Curriculum

At Radley Primary School our curriculum is based on the Cornerstones Curriculum, which is a broad and balanced, knowledge-rich primary curriculum. Its content is delivered through a range of subject-specific projects, which last either a full or half term. Subject-specific projects cover art and design, design and technology, geography, history, computing and science. Maths is delivered through White Rose Maths, and English is taught using a text rich approach with Literacy Tree resources. We also use specialist schemes for PE (PE Planning), PHSE (Jigsaw), music (Sparkyard) and RE (Discovery RE and Understanding Christianity).

The Cornerstones Curriculum has three structural tiers. Each tier builds on the previous to create interconnected layers. These interconnected layers provide a robust framework that ensures connectivity across the curriculum with direct links back to the national curriculum programmes of study. 

overview.pdf

Tier 1: Big Ideas (global aims)

The curriculum is led by 10 central Big Ideas. These Big Ideas are the overarching aims of the curriculum. They were conceived by careful analysis of the national curriculum subjects, drawing out common themes, which then, through a period of refinement, became our Big Ideas. These Big Ideas and their intentions are set out below. 

Tier 2: Subjects (disciplinary concepts and aspects)

In the Cornerstones Curriculum, we use the terms ‘concepts’ and aspects. A concept is an abstract idea within a subject and an ‘aspect’ is a particular part or feature of a subject. In the curriculum structure, each Big Idea is directly connected to the curriculum subjects, which have the relevant concepts or aspects through which the Big Idea can be delivered. For example, in geography, the Big Idea of Humankind is connected to and delivered through the geographical aspects of Settlements and land use and Human features and landmarks. In history, the Big Idea of Humankind is connected to and delivered through the historical concepts or aspects of Everyday life, Hierarchy and power, and Civilisations. 

To ensure coverage of the national curriculum, each subject concept or aspect is then matched to the relevant programmes of study. Across the Cornerstones Curriculum, there is full coverage of the programmes of study for art and design, design and technology, geography, history, computing, science and, maths is covered by integrated White Rose Maths projects. The diagram below shows an example of how Tier 1 and 2 are linked back to the national curriculum programmes of study.

Tier 3: Progression framework (knowledge and skills statements)

In Tier 3, programmes of study, concepts and aspects are broken down into smaller component parts or ‘chunks’ to form a cohesive progression framework. The progression framework runs from Nursery to Year 6 and includes knowledge and skills that children need to know and be able to do in order to make progress through the curriculum. 

​Our teachers may decide, at a lesson level, to adapt or refine the individual statements even further. A teacher may decide to do this to create a series of smaller stepping stones to support learning for individual children or groups of children.
However, schools do not need to do this for all statements as the progression framework is more than sufficient to set out the learning pathways for an ambitious, broad and balanced curriculum