Cornerstones Curriculum
Intent
At Alston, we follow the Cornerstones Curriculum which is a creative and thematic approach to learning. It has been mapped to the 2014 Primary National Curriculum to ensure comprehensive coverage of national expectations. Our curriculum is delivered through Imaginative Learning Projects (ILPs) which provide a rich menu of exciting and motivating learning activities that make creative links between all aspects of our children’s learning.
Our curriculum is taught through a pedagogy that:
We believe children learn better when they use their imagination and apply their learning to engaging contexts. Our curriculum provides lots of learning challenges throughout the academic year which require children to solve problems, apply themselves creatively and express their knowledge and understanding effectively across the curriculum.
Implementation
Every year, children complete six ILPs and progress through four distinct stages of learning in each ILP – Engage, Develop, Innovate and Express. Assessment is a vital part of teaching and learning and as such helps teachers in planning work, identifying problems and helping children to make progress. Through half-termly assessment, we monitor all children and through cross-curricular links (English, Maths and Computing) embed key skills and knowledge immersing our children in their learning.
Engage
At the "Engage" stage, children:
Develop
At the "Develop" stage, children:
Innovate
At the "Innovate" stage, children:
Express
At the "Express" stage, children:
Impact
At Alston, our curriculum gives every child the opportunity to:
Through pupil voice, we strive to continually improve our curriculum. Regular half-termly meetings with class ambassadors encourage pupils to share:
In addition to this, we pride ourselves on working closely with families to ensure all our pupils achieve in a happy learning environment. The engagement of parents and carers is crucial to this and we work hard on building a strong cohesive link between school, home, parents and the community that makes learning more real which is active, interactive and exciting. Thus parents are regularly invited to share what the children have learnt.
Year Group |
ILP Title and focus |
|||
|
Topic One |
Topic Two |
Topic Three |
Topic Four |
N |
Why do you love me so much? |
Is it shiny?
|
Did dragons exist? |
How many pebbles on the beach? |
R |
Will you read me a story? |
Are we there yet? |
Why do zebras have stripes? |
Do cows drink milk? |
1 |
Memory Box
|
Moon Zoom! |
Bright Lights, Big City
|
Dinosaur Planet |
Focus |
History |
DT |
Geography |
History |
2 |
Land Ahoy! |
Towers, Tunnels and Turrets
|
Street Detectives
|
Coastline |
Focus |
Geography |
History/DT project |
History |
Geography |
3 |
Tremors |
Traders and Raiders
|
Flow |
Urban Pioneers
|
Focus |
Geography |
History |
Geography |
Art/History |
4 |
Gods and Mortals
|
Misty Mountain |
ROAD TRIP TO USA
|
I am a warrior
|
Focus |
History |
Geography |
History/Geography |
History |
5 |
Pharaohs
|
Revolution
|
Sow and Grow |
A European study |
Focus |
History |
History |
Geography/Food technology |
Geography |
6 |
A Child’s War
|
Frozen Kingdom |
Blood Heart |
Hola Mexico
|
Focus |
History/ DT project |
Geography |
Science |
History/Geography |