Learning and Curriculum at Clerkenwell
At Clerkenwell CE Primary School we believe in the concept of lifelong learning and the idea that both adults and children learn new things every day. We maintain that learning should be a rewarding and enjoyable experience for everyone; it should be creative and enjoyable and present a wide range of opportunities to make connections. Through our teaching we equip children with the skills, knowledge and understanding necessary to be able to make informed choices about the important things in their lives.
Raising standards in our school must be focused on the classroom. Continued and sustained improvement is dependent upon improving the quality of teaching and learning. Across our school the expectation is that all pupils are provided with high quality learning experiences that lead to consistently high levels of pupil achievement and attainment.
Our Curriculum Intent
By adopting a whole school approach to teaching and learning across our school, we aim to:
- promote the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils within our school;
- target all groups of pupils to read at an age-appropriate level from the start of their school journey
- prepare pupils at the school for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life that are presented, particularly by our local area and city
- enable all groups of children to become confident, resourceful, enquiring and independent life-long learners, and to build the skills and knowledge needed to take advantage of the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life.
- foster children’s self-esteem and help them build positive relationships with other people;
- develop children’s self-respect and encourage children to respect the ideas, attitudes, values and feelings of others;
- show respect for all cultures and, in so doing, promote positive attitudes towards other people;
- enable children to understand their community and help them feel valued as part of this community;
- help children grow into reliable, independent and positive citizens.
- Offer pupils an ambitious curriculum with a wide range of multi-sensory and dynamic learning opportunities that enable them to make connections, learn more and remember more.
- Use our local context to offer pupil and family opportunities to powerfully address social disadvantage and address typical gaps in pupils’ knowledge and skills
Our Curriculum Intent is met for all pupils through the lens of the Inclusion Intent
At Clerkenwell CoE Primary School:
We promote equality
We treat all individuals fairly and ensure that they have the same opportunities to fulfil their potential, even if this means doing things differently for different people where appropriate. We treat no pupil or family less favourably than another, regardless of age, disability, race, religion or belief, sex or circumstance.
We celebrate diversity
We promote a culture which values a variety of ideas, experiences and practice, where differences are respected and celebrated for the benefit of the pupils and communities we serve.
We value Inclusion
We ensure individuals with diverse needs are included without prejudice or discrimination and recognise our school as a place where all pupils can access a wide pool of knowledge, skills and understanding through valuable learning experiences
Awards for Enriched Curriculum Activities
- London Silent Film Festival - For the film 'Varmints' Winners in 3 Categories Winners 2018 of Best Film, Winners 2018 of Best Adaptation, Winners 2018 of Best Use of Location.
- Debate It - Winners 2018 - Inter-School debating competition held by Hogan Lovell
- Safer Travel Initiatives 2018- Bronze Award in recognition of achievement in active safer travel initiatives
- Chill Study - 2019 in recognition of the school's involvement and participation in the scientific research into air pollution and air quality.
Stimulating Theme-Weeks and Popular Annual Events
As well as a topic-based curriculum based on termly topics , we plan a variety of one-off special themed weeks that give pupils the chance to immerse themselves in the focus for the week. We also have a number of very popular annual events that always capture the imagination of the whole school community.
Learning Beyond the Classroom and After-School- The Clerkenwell Whole Child Project
Inspiring Trips & Stimulating In-School Visitors
We value the experiences that pupils can gain outside of the classroom and so all of our year groups go on half-termly educational visits - these broaden horizons and get everyone excited about their topics, often leading to a lot of enthusiastic and high quality writing about their experiences on the pupils' return! Sometimes we let the experts or the outside world come to us; we welcome professional drama group for example to bring to life a historical period/ geographical focus to help the pupils imagine themselves into another world.
Our Beautiful Gardens
We are fortunate enough to have some beautiful garden spaces in our school. The 'Green Team' takes great care to look after all of the plants around our school. We have a new roof-top garden which provides an oasis of calm where children can learn outside of the classroom. We also have a variety of raised garden beds which we use to learn about how our food is grown and how to make healthy food choices. The roof-top garden and Victorian garden also provide our children with rich opportunities to learn about habitats, life-cycles, the seasons and how plants grow. The gardens are a great resource for learning in other areas of the curriculum and children can be found in them for art lessons, science lessons and as an inspiration for writing amongst other uses including observing our local wildlife and enjoying a calm outdoor environment.