Curriculum Drivers
Curriculum Drivers
The ethos of our school is to place the child at the centre of everything. All those involved with Bedlington West End Primary School aim to provide every child with the opportunities to acquire a wide range of skills. These skills will enable them to learn things that they will need throughout their whole lives. They are encouraged to be creative, enthusiastic and risk taking in their learning.
Our school values are represented by the Curriculum Drivers. These drivers form the basis of everything we do and how we behave in and around school, from Nursery to Year 6, in all aspects of school life. They also support the teaching of British Values throughout the school.
Based on the needs of our pupils, we have identified the following drivers to underpin our curriculum: These are based on our YES I CAN motto.
Y – Yourself
It is important to us that all members of our school community are safe and healthy both physically and mentally. Throughout their lives, our children will face difficult challenges, situations and decisions. They will need to have mental and physical strength to face these challenges and go on to lead successful and happy lives. At West End Primary, the children will develop a positive identity and high self-esteem knowing how to keep themselves safe. They will have a secure sense of place, belonging and history which will enable them to understand their rights, roles and responsibilities and those of others, working alongside and empathising with people from all backgrounds.
E – Equity
We actively seek to remove the barriers to learning and participation that can hinder or exclude individual pupils or groups of pupils in our school. This makes equality of opportunity a reality for our pupils. We make this happen by paying close attention to the different groups of pupils within our school:
*girls and boys;
*disadvantaged pupils
*minority ethnic and faith groups
*pupils who need support to learn English as an additional language
*pupils with special educational needs
*pupils with disabilities or medical needs
*gifted and talented pupils.
Through quality first teaching, we believe that all children can be the best they can be.
S – Skills
We believe that it is vital that children develop the skills to work well with other people. Children need to know how to speak and listen with respect in a variety of different situations. Children develop the social and emotional, physical, linguistic and cognitive skills in oracy that facilitate successful discussion, inspiring speech and effective communication. This will empower our children to participate in and contribute to all aspects of their lives through having a voice and using it with confidence.
I – Inquisitive
At West End Primary, our children discuss, debate, question and challenge the different ideas, opinions and views that they encounter in school.
Debates take place through studying our varied curriculum, from paying attention to local and national news, through the discussion current affairs and current trends on social media. This helps the children to think critically and develop informed opinions, views and ideas of their own. We foster a culture of curiosity, ensuring that our children are eager to learn, that they have the knowledge to back up their views and are confident to ask questions when they need more information.
C – Community
It is important that our children develop an understanding of where they live and the wider world. Through learning about the world, we want them to understand their role in society as well as in their local community. We explore how our school community, local community and wider community have a positive impact on us. We value the contributions that they make to our lives and our lives to theirs. We believe that our wider school community and the parents and families of our children have the power to change and enhance lives. Events and initiatives organised by the PFTA contribute to this sense of community cohesion.
We aim to help our children to understand and respect all of the communities, cultures and religions throughout Britain and the wider world.
As responsible citizens in the community, respecting the environment and being well informed about current environmental issues is also very important to us.
A – Aspiration
At West End Primary our children have experiences both inside and outside of the classroom and gain knowledge that opens their eyes to the opportunities available to them in the wider world and in their futures. Learning about
the arts and sciences, travel, culture, significant people and the world of employment stimulates curiosity, imagination and ambition. The children become aware of a world of opportunities which are open to them regardless of their gender or background and they begin to realise that they can be anything they want to be. Their aspirations are high and they develop the self-efficacy to meet those aspirations and be the best they can be both today and in the future.
N – No limits
Our children need to be resilient to deal with the different challenges that they meet whether in the curriculum or out and about in the wider world. They need to be able to solve problems without giving up. Developing the skills to work independently and become resourceful will be key to this. We want our children to be resilient and self-reliant. We want them to communicate in different ways, work independently, in partnership or take the initiative and lead when necessary. We want them to persevere with problems when the going gets tough to both solve them and find alternative and creative solutions.
They will use Growth Mindset and will fully develop the ethos of Yes I Can!