Our Curriculum - Design and Intent
Our curriculum offer is personalised to the unique context of our school, greater emphasis being placed on aspects which are pertinent to our setting:
- Beyond our Village - our aim is to offer everything a big school does (and more), but with the benefits of being small. Great efforts are undertaken to ensure our children benefit from a huge range of experiences and opportunities, both within and beyond our school grounds, which means they are able to develop in confidence and as individuals, and are well placed to move on from Holmeswood to high school and beyond. You can read about many of our success stories in the
Alumni section of our website.
Our programme of educational visits and visitors, which can be found in 'About Us'
Finally, the networks of schools to which we are dedicated, mean that children have regular opportunities to experience working in different settings and with other children (see the
- Personalisation - our adult:pupil ratio in school has been consistently around 1:8 for many years. In our last three OFSTED inspections our quality of Care, Guidance and Support, Behaviour and Safety, and Personal Development, Behaviour and Welfare has been judged outstanding (see
- Methodism - we are very proud of our Methodist heritage and enjoy a close relationship with the church, in which grounds our school is built. Our teaching is rooted in the mantra "Do all the good you can, by all the means you can" (John Wesley).
- Cultural Diversity - we are very conscious of the need to ensure that our children understand their place in a multi-cultural society and make extra efforts to broaden children's experience of Britain's cultural diversity.
- Farming - our school is situated in a community which rich in farming tradition. Our school garden has won many accolades over the years and, as well as visiting local farms regularly, we grow our own produce which is used in cooking and baking.
- Health & Sport - it has taken over a decade to develop a culture in school whereby all children are united in their enthusiasm for and understanding of the importance of staying healthy (please see our
Teaching & Learning Policy
Cornerstones Curriculum Maestro
Following a thorough review in 2020, we chose to adopt Cornerstones as the basis of our curriculum.
Cornerstones is a nationally recognised approach to delivering outstanding learning opportunities through a creative, thematic curriculum. Learning is delivered through a rich menu of highly motivating topics, which will engage children, spark their imagination and result in the acquisition of a strong knowledge-base across all curriculum subject by the time they leave in Year 6.
The Long Term Overview below will give you an idea of the topics which will be covered over a 3-yr cycle in our Infant class and a 4-yr cycle in the Juniors. The curriculum we have devised ensures coverage of all statutory curriculum areas and progression across all year groups. More details about each of the topics will be sent home to parents each term and are available on request.
Wherever possible we will link teaching in all areas to these topics. However, there are some subjects and some aspects within subjects which will have to be delivered discretely, such as Maths, Music, PE and Foreign Languages.
Holmeswood School Long Term Overview
(currently being updated)