunity for learning and development. Whether these are planned or unplanned, formal or informal, adult-directed or child-initiated, they are an essential part of our school curriculum. We recognise every minute of the school day counts.
Aims
We are ‘bringing out the best’ in all of our pupils by giving them access to a broad and rich curriculum, enabling our children to ‘stretch and reach’.
Stretch: so our children believe they can understand what they do not know yet and achieve what they cannot do yet. They push themselves outside of their comfort zone and do not accept beliefs that limit them.
Reach: so our children succeed as they acquire and apply new knowledge and skills. They then look for new ways to stretch further.
Stretch and Reach UP: to achieve academically
- To be confident and competent speakers, readers, writers and mathematicians.
- To have ambitious subject knowledge across the curriculum.
- To nurture their artistic and intellectual experience.
Stretch and Reach IN: to have a strong sense of who they are, and be able to express it
- To strive to continuously improve physically, mentally, emotionally, socially and spiritually.
- To be able to express who they are appropriately: their skills, character, feelings and views.
- To be proud of who they are.
Stretch and Reach OUT: to relate well with, and share responsibility for others
- To be able to communicate, collaborate, disagree well and negotiate.
- To know how they relate and share responsibility: locally, nationally and globally.
- To have an awareness and appreciation of the cultures, needs and differences of others.
Stretch and Reach FORWARDS: to be equipped with a ‘spirit of adventure’
- Be resilient and embrace opportunities to take risks.
- To be able to apply skills for learning and life: thinking critically, solving problems and making decisions.
- To be ready to embrace the next stage of their learning and development, and be fully prepared for life in modern Britain.
Implementation
At Kenyngton Manor, our curriculum is implemented so that:
Key subject knowledge and subject-specific vocabulary sticks
- Pupils are active participants in constructing knowledge, e.g., discussing and debating, handling concrete materials and artefacts, asking and answering questions, solving problems, and carrying out investigations.
- Pupils are explicitly taught and then expected to use key and ambitious vocabulary.
- Regular and frequent opportunities are taken for retrieval and recall, including low-stakes and informal testing (assessment as learning).
Subject knowledge becomes broader and deeper
- Lessons and units are sequenced to build on prior knowledge and skills.
- Whilst knowledge is often connected and built-upon across subjects, in Key Stages One and Two subjects are taught discretely and with fidelity. We do not teach lessons so that they are cross curricular or with an emphasis on ‘topics’ or ‘themes’.
- Opportunities for external visits and visitors, carefully linked to the curriculum, enable pupils to apply and revisit learning.
- Whilst time for subjects is allocated to emphasise our school priorities, there is flexibility to accommodate lessons so that they are conducted in the way that is most helpful and meaningful for children (e.g. subject-specific days, shorter lessons, longer lessons).
There is an emphasis on the application of spoken language, phonic knowledge, early reading and reading
- Curriculum time is prioritised for reading, this includes a heavy emphasis on phonics and early reading in the early years, year 1 and where pupils are in the early stages of reading.
- Frequent opportunities are given for applying spoken language, phonic knowledge, early reading and reading across curriculum subjects.
Pupils develop a broader and deeper experience and understanding of how to be the best person that they can be
- Within assemblies, interactions and subjects across the curriculum, pupils grow broader and deeper understanding and experience of the KMPS 7 Wholehearted Habits.
- Pupils’ learning across the curriculum is explicitly shaped by the contributions of a wide range of people, races, cultures, belief systems and societies.
- ‘The Zones of Regulation’ sits at the heart of staff and pupils’ understanding of behaviour.
The educational programme Outlined in The Statutory Framework for The Early Years Foundation Stage (2025) And Programmes of Study in The National Curriculum (2014) are delivered.
- This ensures that children ‘know more, remember more, and do more’ connecting and building upon what they have learned across lessons, between units within a subject and then across the curriculum between subjects.
Impact
The evidence of the impact of our curriculum will be when:
- All our children have a positive attitude towards the subjects they are learning.
- All our children are able to articulate in speech and writing what they have learnt previously, applying a rich range of subject-specific vocabulary.
- Assessment of learning (at the point of teaching) shows that all our children know more, remember more, and do more: connecting what they have learned across lessons, between units within a subject and then across the curriculum between subjects. This will be evident in contributions made by children in lessons, conversations with children and work produced by children.
- Point-in-time assessment, standardised assessment and statutory assessments provide evidence that all our children know more and remember more.
- All our children have the knowledge and skills they need to continue to be successful in their next lesson, unit, Key Stage and school.
To find out more about the curriculum, please contact info@kmps.thpt.org.uk