Our Curriculum

At Ashill, it is our intent for your child/ren to access  an exciting and vibrant curriculum that will support them to become independent, resilient, well rounded learners that have the skills necessary to become successful adults capable of taking opportunities beyond their environment. 

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We do this by (implement) ensuring that we deliver a rich and diverse curriculum that goes beyond the requirements of the national curriculum.  We have three core values that are at the centre of the curriculum: academic excellence, character education and learning to learn (metacognition) and our curriculum is designed to reflect a wide range of learning experiences.

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As a small school with mixed age classes, we organise the curriculum on a rolling programme basis so children encounter different areas of learning throughout their time with us. 

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We structure and sequence our curriculum to ensure that pupils can build on prior learning which helps them to develop long term memory. Subject experiences are planned across the year and phase in order to allow concepts to be reinforced and remembered. The skills and knowledge that need to be taught are broken down into small, progressive steps and are used to inform teachers' planning. 

The  impact and outcome is an exciting curriculum that meets the needs of your child/ren built upon these 3 key foundations

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Academic Excellence is fundamental within our curriculum model. The children’s acquisition of a deep body of knowledge within subject disciplines, will enable them to express their learning to the highest standard. When children achieve excellence, this gives them the confidence to challenge themselves further. Through this process of experiencing success, they will develop character, for example grit, determination, self-efficacy and courage.

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Character Education Whilst academic success remains a core priority, developing character is also an essential element of our curriculum model. Our curriculum gives children opportunities to make a positive impact on society. We want them to grasp the possibilities and opportunities of life beyond the classroom, to enable them to thrive at each and every challenge they face in life and make a difference to themselves and those around them.

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Metacognition Our curriculum not only focuses on achieving character whilst pursuing academic excellence, but also emphasises deep learning through developing the skills of metacognition. We use an enquiry approach to drive our learning experiences, making the reflective learning process explicit. In addition to this, tools for thinking will be taught to support children’s higher order thinking, synthesis of knowledge and creating of new thinking. However, metacognition can only be developed within a knowledge-rich curriculum.