Curriculum

Our school vision – ‘Care, Aspire, Succeed’ is very much at the heart of the curriculum at Swinnow Primary School. It is our aim that all our children experience an exciting and empowering learning journey, underpinned by each year group’s relevant knowledge, skills and understanding.

We carefully craft and change our curriculum to reflect the children’s lives today. It is built around their interests, incorporating exciting hands-on experiences that promote curiosity, imagination and creativity. These experiences build over time across the curriculum, including both off and on-site activities. Through our ‘Adventures at Swinnow’, we aim to foster confidence, independence and co-operation, while developing important life skills needed to thrive in 21st Century Britain.

We aim to provide a curriculum that is broad, balanced and relevant. It is differentiated to provide for the varied abilities and needs; ensuring inclusivity, curiosity and challenge. The statutory requirements of the 2014 National Curriculum are met; and the key priorities at the heart of our school are embedded.

We celebrate differences and foster the whole person by supporting our children to develop resilience, effective communication skills, empathy and healthy minds and bodies. We aim to build a sense of identity and belonging by teaching about life in Leeds and beyond - now, in the past and in the future – widening horizons, and nurturing aspirations, choices and self-belief.

By giving our children a voice, we enable them to contribute to their curriculum, promoting their involvement, ownership and independence. Our curriculum design means we have the flexibility and creativity to deepen the learning experiences. The teaching and learning is organised into subject blocks which provide greater opportunities for the children to deepen their knowledge and understanding, while developing a range of subject-specific, interpersonal and transferable skills. We use retrieval practice to make a change to long-term memory – meaning our children know more, remember more and can do more. This helps equip our children with the skills needed to be successful, independent and motivated learners, for now and in readiness for the next stage of their education.