New Curriculum

Curriculum Statement/Our Vision

At Crossgates, the wellbeing of our pupils is at the heart of our school.

Our aim is to provide a nurturing, inclusive environment where everyone, staff and children can flourish.

Our school provides a rich, varied and purposeful learning environment that supports children to achieve their full potential and have high expectations of themselves. Our School supports the concept of lifelong learning, recognising that both adults at school and children learn new things every day. We maintain that learning should be a rewarding and enjoyable experience for everyone. Through our teaching we seek to equip children with the skills, knowledge and understanding necessary to be able to make informed choices about the important things in their lives and be prepared for future challenges as confident and ambitious learners.

The 4 purposes will be at the heart of our new curriculum. They will be the starting point for all decisions on the content and experiences developed as part of the curriculum to support our children and young people to be:

ambitious, capable learners ready to learn throughout their lives
enterprising, creative contributors, ready to play a full part in life and work
ethical, informed citizens of Wales and the world
healthy, confident individuals, ready to lead fulfilling lives as valued members of society.

It’s designed by teachers.

Teachers will plan the lessons and learning that will help your children be ready for their future. They will work with other schools and have guidance which other teachers have written to help them.

It’s built for all children.

The new curriculum will support children through creative lessons that have real-life meaning. It will help them to reflect and think about what they’ve learnt and move forward.

It’s made for a fast-changing world.

The world is more connected, so the subjects children learn will be more connected too. Knowledge is still really important, so the new curriculum will give our children skills and opportunities to grow.

Key elements

The new curriculum will include:

6 Areas of Learning and Experience from 3 to 16
3 cross curriculum responsibilities: literacy, numeracy and digital competence
progression reference points at ages 5, 8, 11, 14 and 16
achievement outcomes which describe expected achievements at each progression reference point.

The curriculum will be organised into 6 Areas of Learning and Experience:

Expressive arts
Health and well-being
Humanities (including RE which should remain compulsory to age 16)
Languages, literacy and communication (including Welsh, which should remain compulsory to age 16, and modern foreign languages)
Mathematics and numeracy
Science and technology (including computer science).

Progression (of learning)

Progression should be described along a continuum of learning in each area of learning and experience.
It is formative and involves the learner actively in the process.
Curriculum, assessment and pedagogy are seen as parts of an integrated whole.
The model has been developed based upon research and evidence alongside the CAMAU project.
Progression of learning is described through achievement outcomes at five steps on the continuum.
Progression steps relate broadly to expectations at ages 5, 8, 11, 14 and 16.
Progression steps should be reference points, providing a ‘road map’ for each individual learner’s progress in their learning, not universal expectations of their performance at fixed points.
Authentic learning opportunities that connect aspects of the curriculum and make connections to ‘everyday life’.
Achievement outcomes are not to be used directly for assessment. They should be used:
– for school-level and class- level curriculum design, development and planning
– to support practitioners’ understanding of moving learning forward.