“Creativity is putting your imagination to work, and it’s produced the most extraordinary results in human culture.” Sir Ken Robinson

LET’S MAKE LEARNING IRRESISTIBLE..

OUR CREATIVE CURRICULUM IS ALWAYS EVOLVING!

At Adderley, we recognise creativity as a practical skill, one which can be taught and which everyone can achieve. It is a way of thinking in which we look at familiar things with a fresh eye, examine a problem with an open mind about how it might be solved, and use our imagination rather than our knowledge to explore new possibilities rather than established approaches.

Our creative curriculum ensures full pupil entitlement to the National Curriculum. Moreover, learning is enhanced through an enquiry-led model and frequent enrichment opportunities. Hence, our pupil engagement is high and there is a real buzz and positive attitudes to learning when walking into classrooms!

The focus on making learning relevant and meaningful incorporates practical experiences for our children, using both the local environment and further afield. Teachers plan a memorable experience to kick-start each unit of work. This may be an educational visit, a visiting speaker or an immersion day where children discover and explore their new learning.

Our curriculum leaders and our class teachers ensure there is clear progression of skills and opportunities for creativity, by planning from the National Curriculum Programmes of Study through the Cornerstones Imaginative Learning Projects.

The Cornerstones Curriculum is a creative and thematic approach to learning that is mapped to the Primary National Curriculum to ensure comprehensive coverage of national expectations. Our creative 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.

Cornerstones is based on the Four Cornerstones of Learning:

• Engage;
• Develop;
• Innovate and
• Express.

These Cornerstones provide a consistent philosophy for learning throughout school.

The Four Cornerstones – Philosophy

The most important underlying principle of a curriculum is to help children learn. We believe that a successful curriculum is brought to life by high quality teaching, inspirational learning activities and opportunities to listen and plan for the developing interests and motivations of children.

That is why the Cornerstones Primary Curriculum is built upon a four stage teaching and learning philosophy…

The Four Cornerstones:    ENGAGE   –   DEVELOP   –   INNOVATE   –   EXPRESS

What do the Four Cornerstones look like?

During the Engage stage children will :-

• have memorable first-hand experiences – for example going on a visit outside the classroom or inviting a specialist visitor into the classroom
• have WOW experiences – Investigate and Discover
• be introduced in exciting ways to the new topic or theme
• begin initial research and set enquiry questions
• have lots of opportunity to make observations
• develop spoken language skills
• take part in sensory activities
• have a great deal of fun, allowing them to fully ‘engage’ with their new topic

During the Develop stage children will :-

• dig much deeper to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding of a topic across the curriculum
• practice their newfound skills
• compose, make, do, build, investigate, explore, write for different purposes, read across the curriculum
• research their own questions and those posed by others
• follow new pathways of enquiry based on their own interests
• complete homework activities that support their learning in school

During the Innovate stage children will :-

• apply previous skills, knowledge and understanding in real life contexts
• be challenged with real or imagined problems and situations to solve using knowledge and skills from the earlier stages
• be inspired with imaginative and creative opportunities
• have time to re-visit skills, knowledge and understanding not grasped during the develop stage
• have the opportunity to take on different roles

During the Express stage children will :-

• become the performers, the experts, the informers
• share their achievements with others in many different ways with parents, class peers and the community
• evaluate finished products/processes
• tie learning back to the beginning
• celebrate

We believe children learn better when they are encouraged to use their imagination and apply their learning to engaging contexts. Our curriculum provides lots of learning challenges throughout the academic year that requires children to solve problems, apply themselves creatively and express their knowledge and understanding effectively across the curriculum.

Cornerstones also provide a rigorous essential skills framework that outlines the end of year expectations in all subjects. These essential skills are tied to activities and are age related so that staff can track children’s progress and identify their individual learning needs.

As a school, we value the expertise of specialist teachers and hence our curriculum for PE and Languages is delivered by specialist teachers who apply their subject expertise  to support the planning and ensure that high-quality experiences are being identified and delivered.

We celebrate the diversity in our community and endeavour to ensure that our curriculum is culturally and socially inclusive to the children who make up our school community. Our Religious, Moral & Spiritual Education (RMSE) is broad and rich, aiming to develop the character of young people and our society. You can read our Collective Worship statement here.

We use our evaluations and assessments to continually update our curriculum maps, ensuring breadth and balance. We use online resources such as Classroom Secrets and Votes For Schools to ensure that our children are kept up to date with current local and global news on a daily basis as part of their social, moral, spiritual and cultural development. We endeavour to create opportunities for enterprise and ingenuity to prepare children for the 21st century and we embrace opportunities to involve all members of our school community in this processes.

Please read about the subjects that we offer here.