At Pirbright Village Primary School, we begin our curriculum design with the National Curriculum objectives and build from there. We are passionate about providing all children with opportunities for them to excel and have the highest aspirations for success. Key to this is children having strong building blocks to ensure that children reach (and exceed!) their academic potential. In order for the children to even contemplate true learning (and we mean embedded & deep learning which they can begin to apply to other settings – not just rote regurgitation), they need to start from the bottom of The Pirbright Pyramid and work up.

As a school we have decided what the key skills are for each subject and what is required to be the very best geographer, historian, writer etc in each year group so that we can look at the subjects holistically and ensure we are building towards becoming excellent in each discipline. These are aspirational lists which guide our provision and give children the best opportunities across the breadth of the curriculum. The skills do not supercede the knowledge, but by having these skills, children will be able to process and retain the knowledge to a greater and more efficient extent. 

We believe that each and every child should have the opportunity to reach their full potential and this is the responsibility of all staff. The school is committed to the integration and inclusion of all pupils and promoting their involvement in the whole of school life. This approach is based on the duties of our Equalities Policy and ensures that all children are included in the provision. Teaching children with SEND is a whole school responsibility shared by all staff and through the aims & objectives in the SEND Policy, we make it fully accessible to all of the children at Pirbright.

We follow the National Curriculum and each year group has a set of End of Year Expectations which we measure the children against through their time in a year group. We assess the children every day, continually – it is an ongoing process. Sometimes we use an assessment tool such as a test or a quiz but it is much more likely to be “under the radar”, catching children at their best in their lessons and considering work in their books. This is a much more “low stakes” & reliable method of assessing children that build up a picture over time and hopefully they don’t even realise it is happening!

In the class pages section on the website, each year group publishes their Long Term Planning for the whole year and details of the content for each area of the National Curriculum for each term in the form of Topic Webs which demonstrate the interrelated elements of the learning journey. If you have any questions about the End of Year Expectations for your child, please contact their class teacher. Parent Consultations Evenings are also a good time to have a chat about the expectations and any additional building blocks we need to put into place to ensure children are reaching their full potential. 

How We Teach Religious Education:

• In our school, Religious Education is a part of a broad and balanced curriculum. All pupils receive RE in accordance with the Surrey Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education (2023-2028). This can be viewed here.
• Within our website, you will find details about the RE that is taught in each year group.
• We expect all pupils to experience the full breadth of our curriculum, but should parents or carers wish to exercise the right of withdrawal for all or part of RE, they should consult the headteacher.

Learning Partners Curriculum 

• As part of The Learning Partners Trust, we align our curriculum design and principles alongside those of The Trust. 
• Details of The Learning Partners Trust Curriculum Purpose & Principles can be found by clicking the link below.