Learning at BPA

Our curriculum is driven by the fact that we would like our children to become principled local, national and global citizens. 

We will:

• Prepare our children with the skills and knowledge they need for their future.

• Provide them with experiences to encourage them to be curious about the world around them.

• Celebrate the diverse and unique community we live in.

Intent

At BPA, we are committed to developing life-long learners, rich in a plethora of knowledge and skills that add value to the childrens’ lives and the lives of others.

To enable this, our curriculum is sequenced to build the required knowledge and skills needed to achieve. The broad and balanced offer aligns with the National Curriculum and is designed to be accessible for ALL children. To prepare children for each stage of their learning journey, progression documents have been developed to highlight key concepts, map core knowledge and build on prior learning within each subject. Children become experts by revisiting knowledge and skills regularly, ensuring learning is embedded.

For each subject of the curriculum, we have developed mission statements (ambition) that express our ethos, and outlines the principles that underpin learning across all year groups for that subject.

Implementation

At BPA, effective teaching and learning is underpinned by:

Checking for understanding:

• Structuring tasks and questions to enable the identification of knowledge gaps and misconceptions.

Adaptive teaching:

• Proving opportunities for all pupils to experience success through targeted interventions, adapted lessons and using different forms of assessment.

Prior knowledge:

• Lessons are sequenced so that pupils secure foundational knowledge before encountering more complex content.

• Teaching includes retrieval and spaced practice.

• Prior knowledge is revisited using a variety of strategies such as question & answer, multiple choice, mini whiteboards.

Explicit instruction:

• Use of modelling, explanations, and scaffolds, acknowledging that novices need more structure  early in a domain.

• Narrating thought processes when modelling to make explicit how experts think

• Making the steps in a process memorable and ensuring pupils can recall them.

Scaffolding:

• Breaking down tasks into constituent components when first setting up independent practice and deconstructing this approach.

• Using modelling, explanations, and scaffolds to support learning.

Deliberate practice:

• Planning regular review and practice of key ideas and concepts over time (e.g., through carefully planned use of structured talk activities) and deconstructing this approach.

• Removing scaffolding only when pupils are achieving a high degree of success in applying previously taught material.

• Providing sufficient opportunity for pupils to consolidate and practise applying new knowledge and skills.

Secure and consolidate:

• Planning regular review and practice of key ideas and concepts over time.

• Increasing challenge with practice and retrieval as knowledge becomes more secure.

Climate, environment and culture:

• Creating and explicitly teaching, practice, and reinforce routines in line with the school ethos that maximise time for learning.

• Creating a positive environment where making mistakes and learning from them and the need for effort and perseverance are part of the daily routine.

Impact

To ensure the curriculum intent is being met, learning is measured against the core knowledge and application of skills. At regular intervals, low stakes quizzing and standardised tests allow the children to demonstrate that they know and remember more. Learning walks, book monitoring and pupil voice collection support this evidence.

If you require additional information about how we learn and our curriculum, please email The Senior Leadership team at office@bpa-tkat.org