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Curriculum overview
At New Park Primary Academy, our curriculum fosters a deep, lifelong love of learning through a nurturing, stimulating environment where kindness and positive relationships are central. We provide a secure space that encourages growth, allowing students to build skills, knowledge, and confidence while safely making mistakes.
Our approach embraces curiosity and promotes a sense of belonging, ensuring that everyone thrives. Guided by our core principles—respect, responsibility, and readiness to learn—students are encouraged to be polite, proactive, and engaged, helping them develop into compassionate, innovative, and resilient citizens within their own community and beyond.
The school has developed an ambitious curriculum for all pupils. The knowledge and skills that pupils must learn are clearly mapped out. The school has carefully considered how pupils’ learning builds up overtime. This ensures that pupils do not miss out on important learning opportunities.
Ofsted, February 2024
Our curriculum emphasises the importance of questions as a driving force behind exploration and discovery. Every sequence of learning seeks to answer a thought provoking question to engage pupils in understanding their local environment and the wider world.
Our dynamic approach to teaching and learning, provides diverse opportunities that enhance both knowledge and skills. Every child is exposed to a wide range of thoughtfully planned extra-curricular experiences which build teamwork, communication skills, relationships and a sense of belonging.
Our commitment to reading and inquiry helps students develop critical thinking and problem-solving abilities. Every pupil develops a passion for reading as the foundation of all learning.
Teaching and Learning
At New Park Primary Academy, all lessons are engaging, clear and developmentally appropriate.
In all lessons we:
- Review and revisit previous learning through retrieval questions and ‘Do It Now Activities’
- Share the Learning Objective with the pupils so that they know what they are learning and why
- Discuss sequential steps to learning to ensure all children are successful
- Scaffold learning by providing support as pupils progress through increasingly complex concepts and activities
- Emphasise the development of oracy skills through collaboration to deepen understanding and reasoning
- Involve pupils in their own assessment for learning throughout the lesson
- Show how the lesson connects to the pupils’ lives or the world around them to make learning meaningful and applicable
Key Stages
In the UK education system, the term Key Stages (KS) refers to the stages of a child’s education, as set out in the National Curriculum. In primary school, there are two key stages: Key Stage 1 (KS1) and Key Stage 2 (KS2). These stages define the knowledge and skills children are expected to learn during specific age ranges.
Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS): This covers children from Birth to age 5. At New Park Primary Academy, this is children who are in Nursery and in Reception.
Key Stage 1: Children in Years 1 and 2
Key Stage 2: Children in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6.
The National Curriculum
The English National Curriculum for primary pupils covers Key Stage 1 (ages 5-7) and Key Stage 2 (ages 7-11). It includes core and foundation subjects:
Core Subjects:
- English: Reading, writing, grammar, punctuation, and speaking.
- Mathematics: Arithmetic, geometry, and problem-solving.
- Science: Biology, physics, chemistry basics.
Foundation Subjects:
- Art and Design
- Computing
- Design and Technology
- Geography
- History
- Music
- Physical Education (PE)
- Religious Education (RE) (local authority sets specifics)
- Languages (in Key Stage 2)
The curriculum encourages critical thinking, creativity, and practical skills, preparing pupils for secondary education.
The national curriculum in England - Framework document (publishing.service.gov.uk)
