Our School's Curriculum Impact

How we think our curriculum will impact our children

We believe how we implement the curriculum - particularly through the Christian values we hold and the outdoor learning the children experience - has a significant impact on the development and character of the children at Burchetts Green.

We want to ensure children not only acquire the appropriate age-related knowledge (linked to the national curriculum) but also the ‘learning attitudes’ which will equip them to progress well from their different starting points.  We want to prepare them for the next stage of their education. In shaping our curriculum, we have made sure progress can be measured for all children, regardless of their starting points or specific needs.

Impact on progress and attainment

We have ambitious expectations for children's attainment. We want children to achieve their own potential from their own starting point. Therefore, we carefully consider their starting points when we measure their progress and when we celebrate their summative attainment.

Progress meetings take place every six weeks and staff talk together about each child in the school. We use a range of resources to support our judgements, but always consider Age Related Expectations. We report on progress at full Governor Body meetings, Education Meetings, Oxford Diocese Board of Education and Oxford Diocese School’s Trust. Parents are kept informed of their child’s progress via electronic means, written reports and parent meetings.

One of the ways we recognise the success of our academic curriculum is through the outcomes of external school data. Using national statistics, we can see that children at Burchetts Green achieve in line with other schools nationally and locally. Indeed, our outcomes are often an improvement on national and local averages. This success ensures that children are ready to face the next stage of their education. 

Impact on living well together; developing lifelong skills

However, we recognise that a good education is more than an academic education. 

We want to be able to see that they can decide what is right and what is wrong and be resilient to the influence of others. In this way we will have prepared them to go out into the world and make a difference in their own lives and to the lives of others.

We measure the impact of this area of education not just by the work our children produce, but in the behaviours we see in daily school life. We do this through casual and formal observations and conversations with our children. Observations might be on the playground, in classrooms, and in the many roles we give them. Conversations will be part of our individual RE progress talks with the children or group interviews with governors.

Circle of learning

At the end of each topic, staff reflect on the impact of the curriculum. We look at aspects that need further developments and reflect on areas that proved highly effective. These inform our ongoing curriculum intent and future implementation. We are forever restless in our striving to improve the curriculum we offer children at Burchetts Green.