The Westvale Curriculum

An Inspiring Curriculum 

Westvale Park deliver a carefully crafted curriculum that meets our vision that every child should be at the centre of everything we do.  Our educational plan features an innovative curriculum, a high degree of connectivity and personalised attention, intensive continuous professional development of our staff and constructivist, pupil-centered learning. The curriculum has been strategically planned and fully resourced from the outset.

Westvale Park follows the Early Years Framework and the National Curriculum to help our learners acquire a broad and balanced knowledge and to support their transition to KS3. 

Being literate and numerate are the most important outcomes for children to ensure they are ready for the next stage in their schooling; this is reflected in our curriculum. Curriculum design is focused on ensuring that substantive and disciplinary knowledge is taught so that pupils become knowledgeable in each subject area but also understand the distinctiveness of each subject and the role it plays in our understanding of the world. Each subject has key concepts identified that are revisited over time so that pupils develop a sound understanding as they progress through school. 

The Aurora Curriculum has been designed to be ambitious. Pupils who learn the curriculum are well equipped to be successful at the next stage of their education and in future employment. The curriculum materials allow for adaptation where necessary to meet the needs all groups and individual pupils. However, the overarching ambition is that all pupils have the opportunity to learn and remember the whole curriculum.

Please click here to view the The Aurora Curriculum Rationale and Implementation Guide.

The Westvale Way

Westvale Park recognises that so much in life depends on being a good communicator, so it is vital that children learn the importance of oracy from a young age. Good communication and language skills support children’s ability to learn, think about and understand the world, and how to interact with others. A language-rich curriculum is employed from Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) onwards, with many opportunities for children to perform and to voice their opinions.  All children are assessed on entry to ensure early language skills are supported. 

Staff and children use our ample outdoor spaces for learning. By committing to learning both inside and outside the classroom, children of Westvale Park understand that learning occurs everywhere, all the time.
High-quality, outdoor learning experiences are proven to develop:

• reflective and inquisitive thinking along with problem solving approaches in real life contexts
• resilience and adaptability, allowing children to identify risks and hazards
• a love, appreciation and respect for nature
• an understanding of how we can look after the environment
• self-awareness, confidence and self-esteem
• collaborative-working and communication skills
• positive health benefits – both mentally and physically
• a lifelong love of the outdoors

Our Forest School leader ensures sessions are carefully woven into our personal development curriculum. 

The school’s interior matches the outdoor learning vision by offering calm, natural colours and textures, and a range of spaces to offer optimal learning opportunities. This in turn supports our ‘Wellbeing and Promoting Positive Behaviour’ policy. All staff have the highest expectations for all learners and our values underpin our learning. 

All stakeholders of the school refer to Growth-Mindset Learning Theory, developed by Dr. Carol Dweck. This is based around the belief that anyone can improve their intelligence, ability and performance.  By developing a Growth Mindset in all pupils, we can help them to learn more effectively and efficiently, and continuously develop their metacognition. Pupils at Westvale Park learn the power of ‘yet’ and to celebrate mistakes. 

Year 1 pupils continue to learn through a play-based approach whilst meeting the expectations of the National Curriculum. Our approach makes the transition from EYFS to Key Stage 1 as smooth as possible and maximises learning time. Students build on the excellent foundation laid in the early years, providing a solid platform for children to make progress in school, and develop as lifelong learners. As pupils progress through Key Stage 1, a thematic approach to curriculum delivery, centered on the humanities, remains prominent through termly topics. However, all other subjects are taught in subject specific, carefully sequenced, lessons, ensuring the correct skills and knowledge are taught.

Westvale Park have invested in specialist teachers/coaches who deliver Sports, Forest School and Music lessons each week. 

Our specialist practical room affords the curriculum further exciting opportunities by offering a safe and well equipped space to carry out cookery, design and technology and science experiments.

Our well stocked library ensures that children have a beautiful space to go each week to enjoy reading for pleasure. As well as a book that is pitched to their current level of phonetical understanding, children take home a book from the library to share with their family. 

In the core subjects, early mastery of  basic skills is vital to enable children to succeed in every phase. Through careful observation, assessment and early identification, we follow a ‘keep up’ rather than a ‘catch up’ approach to all learning. There are daily opportunities for overlearning and reinforcement, alongside research-based interventions for learners who require additional support to 'keep up'.

Above all else, our staff go the extra mile to ensure the curriculum is fun, engaging and relevant for the modern world.

To view our Topic Maps and knowledge organisers for each half term, please see our Class Pages link below.

If you have any questions about our curriculum please speak to your child’s teacher or contact the School Office.