Our Curriculum

We are immensely proud of our aligned curriculum, which creates a more cohesive, efficient, and effective educational environment that benefits both staff and pupils.

Core Knowledge

"Nearly all of our most cherished ideals for education- from reading comprehension and problem solving to critical thinking and creativity- rest on a foundation of knowledge." - ED Hirsch

The foundation stones of a successful education lie in the acquisition of core knowledge and basic skills. Without these skills, children will not make the high educational progress that is expected of them. We place great emphasis on learning basic skills but also in the procurement of a rich bank of factual knowledge. Built on the premise of 'cultural literacy', the core knowledge concept is grounded in cognitive science and research on effective school systems worldwide. It promotes academic excellence, greater fairness and higher literacy through teaching a body of specific, lasting knowledge in such a way that allows all children, regardless of background, to develop their knowledge of the world and use that understanding to make links, understand what they are facing and put things into context. Our aim is that when pupils leave Year 6, they will be highly numerate and literate, with a real joy for learning and a good base of solid core knowledge.

Our Mission is to challenge educational and social disadvantage.

All children are entitled to a curriculum and to the powerful knowledge which will open doors and maximise their life chances:

Our schools challenge social inequality by instilling shared and powerful knowledge.
Children need powerful knowledge to understand and interpret the world, and to think in new and unexpected ways. Without it, they remain dependent upon those who have it.
Each pupil is entitled to receive the best education possible and achieve the highest standard.
Pupils learn best from a broad and challenging curriculum.
The curriculum should involve first-hand experience and be taught in ways which make sense for pupils.
Achievement in a range of subjects across the curriculum including science, humanities and the arts, improves pupils’ confidence and self-esteem, enabling them to tackle more challenging work and to develop a positive attitude towards school.
Improving pupils’ confidence and self-esteem has a positive effect upon their attainment in the core subjects.
Curriculum breadth and academic rigour are key to our mission: “Imparting broad knowledge to all children is the single most effective way to narrow the gap between demographic groups through schooling.” D Hirsch, The Knowledge Deficit: Closing the Shocking Education Gap for American Children, New York, 2006

How?

We aim to maximise attainment, value diversity, develop character and build cultural capital through a knowledge-rich curriculum.

Our curriculum is led by high-quality subject leaders, working in teams to create the richest narrative possible for our pupils. Quality and high expectations are key and ensure all pupils can access the curriculum regardless of their starting points.
The discipline of each subject is given high status; the specifics of what we want pupils to learn matter and the traditions of subject disciplines are respected.
The curriculum supports children to learn established facts about each subject within each unit of work (substantive knowledge) and takes them through a journey from early years to the end of Key Stage 2 to obtain the key principles and methods of each subject (disciplinary knowledge).
Skills and understanding are seen as forms of knowledge and we do not believe that there are any real generic skills that can be taught outside of specific knowledge domains.
The curriculum is planned vertically and horizontally giving thought to the optimum knowledge sequence for building secure schema.
The curriculum is designed to be remembered in detail: to be stored in our pupils’ long-term memories so that they can later build on it, forming ever wider and deeper schema. As a result, a good knowledge-rich curriculum embraces learning from cognitive science about memory, forgetting and the power of retrieval practice.
The curriculum is owned by pupils from all faiths and backgrounds, not by anyone. The selected content conforms to shared cultural agreements of what is considered valuable to know. It is the entitlement of all and we resist parental opt-outs.
The curriculum embraces and values the most powerful knowledge from a variety of cultures and traditions.
At each phase, the curriculum focusses on closing gaps, early intervention, and developing the core literacy and numeracy skills for success at that level.
Both in and out of the classroom, the curriculum builds the hard work, diligence and resilience necessary for success in life.
The curriculum introduces pupils to new experiences and powerful knowledge beyond the classroom and outside the academy to broaden their horizons and to prepare them fully for later life.

Our Pedagogic Approach

Our Teaching & Learning Strategy is at the heart of all aspects of our Trust’s school improvement work; it supports the delivery of our vision, values and aims. At Spring Partnership Trust, we deliver an enriched curriculum, offering a wide range of opportunities for every pupil, at every school. We believe in diversity, equity and inclusion in approach, but consistency in outcomes. The effectiveness of our School Improvement Strategy is measured against our Spring pupil outcomes.

Central to our Teaching & Learning Strategy, and an integral part of our one Trust curriculum, is the development of deep learning: high quality teaching that enables pupils to embed new learning into their long term memory.

Our curriculum design is underpinned by our Trust values. We believe that by focusing on our values, our children will be prepared and ready to meet the challenges of the next steps of their education and life. Spring pupils have the physical, emotional & social literacy to build resilience enabling them to overcome challenges. They are able to communicate the importance of looking after their well-being and mental health.

Ambition

Our Trust curriculum has been designed to engage children, ensuring they develop a sense of ‘awe and wonder’ through learning experiences which encourage them to investigate, research and reason. Spring pupils innovate, develop digital skills & maximise the use of technology to enhance their learning.

Collaboration

The five schools within The Spring Partnership Trust have collaborated to design and continuously evaluate and adapt our curriculum offer so that it is appropriately broad and ambitious. Through staff working together as a team, and in partnership with pupils and their parents and carers, we strive to ensure that our aims are met. Spring pupils develop independence, confidence and character through activities including sport, creativity and performance.

Fairness

The Trust Curriculum ensures that all children can equitably access the curriculum offered. We remove barriers to learning and participation through flexible grouping, cognitive and meta cognitive strategies, explicit instruction, using technology and scaffolding. Our aim is to develop critical thinking, leadership skills, oracy skills, life skills, cultural capital & financial literacy. We want to expose pupils to a variety of subject areas which promote character-building qualities that lead to creating well rounded, global citizens, opening up doors to paths in later life.

Respect

Our curriculum is fully inclusive and will not discriminate against the protected characteristics: age, disability, gender, gender identity, race, religion or belief and sexual orientation. It develops an understanding of the wider world and the opportunities available to them. Spring pupils are local, national & global citizens; they have a strong sense of identity, respect and value the importance of diversity & inclusion and make positive contributions to their community.

Teaching and Learning Strategy

Lessons are designed to help pupils solidify their learning and follow key steps inspired by the Rosenshine Principles. While these steps may not always occur in a fixed order, they provide a strong foundation for effective teaching:

Retrieval: Pupils are given opportunities to recall key knowledge and information at the start of a lesson and throughout a unit of work. This reinforces learning and helps them retain information over time.

Instruction: Teachers guide the learning process, often through direct instruction and modelling. This involves explicitly demonstrating tasks or activities to ensure pupils understand how to complete them successfully.

Practice: Pupils develop their skills through active practice and reflection, allowing them to apply what they've learned and refine their understanding.

Feedback: Clear, actionable feedback is provided, with specific next steps that pupils are expected to act upon. Any errors or misconceptions are addressed promptly to support continued progress.

Meta cognition and Self-Regulation: Pupils are taught to think about their learning through explicit instruction, following the "I do, we do, you do" approach, helping them become more independent learners.

Adaptive Teaching: Teaching is tailored to meet the diverse needs of all pupils, ensuring that every learner can access the content and make progress.

Collaboration: Group activities and paired work are incorporated, often enhanced by technology, to encourage teamwork and deepen understanding.

Oral Language Interventions (Voice21): Pupils engage in structured group discussions and activities that promote effective communication and interaction.

What Ofsted says about our aligned curriculum…

“Leaders have designed a broad and comprehensive curriculum” - St Mary Cray - 2023

“Leaders, staff and governors have developed an ambitious curriculum. Leaders understand how pupils learn new knowledge, and how to plan for progression in subjects”. - Hayes Primary School - 2023

“The school has constructed a high-quality, ambitious and well-sequenced curriculum that has been designed meticulously for the school’s context. Learning has been broken down into small steps. Consequently, teachers know precisely what to teach and when. This includes the important vocabulary that the school expects pupils to know and use across all subjects and year groups” - Midfield Primary School - 2024