CURRICULUM AT ESKDALE ACADEMY

When designing our new curriculum, we decided to follow a structure of Intent (What we hope to do and why we want to do it), Implementation (How we are going to do it) and Impact (The outcomes we hope to achieve).

We also looked at the pedagogy behind our teaching at Eskdale and how knowledge and skills are imparted in our school.

This fed into looking at cultural capital across our curriculum to ensure our children could celebrate and embrace the different backgrounds, heritage, languages and traditions of our country.

They include ensuring that the curriculum:

• Has the needs of the children at the heart of everything we do
• Is based on a strong foundation of oracy
• Meets the needs of our local community
• Is full of exciting, enriching and enjoyable learning experiences
• Provides opportunities for our children, staff and parents to all learn together
• Positively improves academic outcomes
• Prepares our children to become positive role models in and effective contributors to Society
• Gives our pupils the chance to become the very best versions of themselves
• Prepares children for life long learning
• Preparing numerate and literate learners

Or in short, a curriculum which provides only the very best education, opportunities and experiences for all of our pupils.

OUR VISION, VALUES & AIMS

Our Vision, Values and Aims were created in collaboration with learners, staff, parents and partners during a School and Trust Visioning day in September 2018.

As a School Community, we reflect regularly on what they mean and how we can apply our Vision, Values and Aims to our daily life in order to be the very best we can be.

At Eskdale Academy, we view our setting as a ‘Learning Community’ – a place where children, professionals, adults and families learn together.  With this in mind, our vision statement is…

At Eskdale Academy, we believe 'Only the best is good enough! - A learning community with no excuses and no limits to what we can all achieve.

This is underpinned by a series of core values; which are reflected in the curriculum we deliver:

• Respect
• Tolerance
• Responsibility
• Honesty
• Ambition
• Caring for others
• Team work

SEND

At Eskdale Academy, we adhere to the Inclusion Statement in the new National Curriculum (DFE, 2014, p.9). We believe that “Lessons should be planned to ensure that there are no barriers to every pupil achieving” and follow the guidance in the Code of Practice (2014) around the identification of need and possible ways of supporting the minority who require special equipment or alternative approaches to help them to access the learning. We also recognise that pupils with disabilities may require particular equipment and approaches, and that potential barriers to learning must be identified and tackled prior to the work taking place (DFE, 2014, p.9). We have high expectations of all pupils and recognise our “even greater obligation” (DFE, 2014, p.9) to planning for the needs of those pupils who may be disadvantaged in any way.