Birdwell's Curriculum Intent

Our curriculum is driven by the need to prepare our children to become lifelong learners. Our rich and relevant curriculum, which is ambitious for all children, develops the essential knowledge, skills and understanding that we believe are the foundations for life. We teach the requirements of the national curriculum, but go beyond this in delivering a wide range of learning experiences that we believe are important for our children. 

At Birdwell, our values enrich our curriculum and allow our children to share their own talents and skills. 

Our Birdwell tree encompasses the attitudes we try to instil in all of our community. 

Our Values are:

We are creative: we use our imaginations.
We are team players: we work together.
We are curious: we ask questions.
We are proud: of ourselves and others.
We are brave: we take risks and learn from our mistakes.
We are kind: we are considerate and respectful.
We are individuals: we celebrate our differences.

At Birdwell we are really proud of our rich and varied curriculum. Our curriculum aims to ensure that:

• Our children are curious, life-long learners who can work collaboratively and achieve their full potential
• Our children experience a wide-range of learning opportunities – where possible linked to purposeful, real-life problems and our local community
• Our children know that there are no limits on their abilities
• Our children become active citizens that embody the British Values, but are able to live in our local and global community
• Our children's learning in English and maths follows the requirements of the National Curriculum, with high expectations for them all.

We want to start our children on their journey to become the future leaders, scientists, writers, designers, technology experts, geographers, mathematicians, historians, artists: we want to inspire them each and every day to achieve their goal.

The Community

Our curriculum is outward-looking and embraces our wider community. We are incredibly proud of the impact our curriculum has on our local community.  We readily engage with parents, industry, local organisations and individuals to bring the real world into our school. 

Outdoor Learning

Outdoor learning is a fundamental part of our children’s Birdwell life, with children taking growing responsibility of different areas within the school site.

Our Wider Opportunities

We provide our children a wide range of sporting activities, from dance and athletics to team games and tournaments, every term. Our children also take part in exciting STEM activities and present these to other schools with pride.

Art and music also feature prominently within our curriculum. We are passionate about nurturing our children’s enthusiasm and creativity in this way. Children also enjoy a range of experiences through their topics, and we share their work with their families in a variety of ways. 

We celebrate national and local events together and enjoy participating in Christmas and summer shows. We also celebrate all our children's successes through a weekly Wow assembly, and a termly awards ceremony that recognises those children who have really demonstrated an aptitude in a curriculum area.

Jigsaw / PHSE

PHSE stands for Personal, Health and Social Education. It is an important part of our children's learning that helps to give them the knowledge, skills and understanding they need to lead confident, healthy and independent lives. At Birdwell we follow the Jigsaw approach to PHSE. More information about this, particularly the relationships part of the scheme, is shared with parents during the summer terms.

Religious Education

We use the Jigsaw RE syllabus to guide our planning and delivery of the RE curriculum. 

Year Overviews

The overviews below give you an idea of the breadth of the topics we study.  We also ensure that we review our curriculum regularly, so as to best meet the needs of the children in that class, in that room, in that year.  You can visit 'Class Pages' for more detailed information regarding current curriculum topics for individual year groups.

Golden Threads

In history and geography, our 'golden threads' refer to key concepts or themes that are revisited and reinforced throughout a child's learning journey, connecting different topics. These threads help students build upon prior knowledge, make connections between different areas of learning, and develop a deeper understanding of core ideas. They are not isolated topics but rather recurring themes that run through the curriculum, ensuring a cohesive and engaging learning experience for all of our children. 

Sticky Knowledge

'Sticky knowledge' refers to the essential information or concepts that we want our children to remember long-term and be able to recall easily for future learning. It's the knowledge that is deeply embedded in a child's long-term memory and can be readily applied to new learning situations. It includes key vocabulary, important facts, and core concepts within a subject that are crucial for building a strong foundation, carefully chosen to be the foundation for future learning.