Curriculum

At Rivington, we provide a broad and balanced curriculum with a clear focus on subjects as discrete units to deliver the curriculum. We use a variety of teaching and learning schemes, each of which is explored further in subject policies, long term plans/curriculum maps and progression documents. The curriculum is carefully sequenced and progressive so that children can systematically accumulate knowledge which becomes embedded in their long-term memory. This approach enables pupils to make meaningful connections in their learning. Each lesson is purposefully structured, building upon prior knowledge and skills, guiding students on a journey of discovery and mastery.

Our curriculum maps and units of work in every subject, contain the knowledge that we have identified as essential in our school, taking cultural capital into account. These have been carefully crafted for each subject, identifying composite knowledge and skills, and breaking them down in to component parts to ensure sequential, layered knowledge acquisition. These units of work also support our pedagogical approach (direct instruction) to teaching.

Knowledge helps develop well-rounded, empowered citizens and widens opportunities and life chances. The specifics of what we want children to learn are important. Skills, vocabulary, and conceptual understanding are forms of knowledge. Skills such as critical thinking and problem solving need to be taught within specific subject contexts. Students are empowered through knowing things and acquiring powerful knowledge. At Rivington, we want children to develop into well-rounded citizens with a host of strong character traits that will emerge through being immersed in a knowledge-rich curriculum.

Principles of Teaching and Learning - Pedagogy

Our pedagogical approach is based around Rosenshine’s Principles of Direct Instruction. At Rivington, we have spent time researching these principles and reflected upon how they can support the effective delivery of our curriculum. Direct Instruction has a clear, strong, evidence-based place in ensuring effective teaching. The brilliant simplicity and clarity of this approach, supports teachers to engage with cognitive science and the wider world of educational research. Teachers are clear of their role to teach in an explicit, precise way which makes it possible for children to engage successfully with tasks at the expected level of challenge.

Research in the field of cognitive psychology shows that learning is a change in long-term memory. We know that if nothing has been altered in long-term memory, then nothing has been learned. To store learning in long-term memory, information must go via our working memory which has a limited capacity. Fortunately, long term memory is not limited, and we can store as much learning as we need there. The challenge is moving information to long term memory and storing it there so that it can be used in future through a process of retrieval.

Direct instruction considers the limits of working memory and the process of moving learning to long term memory and keeping it there. “Decades of research clearly demonstrates that for novices (pupils learning and rehearsing new material), direct, explicit instruction is more effective and more efficient than partial guidance” (Clark, Kirschner and Sweller, 2012)

We use the ten evidence-based Principles of Direct Instruction (Rosenshine, 2010) that were collated through decades of research (see Appendix 1). The Principles of Direct Instruction include:

• Daily review: Teachers regularly review prior learning to reinforce concepts and ensure retention.

• Clear instruction: Lessons are structures with clear objectives, modelling and explanations to facilitate understanding.

• Active participation: Students are encouraged to engage actively through practice, discussions and collaboration.

• Guided practice: Teachers provide scaffolding and support during practice sessions to aid comprehension.

• Feedback: Constructive feedback is given promptly, guiding students toward improvement.

The Principles of Direct Instruction help pupils to develop strong, readily available background knowledge. Teachers ensure that pupils efficiently acquire, rehearse, and connect background knowledge by providing a good deal of instructional support. Teachers activate pupils’ relevant prior knowledge through regular retrieval practice, teach new material in small amounts, model processes, guide pupil practice to the point of independent practice, ensure a high success rate and provide immediate feedback to help pupils when they make errors.

Teaching using principles of direct instruction leads to pupils' experiential, hands on learning through using and applying what they have been taught after, not before, the basic material has been taught. Pupils build schema through carefully sequenced component tasks leading to composite tasks.

Teacher expertise lies at the core of the delivery of the planned curriculum and teachers are actively encouraged to develop subject specialisms. This enables strong direct instruction in the classroom, with teachers able to deliver content with clarity, confidence, and precision. Direct instruction is interspersed with age-appropriate pupil tasks to enable pupils to practise and consolidate their understanding, before moving swiftly on to new content.