Introduction to our curriculum:

Ark schools mission is that:

“Every child has the opportunity to attend university or pursue the career of their choice”

This is the fundamental principle that underpins the design, implementation and ongoing review of the Oval curriculum. It is at the very core of our ‘why’ and defines us as a school – how are we working towards this every day, what are the incremental steps both academic and

We use our school values of Bravery, Resilience, Respect, Honesty and Aiming High to personify the kinds of people that Ark Oval Primary academy develops. The network pillars underpin what we do – as a school we look to create an environment of excellent teaching, exemplary behaviour, knowing every child, always learning, depth for breadth and high expectations.

It is through these two filters we view the learning of not only the children within our academy but the staff and community interactions as well.

Definitions

Learning – Learning is defined as the movement of information from working memory into long term memory that can be accessed and applied as a skill. The graphics below define our understanding of the process of how learning occurs and how learning is not an immediately consolidated aspect of the human brain and that regular revisiting is required to ensure retention and application.

Skill – A skill is the application of learning both in and out of the context from which it was first introduced. As Prof. Daniel Kahneman asserts in "Thinking, Fast and Slow" there are two basic conditions for acquiring a skill:

1. An environment that is sufficiently regular to be predictable.

2. An opportunity to learn these regularities through prolonged practice.

At Ark Oval we endeavour to meet these criteria in all our lessons, a sufficiently regular situation is one where parameters and expectations are clearly defined and applied to provide opportunity for precise (Erikson) practice and application.

Intent

The intent of our curriculum goes far beyond the outcomes seen at the end of Year 6. We have thoughtfully constructed a curriculum framework which focuses not solely on academia but on shaping our pupils into confident, passionate, life-long learners. We want our pupils to continue their journey with a secure foundation of knowledge, skills, and ideas and, most importantly, a relentless curiosity about the world around them. Thus, when designing this curriculum, we endeavoured to ensure it was broad, complemented by a wide range of experiences and provided pupils with far more than just academic achievement. In our pursuit of providing Oval pupils with a balanced and rich education, we have crafted a curriculum based on four key constructs:

1: Knowledge

Recent research in the field of cognitive psychology has had huge implications in what we know about what makes effective teaching and learning. One such area of research is that which has explored the importance of a rich knowledge base in developing critical thinking. Critical thinking is a crucial life skill not only in careers but in day-to-day life.

‘Knowledge comes into play because if we want our pupils to think critically they must have something to think about.’ Dan Willingham.

Willingham’s extensive research in this area is a key cornerstone of our curriculum. The idea that a rich base of factual knowledge helps pupils to make connections and exponentially leads to further learning is at the heart of the design of each unit through the years. The framework for each year group details explicitly the knowledge that will be learnt and how this knowledge develops cumulatively throughout the unit.

2: Skills

Once pupils have a broad knowledge base, they need to explore, practice and master skills to allow them to apply this knowledge in a meaningful way. The Oval curriculum highlights these key skills and demonstrates how these are applicable in real life contexts. It is of crucial importance to us that our pupils are clear on how content relates to real life. This is integral to pupils’ developing positive learning attitudes from the earliest stages of their education.

3: Experiences

Pupil’s experiences are of paramount importance in the delivery of the Oval curriculum. It is these experiences that provide meaningful context to learning. In other words, it makes the learning ‘sticky’ and gives something for pupils to pin their developing understanding to. The curriculum details experiences that enrich and complement each unit and offer teachers suggested educational visits that will ultimately enhance pupil understanding. These experiences also serve a different purpose- it allows our pupils, who come from differing backgrounds, equal opportunity to experience people and places that they may not have access to otherwise. Through these experiences, they will also develop key life skills that we too often take for granted- how to use transport systems, how to interact with others and how to conduct themselves in public- essential development of them as both student but more importantly as active citizens in our society.

4: Holistic Approach

In designing this curriculum, we have maximised the opportunity for pupils to make connections in content both across units and across year groups. This holistic approach is incredibly important for two key reasons: (a) learning acts as a catalyst for further learning as mentioned previously e.g. learning about the events of WW2 allows a better appreciation of historical narratives such as ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’. (b) It serves an important purpose for a pupil’s experience of their learning and their individual self- esteem. They are essentially able to ‘hit the ground running; in subsequent learning and they develop a positive self-image as both learners and as individuals.
 

The curriculum covers all areas of the statutory National Curriculum and offers equal importance to all subjects- a move away from the more traditional focus on Reading, Writing and Maths. Rather, these ‘core’ subjects are interspersed in all subject areas to allow pupils to flourish across a range of areas and develop multiple interests and talents.

Curriculum implementation

The choice of the word ‘framework’ was highly deliberate. The Oval Curriculum has not been designed as a rigid structure that teachers must adhere to stringently but rather a framework of suggested content ready to be moulded and shaped by teachers and pupils alike. The knowledge base is key in terms of delivery but how this knowledge is explored and is extended upon is very much reflective of individual cohorts. The shifting demographic of our pupils has further highlighted the necessity of having a responsive curriculum in place which responds to pupils individual starting points, existing knowledge and interests as well as emphasising pupil voice in the learning cycle. The curriculum is therefore a continually evolving document and the trial of this in the academic year 18-19 has shown the success of this approach. Both teaching staff and the leadership team have contributed, and we have made a commitment as a staff to continue to review and refine this year-on-year so that our pupils are offered an outstanding education of the very highest quality.

Curriculum Structure

EYFS	EYFS Curriculum
Year 1	Ark Curriculum Plus Model – Centrally provided curriculum model based on Ark Oval Curriculum and other academies experiences and expertise. Adapted to meet needs of AOPA children and reflect our local context.
Year 2	Ark Oval Primary Curriculum – In house curriculum developed to promote academic and character objectives in line with the context and needs of our pupils.
Year 3	Ark Curriculum Plus Model – Centrally provided curriculum model based on Ark Oval Curriculum and other academies experiences and expertise. Adapted to meet needs of AOPA children and reflect our local context.
Year 4	Ark Curriculum Plus Model – Centrally provided curriculum model based on Ark Oval Curriculum and other academies experiences and expertise. Adapted to meet needs of AOPA children and reflect our local context.
Year 5	Ark Oval Primary Curriculum – In house curriculum developed to promote academic and character objectives in line with the context and needs of our pupils.
Year 6	Ark Oval Primary Curriculum – In house curriculum developed to promote academic and character objectives in line with the context and needs of our pupils.

The academy is currently transitioning from its in-house curriculum to the Ark Curriculum Plus model – this is to ensure an economy of scale and access to a deeper subject knowledge development offer. This supports us in managing the workload of staff having a skeleton of resources and supportive cross network community from which to draw support, advice and shared resources. By the end of the 20/21 year all year groups will have moved onto the Ark Curriculum Plus offer and the progression maps, resources, assessment models and concepts will be embedded across the year groups with a sequential and clear learning journey for all.

Measuring our curriculum's impact

Impact of the curriculum will be measured by evaluating both qualitative and quantitative data. Attainment and progress will be monitored closely, and qualitative data will be collected from pupils, teachers and parents to continually refine the curriculum. The impact will be seen from the statutory outcomes the academy produces but also in the way our pupils conduct themselves in and out of the academy and the knowledge they retain and apply.