A Curriculum of Ambition, Beauty and Connection

At Wood Farm School, much of our learning is centred around an exciting half-termly research project. You’ll find information here on how we structure the curricular projects we plan for children from Reception up to Year 6.

Our core aim is for children be inspired by developing powerful knowledge so that they know more, remember more and deepen their knowledge of themselves and their world. As a school, we are constantly reflecting on how our wider curriculum reflects our values of Ambition, Beauty and Connection. All our projects ambitious both in the depth of the knowledge and skills acquired, and the outcomes and pride children feel in their learning. Children learn about the beauty of their world, history and community, connecting and engaging with it, giving them the inspiration to create beauty themselves: whether in what they produce, how they share it, or the knowledge they can draw upon.

Each term, years 1 to 6 focus together on one curriculum area: history, geography, STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), creative arts or PSHE. Each each year group will focus on a particular area within this, and teachers and leaders across the school regularly reflect and learn together to adapt these projects to build upon what has come before and their knowledge of their classes, to design the most ambitious, exciting and knowledge-rich learning experiences for our learners. Projects often begin with an enquiry question or challenge for the term, which children will explore and investigate throughout the project. Each project follows the following structure:

An exciting experience or exploration when children immersed in the subject

A series of lessons where children develop their knowledge and skills, linking back to previous learning

A chance to use the knowledge in a different context to create something new

Children communicate their new knowledge and expertise with a wider audience, either within or outside of the school community.

More information about these projects can be found below, where you can click on a project title to find an overview of each project. Below this, you’ll find the whole school yearly plan for each phase of the school, which shows how we cover the curriculum this way.

You will also see a ‘Knowledge Organiser’ for more recent projects. This is a one page document which summarises the key facts and essential knowledge children need to know about the project. They don’t show everything the children will learn, but are a tool to help everyone focus on the key learning. You can find more information about knowledge organisers here.

Two Year Curriculum Map - Years 1 to 6

Autumn Term 1 (Whole school project)

Reception:

Belonging