The Key Stage 2 Curriculum Overview

This model illustrates how the Key Stage 2 curriculum at Headington Prep supports our aim to equip pupils to be future ready. At the heart of all we do, the pupils’ wellbeing is paramount. Curriculum areas support the development of happy, healthy, well-balanced individuals for example our PSHE programme, sports provision and dedicated library sessions. The development of core Literacy, Numeracy and Digital literacy skills continues to form a core part of pupils’ learning throughout Key Stage 2. These are taught discretely, but the broader curriculum provides rich opportunities for pupils to apply and deepen these essential skills. Well chosen texts and books tackle issues of diversity, inclusion and equality and challenge pupils’ points of view, whilst inspiring them to aim high in their academic work. A mastery approach to maths ensures a secure and methodical development of understanding from pictural through to abstract. It ensures depth of a conceptual understanding so pupils are able to apply their knowledge and skills to the most challenging of maths problems. Digital literacy is about developing the skills, knowledge, and confidence to understand the digital world in which we live. In both their school and personal life, they will use technology to develop solutions to problems and critically evaluate emerging applications and technologies. This is why we have chosen to make this part of our future ready curriculum. To ensure the curriculum is as diverse, engaging, relevant and forward thinking as possible, termly themes have been organised under three headings, one for each term.

• Literature and the Arts
• Global World
• STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths)

We want to develop critical thinkers, who question, think through and debate the knowledge with which they are presented so each term is centred around a key question linked to the theme such as

• Does good always conquer evil?
• How can I make a difference?
• Who am I?

Furthermore, each term’s unit of work will have a conceptual foundation such as democracy, stewardship, equality and beauty. All subjects are taught every term. However, the emphasis for each term will change depending on the overarching questions and themes. We aim to embed excellence within each academic discipline whilst making links between disciplines where appropriate. Some subjects will work well together to provide real and relevant experiences such as using physical computing kits to drive motors, flash lights or even add sensors to engineering projects in DT such as moving vehicles or robotics. Our curriculum is designed to develop creative thinkers, who think beyond the obvious, explore possibilities, solve problems and have the tenacity to keep going, and the confidence to know they can make a difference. Our learning habits in the outer ring of the model are drawn from an established model for creative thinking and our termly overarching questions, themes and concepts will provide rich opportunities for pupils to regularly practise the essential creative thinking skills of Imagining, Questioning, Collaborating, Persevering, and Reflecting. They will also afford opportunities to develop the quality of compassion, especially with kindness as one of our core values.