Curriculum Intent

At Teignmouth Primary School, we aim to instil in our pupils a lifelong love of learning which will support them throughout their lives. Our curriculum covers all National Curriculum requirements and is purposefully designed to provide a broad, balanced, and ambitious education that equips every child with the knowledge, skills and character they need to succeed in modern Britain. Our vision is underpinned by three core drivers:

1. Reading at the Heart

We strongly believe that reading is the gateway to all learning. It is at the heart of everything we do, prioritising high-quality texts across the curriculum. Our intent is to ensure that every child becomes a confident, fluent reader and develops a lifelong love of reading. By immersing our children in a literature-rich environment, we empower them to unlock the wider curriculum, build extensive vocabularies in which to communicate clearly with, and develop deep empathy and understanding of the world around them.

2. Cultural Capital & Enrichment

We are committed to broadening our children’s cultural capital and levelling the playing field for all our learners. Our curriculum goes beyond the classroom, providing a wealth of enrichment experiences – from local and national trips to engaging with inspiring visitors and the arts. These carefully planned opportunities are designed to support personal development and ensure that every child, regardless of their starting point, has access to memorable and life-enhancing experiences.

3. Values-led Character Development

Our school values of Respect, Responsibility and Aspiration are the golden threads that run through our teaching and learning:

• Respect: We nurture an environment where pupils respect themselves, others and the diverse world around them. Our relational approach prioritises building trust, connection, and empathy, creating secure environments where everyone feels valued, safe, and motivated.
• Responsibility: We encourage children to take pride in their learning, and their environment. We encourage them to take ownership in their actions, and with their role within the school and wider community.
• Aspiration: We set high expectations, encouraging every child to ‘aim for the sky’ and recognise that through hard work, there are no limits to what they can achieve regardless of their barriers.

Through this intent, we aim to develop well-rounded, knowledgeable and resilient citizens who leave our school ready for the next stage of their education and beyond.

Curriculum Implementation

To ensure our curriculum is both rigorous and engaging, we organise our learning into half-termly, cross-curricular topics. This structure allows children to make meaningful connections between subjects, moving beyond isolated facts to a deep, conceptual understanding of the world.

1. Thematic Half-Termly Topics

Our curriculum is mapped into six distinct themes per year. Each half-termly topic serves as a ‘deep dive’ into a specific enquiry question around the theme. Our locality is threaded throughout our curriculum to help provide a sense of belonging and pride, and to help foster aspiration and respect, we have explicitly planned opportunities for children to learn about a range of diverse key figures across different subjects ensuring children see themselves reflected in the curriculum and encounter voices from a wide variety of backgrounds.

Knowledge Integration: Subjects like history, geography, art, and design technology are taught separately, but are woven together by theme, allowing children to see how different areas overlap. However, subjects that require discrete teaching are not forced into the cross-curricular topics and are given the time and space needed for children to learn their skills and substantive knowledge.

Progressive Sequencing: Each topic is carefully sequenced to build on the knowledge gained previously ensuring a cohesive learning journey from EYFS to Year 6. Vocabulary is also carefully mapped out and discussed with children to enhance topics.

Locality-Threaded Curriculum: Opportunities to link the curriculum with our local area have been planned in as we believe that to understand the world, children must understand where they come from. We deliberately plan learning around our town’s distinct geographical and historical features such as fieldwork along the River Teign, learning about the iconic coastal railway and Teignmouth’s critical role during World War II to name a few.

Diverse representations and Key Figures: Our ‘Reading at the Heart’ approach includes a carefully selected spine of authors, poets and texts that represent the diversity of modern Britain which children read and use to inspire writing. From classical composers to contemporary musicians, we expose our children to different cultures and eras through key musicians in assemblies and through our music curriculum and our ‘Super Scientists’ are studied to highlight the contributions of an array of diverse scientists to challenge stereotype and inspire all.

1. Trips and Topic Enrichment Days (TED)

To punctuate our learning and provide ‘wow’ moments, every half term includes a dedicated Topic Enrichment Day (TED) and a curriculum-linked memorable experience whether this be a trip or a visitor. These experiences are designed to immerse children in their current theme and provide the ‘lived experience’ necessary to build engagement and deep understanding.

Topic Enrichment Days: TEDS replace standard timetables with immersive workshops, dressing-up and role-play, or large-scale creative projects. They also provide another opportunity to invite parents and carers in to join in with, and share in the children’s learning.

Learning Beyond the Classroom: Topics are further enhanced by educational trips, ranging from local walks through our own town to visits to national museums and outdoor centres. These trips are essential for broadening cultural capital, giving children first-hand access to the sites and artefacts they learn about. Our 35 Ways we will Help you Grow at Teignmouth Primary sets out the wide-range of enrichment experiences and opportunities, both during, and outside of, the school day we expose all our children to.

Community Partnerships: We collaborate with local charities, services and businesses to help our children understand their role in their community. Our annual We Are Ivy, We Are Teignmouth week, has all children from EYFS to year 6 taking part in a community event, from beach cleaning to visiting local residential homes, to show how they can support and give back to others.

2. Reading and Writing: Language at the Core

We place high-quality literature at the heart of the curriculum, recognising that reading is the gateway to all learning. Our structured approach helps towards our intentions that every child becomes a fluent, confident reader and an expressive writer. Our writing curriculum is also driven by our key texts using our reading to inspire our writing.

Early Reading: Read Write Inc.: We use the Read Write Inc (RWI) phonics programme to teach early reading. This systematic, synthetic approach ensures rapid progress from the very start of a child’s journey. Children receive focused, daily phonics sessions tailored to their stage not age. Pupils read books that match the sounds they know, building confidence and decoding accuracy and regular assessments allow us to identify gaps immediately and provide targeted, one-to-one intervention.

Whole-Class Guided Reading: Once children master decoding, they transition to Whole-Class Guided Reading. This approach immerses all pupils in rich, age-appropriate texts. We explicitly teach comprehension skills, including inference, prediction, retrieval and vocabulary analysis through the use of VIPERS. Whole-class debate and dialogue deepen understanding and allow pupils to learn from one another.

Dedicated Library and Story Time: We actively foster a culture of reading for pleasure through our weekly dedicated library times and daily story times in each class. Planned Core Texts are used in EYFS and Key Stage One regularly to support our children in knowing particular stories and types of stories really well to help embed key characters, themes and structures.

Text-Driven Writing: Children are immersed in the text, analyse the author’s devices and use the structure to create their own writing. Writing objectives from the National Curriculum are mapped out and taught each half term, progressively, to support children in acquiring the skills and knowledge needed to write effectively. Writing tasks are purposefully linked to the core texts, allowing pupils to write with clear audience, purpose and voice.

Curriculum Impact

Academic Achievement & Literacy

• Confident, Fluent Readers: Our synthetic phonics and text-driven reading ensure pupils master decoding rapidly and read at or above age-related expectations. Where children do not make the expected progress, or have particular barriers to their reading, the regular assessments are used to inform the planning of key interventions or strategies to support them in closing gaps.
• Rich Vocabularies: Our immersive text-driven writing and structured comprehension sessions empower pupils to communicate clearly, expressively, and articulately.
• Deep Conceptual Understanding: Our sequenced, thematic topics enable pupils to transfer knowledge across subjects and retain a strong, permanent grasp of substantive facts.

Personal Development & Citizens of Modern Britain

• High Aspirations: The exposure to diverse global figures and expert role models inspires pupils to challenge stereotypes and strive for boundless future success.
• Strong Moral Character: Our daily interactions, rooted in Respect, Responsibility, and Aspiration help to create resilient, empathetic citizens who take pride in their actions.
• Ready for the Next Stage: Our strive towards high academic standards and robust character development ensure pupils transition into secondary education as well-rounded individuals.

 

Cultural Capital & Community Connection

• Levelled Playing Field: Our immersive Topic Enrichment Days and regular trips ensure all pupils, regardless of background, share rich, memorable life experiences.
• Deep Sense of Belonging: Local history, geography, and fieldwork instil a profound pride in Teignmouth’s heritage and a strong connection to the town.
• Active Community Contributors: Our partnership projects and dedicated community weeks teach pupils the tangible value of civic duty and giving back to others.

For further information regarding our curriculum, please email info@teignmouthschool.co.uk