Three core considerations underpin the creation of the Mandeville curriculum:

1. Acknowledgement and celebration of the diverse range of cultures/experiences/life circumstances of the children within the school.

We are aware that the children enter the school with a vast diversity of cultures, experiences and life circumstances and that these differences may present a barrier to all children fully accessing and embracing learning within the different curriculum areas – for some children, they will be rich in the prior knowledge needed to access that particular aspect of learning; for others, they will be poor in prior knowledge. We acknowledge that this divide in prior knowledge could create and perpetuate disadvantage. With this in mind, each subject leader has created an ‘engagement activity’ to launch each topic. This aims to allow all children to be enthused and excited about the learning ahead, and to begin with a shared experience that ensures all start the learning from a point of equality. Educational visits and visitors are a fundamental part of the curriculum, strategically planned to ensure a breadth of experience across a child’s time at the school. Every topic ends with an opportunity for the children to become the teacher in our “Express” sessions, consolidating learning with the aim of placing newly learnt knowledge and skills in the long-term memory.

2. Understanding of the importance of Personal, Social and Emotional development for our children.

We acknowledge that a proportion of the children in the school require additional support with acquiring personal and social skills. With this in mind, we have taken the decision to make PSHE (personal, social and health education) a core curriculum subject (in the National Curriculum this is a non-core subject). The PSHE assembly topics are mapped annually for the whole school so that the whole school community address the same aspect of learning at the same time. It is expected that the PSHE topic underpins all learning in all curriculum areas (when appropriate and relevant). In addition to this, the discreet PSHE curriculum is taught using the "Jigsaw" scheme covering all aspects of learning including relationships and sex education, drug awareness and healthy lifestyles. Alongside the PSHE curriculum, the school values of "be kind, be brave, be involved, be a learner" are embedded into all aspect of school life.

3. Valuing the importance of developing a wide vocabulary

We recognise that a  proportion of children lack a rich vocabulary on entry to the school. This is reflected in entry level data. With this in mind, all the subjects outlined in the Mandeville curriculum are designed to allow many opportunities to build and broaden children’s vocabulary. The curriculum for each subject contains the subject specific vocabulary that should be taught through the subject in each year group. Explicit teaching of Oracy skills is evident in all lessons.

KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are identified for each year group in each subject. These are statements that outline what the children should know/be able to do as a result of the learning within that topic. These are limited (to about 4 to 5) in order to both reduce the burden of excessive assessment and to ensure that the focus of assessment is on the core skills.

Our curriculum is designed to ensure that every child can experience, learn and achieve whatever their ability, age, disability, gender, race, religion or culture. Parents are encouraged to discuss any concerns they might have in relation to the above with their child’s class teacher in the first instance. Every effort will be made to adapt how we offer aspects of our curriculum if necessary. We are sensitive to children’s protected characteristics and also make every effort to ensure that all school resources reflect our commitment to equal opportunities for all.

If you require further information about the curriculum we teach please speak to your class teacher.