Our Curriculum
The Capel Curriculum - An Overview
Our vision
At Capel Manor Primary School, we are ambitious for all our children. Through our School Vision, Curriculum and wider school life, we foster an ethos of collective aspiration set in a culture of caring and supportive relationships.
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Our Curriculum
Using the National Curriculum and the EYFS framework as a starting point, Areas of Learning and Development and Curriculum subjects are organised into units of learning which are carefully planned in order to ensure the progressive accumulation of knowledge, understanding and skills across a range of disciplines.
Click here for an overview of our Units of Learning. You will find links to information and progression documents for each curriculum subject on the Curriculum Page.
Regular retrieval practice (recalling previous learning) within lessons helps our pupils to embed prior knowledge into long term memory, thus promoting long-lasting learning.
Within lessons pupils are encouraged to draw upon prior learning, their own experiences and make connections within and between different areas of learning. This supports them in becoming reflective learners and helps them to make sense of new knowledge and experiences and life challenges.
Curriculum Drivers
To ensure that our curriculum is tailored to meet the needs of the pupils in our Capel Family, we have developed four Curriculum Drivers that run alongside and underpin the direction and development of all areas of school life.
Values
Our 12 school values are firmly embedded in our everyday practice. They are explicitly taught each half term and referenced across the curriculum. This is carefully planned to ensure that pupils’ understanding of the values in action deepens as they progress through the school. Our Values contribute to a happy, calm and purposeful environment for learning and enable our pupils to develop an ethical vocabulary and become critical thinkers. As children progress through school, our values increasingly guide their thinking, actions and behaviour, supporting their development as citizens and providing them with essential tools for living a successful life.
Please Click on the links below to see the Progression Maps which are set out in a two year cycle
Capel Manor values progression map Cycle 1
Capel Manor values progression map cycle 2
Vocabulary and Language
Vocabulary and Language proficiency are key indicators for future academic success. They also support the development of emotional wellbeing, confident social interaction and the building of friendships. At Capel Manor Primary, the development of communication skills and language skills is central to our school curriculum and classroom practice.
Teachers use a STAR Approach to Select, Teach, Apply and Revisit key tier 2 vocabulary (high-frequency words used across a number of subjects across the curriculum). Tier 3 vocabulary (terms that are more subject specific) linked to the school curriculum are also explicitly taught within lessons. The emphasis on vocabulary and oracy provides pupils with the tools to discuss and evaluate the learning that they are introduced to.
At Capel, we have developed an age-related progression of “Expectations for Talk” children learn to:
- Listen and respond appropriately to adults and their peers
- Ask Relevant Questions to extend understanding and knowledge
- Use Relevant Strategies to build vocabulary related to class topics
- Articulate and justify answers, arguments and opinions
- Consider and evaluate different viewpoints, and build on others’ contributions
- Actively Participate in discussions and interact with listeners
- Select and use appropriate registers for effective communication
- Become confident and clear communicators
Click here to see our Expectations for Talk progression document.
Aspiration
At Capel, we believe that all children have a right to a good education and access to opportunities and new experiences. We are aiming for equality for all. We strongly believe that it is not about where you come from that determines your success in later life, but the ambition, resilience and commitment that you demonstrate daily which is reflected in our School Vision and Values.
Throughout their time in school, our pupils have many opportunities to be aspirational. This includes Pupil Leadership roles such as:
- Class Representative member of the Junior Leadership Team
- Team Captains
- PE Ambassadors
In the Summer Term, 4 Year 6 pupils are chosen to become Values Champions - in recognition of their commitment to modelling our Values in Action throughout their time at Capel.
Throughout the year there are many opportunities for pupils to achieve excellence in a number of areas, through competitions such as the Enfield Town Schools’ Partnership “Great Debate” and “Spelling Bee”.
Our pupils also take part in performances such as our Diversity Show, Violin and Rocksteady Band concerts, Enfield Dance Festival and Enfield Music Ensemble in which children develop their confidence through performing on the school stage or in a local theatre.
Breadth of Experience
Developing Cultural Capital through the provision of cultural and environmental experiences is an important aspect of our school curriculum. For example, pupils have the opportunity to visit museums, historical sites, see the London Sinfonietta play live on stage and take part in STEM events.
Visitors to the school bring the curriculum to life making meaningful links with the children’s learning as they share their own stories and experiences and provide opportunities for the children to meet people who work in a range of industries such as engineers, authors, politicians and construction workers.
An Inclusive Curriculum
The Capel Family is made up of pupils with a wide range of backgrounds, experiences, strengths and challenges.
At Capel, we celebrate differences and the fact that we are diverse but united. We do this through exploring relationships in our PSHE curriculum, visiting a range of local places of worship, finding out about each other during our annual “Capel United Diversity week” and through other curricular learning such as listening to a diverse range of musical styles and origins.
Through our focus on enrichment opportunities, we strive to find ways of promoting equality of experience and opportunity such as by participation in inclusive sporting events such as boccia and girls’ football. We also ensure that clubs are accessed by all groups of pupils such as the choir which takes place at lunchtimes to enable more pupils to attend.
Within teaching and learning, we use a range of visual resources and adult support to enable children to overcome barriers, access the curriculum and contribute to class discussions.
At Capel Manor, we teach children to embrace challenge and that, whilst we will always experience difficulties in life, we can develop a growth mindset which will support us to be ambitious, resilient and find creative solutions leading to individual success and achievement over time.
