Our School's Curriculum Intent

Our Curriculum Intent

Our school’s vision, ‘life in all its fullness – an opportunity to flourish’, is designed to support the knowledge and skills we want our children to gain whilst they are with us. These attributes will be achieved through interaction with our bespoke, outdoor curriculum. We ensure our children learn outside the classroom as much as possible. To do this we use our lovely woodland areas on and off site. Our intent is that through combining outdoor learning with our vision we will prepare our children for the next stage of their education; not just through the facts they will know but through the skills they will gain. Therefore, a huge amount of care and attention is taken by staff in developing a robust and exciting, dynamic and relevant curriculum. It has been designed with purpose. Its active, outdoor emphasis allows young children to develop interpersonal skills, build resilience and become creative, critical thinkers. 

We constantly provide enhancement opportunities to engage learning. This is because we believe that childhood should be a happy, investigative and enquiring time. There should be no limits to curiosity and a thirst for new experiences and knowledge should be nurtured. As well as our weekly outdoor agenda, there are many school outings both locally and further afield which enhance the curriculum.

Outdoor learning done well is powerful; exciting; inspirational; fascinating; developmental and rewarding. It develops those ‘wow’ moments when children can recognise a world greater than the immediate. The power of outdoor learning creates a sense of awe and wonder as well as opportunities to reflect on everyday choices and bigger decisions. Being outdoors allows children to socialise in a different way. Activities in an outdoor environment help to develop communication, co-operation, compassion and empathy, as well as teaching children about the importance of boundaries. Rights and respect are invaluable tools to be used in the outdoor environment. Outdoor learning allows children to stay in touch with the natural world. Life outside allows children to better understand the relationship between

their actions and the natural world.  

We truly believe a good education is more than an academic education. We want our children to have fully rounded characters with a clear understanding of values that shape societies, (such as our school’s Christian values and British values).  We want them to be motivated by a strong personal sense of morality. If we get this right, they will make decisions for the right reasons and in the best interests of their communities. We believe we can do this best by interacting with the environment they are learning in.

Furthermore, we have designed our curriculum to celebrate and welcome differences within our school community. Outdoor learning helps develop children’s sense of identity and belonging as well as teaching them social skills. Through our curriculum each child is given the opportunity to shine where they excel and to gain confidence where they lack it.  Every child is recognised as a unique individual. Under the careful guidance and gentle care of the staff, children at Burchetts Green flourish as they are encouraged to 'Live life in all its fullness'.

We believe our curriculum, supported by our school vision, ‘Living life in all its fullness – an opportunity to flourish’, supports our intent, to prepares children well for the next stage in their education. 

Phonics and Early Reading

The teaching and learning of phonics and early reading is fundamental to children's early education. We follow the Little Wandle systematic synthetic programme for the teaching of phonics. All staff receive ongoing training in this area and supported by our phonics lead in school. Our policy can be found here. More information about Little Wandle can be found here.