JWS Curriculum

“Put these abilities to work; throw yourself into your tasks so that everyone may notice your improvement and progress.” Timothy 4:15

At The John Wesley CEMP School, we believe in the concept of lifelong learning and the idea that both adults and children learn new things every day. We maintain that learning should be a rewarding and enjoyable experience for everyone. Through our teaching, we equip children with the skills, knowledge and understanding necessary to be able to make informed choices about the important things in their lives. We believe that appropriate teaching and learning experiences help children to lead happy and rewarding lives.

We believe that every child deserves to thrive in an environment where they feel valued, safe and inspired. Thriving is not only about academic success but also about nurturing confidence, resilience and joy in learning. Our vision of Flourishing in F.A.I.T.H. ensures that children grow as individuals and as part of a caring community, supported by strong relationships and a sense of purpose.

CURRICULUM INTENT 

At The John Wesley CEMP School (JWS), we provide a unique and relevant curriculum for all the children we have in our school. Our curriculum is language rich and embraces interdependence and resilience, enquiry and thinking, curiosity and creativity to enable every child to flourish and reach their full potential. Our aim is to help our children be the best they can be and live 'life in all its fullness’. 

Our curriculum is designed to ensure that all children achieve and flourish, regardless of their starting point. A sense of belonging is central to this design. When children feel they belong, they are more confident to take risks, embrace challenges and develop the skills needed to thrive and succeed in life.

This is underpinned by a focus on providing essential skills for developing resilient, independent learners for the ever-changing world around us in a stimulating and enjoyable environment. When children leave JWS, they should be equipped with the full range of skills that enables them to become lifelong learners. While simultaneously cherishing childhood, our Christian ethos and values are at the heart of everything that we do. We have a commitment to teaching about spirituality, global citizenship and courageous advocacy, ensuring that children are empowered to treat all people and themselves with dignity and respect.

CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTATION

We recognise there are many skill sets within our world, and whilst there is a focus on Maths, English, RE, ICT and Science, we ensure we provide a rich, broad and balanced curriculum to capture the very best from all of our children. Our curriculum is a Connected Curriculum, sometimes linking subjects and topics, giving children a reason for their learning. By extending Continuous and Enhanced provision from EYFS into KS1 and then developing it further into KS2, we encourage and develop the children’s desire to be responsible for their own learning. In KS2, the children complete a set of challenges in the form of ‘Missions’, which enable them to guide their own learning and complete the tasks in a way that best suits their learning style. We aim to inspire the children’s passion for learning and creativity. 

To enable us to achieve this, we broaden opportunities by including a range of experiences for the children such as:

• Forest School activities
• Educational visits
• In school experiences such as History immersion days
• Residential Trip in Year 6
• School performances and shows
• Whole school theme days
• Service to and in the community
• Church visits
• Visiting authors, different religious people, theatre groups etc.

Our school environment is very important to us at JWS, and it is here you can see how our hidden curriculum is threaded into the everyday lives of the children. Our school Christian values and Biblical story promotes how important learning from each other is. Our values encourage how we live, are expected to behave and underpin the foundations for our learning. Through these Christian values and our Bible story, we aim to teach the children how to grow into positive, responsible people, who can work and co-operate with others whilst developing their own understanding of the world around them. Our wider curriculum focuses on personal, interpersonal and social effectiveness, managing risk and decision making. We aim to equip children to live healthy, safe, productive, capable, responsible and balanced lives to thrive. 

Through collaborative learning and shared experiences, we foster a culture where children learn from and with each other. This approach strengthens their sense of belonging and helps them to flourish and thrive and achieve socially, emotionally and academically. Our Christian values underpin these experiences, ensuring that every child feels loved, respected and supported.

We present a wide range of opportunities to enable us to:

• Promote curiosity – asking questions, delving deeper and analysing
• Develop communication – listening, empathy and relationship-building
• ‘Prove it’ opportunities – problem solving, decision making and exploration
• Sharing views and opinions – visual, spoken and written
• Encourage creativity – innovation, imagination and spirituality 

As we live in a changing world, we understand the need to have an evolving, adaptable curriculum. We constantly review our curriculum provision according to the needs and aspirations of our current learners. This is because we believe that all children are entitled to receive a high-quality curriculum that encourages the highest possible standards and fosters lifelong learning.                                                                                                                                     

CURRICULUM IMPACT

We aim to:

• Put children at the heart of everything we do
• Inspire healthy children (mentally, physically, spiritually and emotionally healthy)
• Nurture happy, well-rounded, resilient children who are confident to celebrate who they are
• Develop behaviours for effective life-long learning such as motivation, curiosity, enthusiasm, collaboration and resilience
• Create a safe, stimulating environment in which every child can achieve their potential and be the best that they can be with accessible resources to promote independence
• Encourage children to be respectful, tolerant and responsible citizens living balanced lives
• Work alongside our families, churches and local community to achieve our aims
• Put spiritual and Christian faith at the centre of our school
• Engage with a broad curriculum that leads to success, both academic and more holistically
• Learn and make progress across all curriculum areas in knowledge and skills – ‘Learn more, remember more’
• The root of all learning is dependent on the high-quality relationships between adults and children / children and children
• A positive learning culture where children are focussed, safe, able to take risks and make mistakes 

Thriving and achieving are evident when children are happy, confident and motivated to learn. We measure success not only through academic achievement but also through the development of character, friendships and a deep sense of belonging to our school community and to the world. Our vision ensures that every child leaves JWS knowing they are valued and prepared for life in all its fullness. 

We use the National Curriculum to guide our teaching and planning. This sets out the aims, objectives and details of what will be taught to each year group. We base our teaching on our knowledge of the children’s interests and their level of attainment. Our prime focus is to develop further the knowledge and skills of the children so as they learn more they can remember more. We strive to ensure that all tasks set are appropriate to each child’s level of ability. We have high expectations of all children, and we believe that their work here at The John Wesley CEM Primary School is of the highest possible standard.

For all subjects we use the National Curriculum to plan the children’s learning and will deliver it to the year groups through our Connected Learning or separate subjects. On-going assessment of the children’s progress and attainment is carried out by teachers on a termly basis. 

Assessment (Learning Menu Tab)