Overarching Curriculum Intent Statement 2025-26

Whatever their background they will learn to shape their futures and develop their unique capacities and skills. They will be encouraged to be curious and use thinking skills to innovate, be creative and problem solve. They will develop the first understandings of employment and entrepreneurship. A primary education should set learners up for life, with the knowledge and skills to be well-rounded individuals, mentally and physically healthy, with an appreciation for and a generosity towards people, the world and the universe around them.

Picknalls First School is very proud of the journey it has been on over the last few years in relation to its curriculum development. We feel our inclusive curriculum offers a broad, balanced and ambitious approach which allows all children, no matter their ability, to be able to fully access the curriculum and enrichment opportunities.

Our experienced teachers deliver quality first teaching alongside the highly skilled support staff. All staff collaborate to ensure all children are on track to meet and exceed personal attainment and progress targets through our ever-evolving curriculum.

As we are a First School we have the privilege of starting each child’s journey and therefore focus on ensuring the basic skills of each subject are secure. The basic skills are reinforced across the whole of our curriculum We then build on these steps to ensure that each child is prepared for their next stage of education and in shaping their future ambitions.

When redesigning our curriculum, we worked very closely with the First, Middle and High School partners within our Multi Academy Trust. Our primary aim when forming the i2e in 2017, was to become a locally geographic all through 3-18 schools’ network, with one of our key strengths being the strong transition and curriculum development.

Implementation

We use a variety of techniques in order to deliver a broad, balanced and ambitious curriculum which is based on the National Curriculum, that ALL children at Picknalls First School can enjoy and succeed in.
The structure of the school day consists of the mornings being primarily focused sessions including English lessons, Maths lessons, Phonics sessions, Guided Reading activities etc. We deliver each subject as an individual subject. This allows for the children to fully immerse themselves into understanding each unique subjects’ substantive concepts. Subject leaders have shaped each year groups curriculum to be progressive and not only build on previous learning at Picknalls but into their next stages of the Multi Academy Trust.
Although subjects have a named person responsible for the oversight and development of their individual subject, each middle leader works in a subject team to ensure support for similar subjects and to create wider curriculum approaches and thinking. Regular subject team staff meetings allow for each team to design an action plan, implement the actions and monitor the impact across the whole school. Regular staff meetings, and a dedicated Subject Leaders meeting, also allow for Subject Leaders to share updates quickly and effectively across the whole school.
We include parents wherever possible in the child’s learning in order for them to support the learning beyond the classroom and outside of the school. Parents receive a half termly ‘parent information sheet’ which can also be located on the website. This outlines the learning that will be covered so that parents can further support them at home. Each subject has it’s own long term plan which sets out the learning for each year group. The plans can be viewed on our Subject Long Term Plans page as separate subjects or grouped together by year group.

Impact

‘Pupils learn to read early and well. Their phonics knowledge helps them read with confidence and fluency. They write with suitable stamina and accuracy. Pupils also learn mathematical knowledge at the level expected for their age. Extra support for any struggling pupils helps most keep up with others. Most pupils learn well across the curriculum, including pupils with SEND. A few pupils struggle still with reading but are getting extra help. Pupils with SEND are identified and supported effectively. OFSTED Nov 2024

Each subject will have its own substantive concepts which can be found on each individual curriculum intent document. These aspects will be revisited no matter what year group the child is in and form the basis of each subject.
In order to have a visual reminder of the key aspects of our curriculum each classroom will have a learning journey tree. These will contain:

How do we celebrate children’s learning at Picknalls?

‘Relationships between staff and pupils are very positive. Staff show concern for pupils and model high expectations of behaviour and attitudes. They help pupils to practise agreed routines, including cooperating with each other in lessons. All this encourages polite and considerate behaviour and an ethos of respect and tolerance. Pupils’ positive attitudes are reflected in their high levels of attendance. Ofsted, Nov 2024

Cultural Capital at Picknalls First School

Cultural capital refers to the accumulation of knowledge, behaviours, and skills that a child can draw upon to gain a sense of cultural awareness, competence, and confidence. In our primary curriculum, we prioritise enriching pupils’ cultural capital by exposing them to a wide variety of experiences and perspectives. This includes engaging with diverse texts, exploring different cultures and histories, participating in the arts, and fostering critical thinking about societal issues. By doing so, we aim to equip our children with the cultural literacy necessary to navigate and contribute positively to an increasingly globalised world, while also celebrating and understanding the richness of their own cultural heritage.

Written by the Headteacher, Mrs Tapp.