THEME PLANNING

Our curriculum has been developed around three key themes; each term the whole school focuses on one theme with a particular curriculum driver. For each theme, children revisit and build upon prior knowledge, are explicitly taught new, key knowledge and through carefully designed thematic working, develop connections and coherence between subjects in order for them to answer an ambitious enquiry question by the end.

Curriculum Overview

Here are the planning overviews for each year group.

Discover

Autumn Term:
This is our ‘Discover’ theme, using History as a curriculum driver. Throughout this term, the children develop as Historians and apply their knowledge and understanding of the past to think critically about the present. These strong foundations progress from EYFS, where the children learn about the concepts of change, the past and their locality up to Year 6, where the children are exploring changes throughout History through the lens of ‘Crime and Punishment.’

EYFS – Where do I live and how has it changed?

Year 1- What impact have castles had throughout history?

Year 2 – How has life in London shaped our country’s history?

Year 3 – Why did people settle in Nottingham?

Year 4 – What is the legacy of the Ancient Egyptians?

Year 5 – Can conflict ever be fair at all?

Year 6 – Does punishing people for crimes always make the world a better place?

Explore

Environment and Sustainability

Spring term

This is our ‘Explore’ theme, which uses Geography as a curriculum driver. Throughout this term, the children develop as Geographers; identifying key geographical features, using maps and other resources and applying their knowledge and skills to make decisions about how to look after the world, both locally and globally. They explore the impact of humans on the planet, use fieldwork skills and critical thinking and find out about natural disasters. This theme enables the development of thematic working with Science and Citizenship Education

EYFS – How Does Our Garden Grow?

Year 1 – How can we make a difference to our local community?

Year 2 – How does one person’s journey impact on everyone?

Year 3 – How do our actions impact on others around the world?

Year 4 – Do natural disasters affect rich and poor equality?

Year 5 – Is it justified to prioritise consumerism over the environment?

Year 6 – How sustainable are our food sources?

Belong

Community and Diversity

Summer term

This is our ‘Belong’ theme, which allows the children to build upon the knowledge and understanding that they have developed throughout the year, and explore key enquiry questions, which encourage them to think hard about their own and other’s identities, celebrate similarities and differences and think critically about some of the issues facing humanity today. The driver for this theme is Citizenship, although the children continue to revisit concepts from across the curriculum, including History, Geography, RSHE and Science.

EYFS – Is it ok to be different?

Year 1 – Why do people celebrate what is important to them?

Year 2 – Are humans more important than animals?

Year 3 – To what extent does culture differ across the African continent?

Year 4 – Are all people born equal?

Year 5 – Who should take responsibility to tackle homelessness?

Year 6 – Is it morally right for humans to explore space?

Global Citizenship Overview