Knowledge Rich Curriculum
In our Trust the curriculum is broadly defined as the knowledge students are expected to learn (including spiritual, moral, social and cultural) through the totality of experiences provided in our children’s primary schooling.
We define knowledge in two categories:
Declarative knowledge: (to know that…) This is all about learning specific facts.
Procedural knowledge (to know how….) This is linked to developing skills.
Our curriculum is designed to enable children to consolidate and build upon know knowledge.
Where possible we have developed horizontal links within a year group, linking knowledge between different subject areas. For example the science knowledge may link closely to the geography knowledge for that term.
In addition we have developed vertical links within a subject to enable children to use and apply prior knowledge from the previous year. For example the maths knowledge learnt in Year 3 will be applied to build upon new knowledge in Year 4.
‘Learning is defined as an alteration in long-term memory. If nothing has been altered in long-term memory then nothing has been learned.’
Sweller et al. 2011
In line with cognitive load theory we aim, through our teaching, to develop understanding by building well-developed schema: well organised, connected knowledge as opposed to a handful of unconnected facts. The opportunity to consolidate and reuse knowledge to develop new knowledge is part of our approach.
Our Year Group Curriculum Overviews outlines the coverage of the National Curriculum across our school. For further information please contact James Bloomfield, our Headteacher.