Our approach
At De Beauvoir Primary School, we ensure that pupils’ education meets the requirements of the National Curriculum. Our vision is to keep the children’s needs, interests and skills for life at the heart of everything we do, whilst developing their body of knowledge about some of the world’s best and most brilliant ideas. We have therefore created an inspiring curriculum which develops the children’s knowledge and skills, building on previous learning and enabling pupils to refine their enquiry and questioning skills.
All topics are designed to be engaging for our pupils and to have skills and knowledge develop through opportunities for enquiry, collaboration and research. We have designed the themes across the school within topics that focus on geography and history, as well as art, design and technology, debating and drama We also link these to English and science where appropriate. These topics have clearly defined end points and have been specifically designed for our children, preparing them for their next stage of schooling.
The Autumn Term begins with a focus on Diverse De Beauvoir, which forms part of our establishment phase. The topics focused on our De Beauvoir Behaviours of:
- Respect
- Inclusion
- Confidence
- Tenacity
History
Our history curriculum builds progressively from Year 1 to Year 6. As a school, we focus carefully on 4 themes in our history units:
- Culture
- Government
- Empire and economy
- Belief
This allows for our pupils to grow in both specific and detailed knowledge within historical periods, and across historical periods, developing an understanding of chronology. We have carefully sequenced our units, which range from WWII to The Activists (looking at the rise of the women’s vote), from Toys to The Maya. Many of our units allow for links to be made within a year group and across year groups due to the coherence of our curriculum and its layered approach. Our history units, like our other units, allow for carefully cross-curricular planning: when Year 6 study WWII, they also develop their drawing skills by studying Henry Moore’s Shelter Drawings and create Anderson Shelters in Design and Technology; they begin to see the wider picture of life at that time and deepen their knowledge. We ensure pupils develop their understanding of chronology, are able to historically interpret by using hands-on resources and have secure, deep body of knowledge which builds over time. We ensure our trips are rooted in our curriculum and actively seek out a range of wider opportunities which allow pupils to develop their wider understanding of their historical unit of study. Please see our year group overviews for more information about the history units pupils will be exposed to whilst at De Beauvoir.
Geography
Our detailed geography curriculum tracks the National Curriculum aims and specifications but has layered and progressive concepts, from Year 1 up to Year 6. Pupils study the key themes of
- Places
- Spaces
- Environment with a thread of sustainability that runs through the key stages.
For example, pupils in Year 2 study the British Seaside, with a particular focus on Victorian England; children in Year 3 then study The Victorians in depth, allowing for progressive and layered knowledge which accumulates over time. Pupils study the broad range of cultural differences in locations studied: in Year 3 they explore the Amazon Rainforest and the native inhabitants, Year 5 pupils study The Arctic Circle and explore the lives of the Inuit people – each unit explores both physical and human geography and our impact on the environment. Our geography curriculum has clear progression in knowledge and in geography fieldwork skills, which are layered from Year 1 to Year 6. We ensure the locations which are studied represent our diverse school community. Please see our year group overviews for more information about the geography units and locations pupils will be exposed to whilst at De Beauvoir.
