Curriculum Intent 

Curriculum Intent

At Overseal Primary School, our intent is to provide a safe, happy and healthy environment in which all children are encouraged to achieve academically and personally, in line with our vision: We value everyone, we all achieve and we all shine.

Our curriculum is ambitious for all pupils, including our most venerable pupils. It is designed to give children the knowledge, skills, attributes, values and cultural capital they need to achieve at Overseal and beyond.

It is carefully organised to provide a balanced mix of academic and personal development, giving equal importance to core and foundation subjects. Knowledge and skills are taught progressively, enabling children to make cognitive links to prior learning and transfer knowledge from working memory to long-term memory. Vocabulary is developed across the curriculum to support language acquisition and to narrow any gaps on entry.

We offer meaningful real-life experiences, outdoor learning, Forest School, educational visits, residential experiences, aspirational visits to local universities, and a strong arts provision. Our school choir participates in community events and large-scale performances such as Young Voices, providing opportunities for pupils to shine beyond the classroom.

The curriculum prioritises developing the skills pupils need for future learning, including resilience, growth mindset, perseverance, and good physical and mental health. As a Inclusion Quality Mark Flagship School, each pupil receives tailored support to keep up rather than catch up, quickly addressing any identified gaps to ensure all children can achieve academically and personally.

Curriculum Implementation

The curriculum for each year group follows the National Curriculum, ensuring coverage, breadth, and progression across all subjects. Learning is delivered through discrete subjects, with cross-curricular links made wherever possible to strengthen understanding and knowledge acquisition.

Lessons are carefully sequenced to build on prior learning, providing opportunities for both guided and independent practice. Subject Progression documents clearly outline progressive challenge within each subject, ensuring pupils develop skills and knowledge in a structured and cumulative way. Subject Pathways ensure high quality teaching and learning.

Subject leaders play a pivotal role in curriculum implementation and the curriculum lead will monitor, evaluate and review. Each subject has a dedicated leader responsible for curriculum design, delivery, and impact. Leaders, alongside Governors, regularly monitor and quality-assure subjects to ensure coverage, progression, breadth, and balance are maintained.

Assessment is purposeful and ongoing, enabling teachers to quickly address any identified gaps and ensure pupils keep up rather than catch up. Core skills, including accurate and fluent word reading, spelling, handwriting and mathematics, are prioritised and reinforced across all subjects.

Curriculum Impact

The curriculum at Overseal Primary School enables pupils to engage fully in learning and to develop as confident, responsible, and aspirational individuals. Children become reflective learners, enthusiastic participants, and positive role models, prepared academically, socially, and emotionally for the future.

Through clear subject progression plans, structured pathways for teaching and learning, and carefully designed knowledge organisers, we provide a knowledge-rich curriculum enhanced by meaningful enrichment opportunities. As a result, pupils know more, remember more, and can do more, achieving strongly in literacy, mathematics, the wider foundation subjects, and across all areas of personal development.

Our children’s individual identity is valued, and they develop kindness, empathy, resilience, and confidence. Every pupil has the opportunity to shine, achieving academically and personally based on their own strengths, interests, and values. They leave Overseal Primary School well-prepared for the next stage of their education, equipped with the skills, knowledge, and character to thrive in life.

This curriculum fully embodies our school vision: We value everyone, we all achieve and we all shine.