Our Curriculum

Curriculum Intent

At Whitings Hill Primary School, we aim to ensure that our children have the opportunities to achieve success and develop into confident, resilient, educated citizens. At the same time, we recognise the children in our school community come from varied backgrounds and it is incumbent on us to provide them with experiences that they might not otherwise get. We want to make sure that they develop aspirations for their future and we encourage them to become proactive members of their local community.
 
Our school motto and Mission Statement is: ‘Growing Successful Learners’ and this is part of the very fabric of our school. This motto adds impetus and focus to our curriculum.
 
Growing Successful Learners

Growing
 
At Whitings Hill, we aim to instil in the children a love of learning and a thirst for knowledge. We do this through a wide-ranging and well-planned curriculum that appeals to the children’s interests. We adapt our teaching to make lessons fully inclusive. From when they start with us as seeds until they leave us as saplings, the progression of knowledge and skills that they experience is mapped out in a coherent and cumulative fashion.
 
Furthermore, we want Whitings Hill children to be curious about the world around them. We want them to experience a sense of awe at its beauty and majesty while at the same time being aware of their responsibilities as global citizens, citizens who will take responsibility for the fate and preservation of the planet that we share.
 
Apart from that, we teach Whitings Hill children how to grow to become healthy in body, mind and spirit. We use physical education and the incomparable benefit of having our own school swimming pool to promote exercise and fitness. We use the principles of Growth Mindset to encourage the children to try hard and overcome difficulties with their learning while our work on Zones of Regulation teaches children to identify and cope with difficult emotions.
 
 
Successful
 
At Whitings Hill, we value and celebrate success through our weekly assemblies and the many and varied opportunities to earn school awards, from House points to times tables certificates. Displays in the school give the children a sense of pride in their achievements and encourages them to take care in the presentation of their work.
 
In addition, we aim for our children to develop the knowledge needed to understand and explore new ideas and the language skills to express and explain themselves. We give them opportunities in the classroom to test their ideas and opinions in the crucible of discussion and debate. Teachers use open-ended questioning to give children the chance to examine possibilities and develop their thinking skills.
 
Our children belong to a generation of ‘digital natives’. We want them to be ready to face the challenges of the modern world so we provide them with the technological proficiency necessary to navigate the digital realm and the skills to do so safely and respectfully.
 
Learners
 
The children at Whitings Hill are all on a journey to become confident, independent learners. Our carefully planned curriculum allows them to build on their existing knowledge and encourages them to try things for themselves. Knowledge and skills are valued and explicitly taught.
 
We want our children to develop their cultural understanding so we encourage classes to go on regular trips to museums, galleries and theatres. At the same time, we want them to have their own artistic experiences through singing, composing music and choreographing dances which are show-cased in our music and dance festivals which occur alternatively, every other year.  They have opportunities to script their own stories and act them out. They will use their hands to create their own works of art through painting, drawing, sculpting and modelling. Moreover, we firmly believe that Whitings Hill pupils should have the chance to connect with the natural world. We use our own wildlife area, pond and garden as well as local trips to the nearby open space and brook to give them an appreciation of nature.
 
We aim for the children at Whitings Hill to have an appreciation of the written word and to have a love of books and reading. Carefully chosen texts fire the children’s imagination and are sources of inspiration. They are also an invaluable source of knowledge and information.
 
At Whitings Hill, we have a clear vision of what we want for our children and a plan for what we want them to experience. Through our curriculum, we aspire to equip our children to be lifelong learners, growing to become educated and informed members of society.