PYP Curriculum Framework – Eastcote Primary Academy

Overview

The Primary Years Programme (PYP) is a transdisciplinary curriculum framework that offers authentic learning experiences.

The PYP encourages students to learn to appreciate knowledge, conceptual understandings, skills and personal attributes as a connected whole.

ABOUT THE PYP OUR PROGRAMMES OF INQUIRY CORE TEXT OVERVIEW

IB World School…

Our curriculum covers all the requirements of the National Curriculum but is arranged around inquiries into six different Transdisciplinary Themes. Eastcote Primary Academy is an IB World School authorised to deliver the International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme.

Overview of the pyp framework

Our core values, Aspire, Learn, Laugh, Love linked to the IB learner profile attributes are at the heart of our curriculum. These values and attributes enable our pupils to leave Eastcote as confident, caring, internationally-minded citizens.
The International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (PYP) is the framework used for teaching our curriculum which is informed by the National Curriculum. All staff at Eastcote are committed to providing pupils with an exciting and flexible curriculum which is developed around our pupils interests and needs. Everyone is involved in it’s development with the shared aim of ensuring pupils at Eastcote are independent inquirers, who are curious and excited about learning.
The PYP Framework is guided by six transdisciplinary themes. These themes provide opportunity to incorporate local and global issues into the curriculum and allow pupils to make real connections in their learning and go beyond the confines of learning within subject areas.
As part of our yearly curriculum planning and evaluation cycle we have ensured our curriculum maintains clear progression in knowledge and skills, and progresses coherently both vertically and horizontally.
Targeted interventions and adaptations are used (both educational and pastoral) to support pupils in developing their basic skills, and enabling them to access our curriculum to achieve their full potential.
Eastcote’s ‘Curriculum for Life’ teaches all aspects of RSHE in an age-appropriate and sequential order to meet the needs of our learners
Our curriculum reflects the school’s local context by ensuring pupils develop understanding of other lands, religions and cultures and their own and others’ race, challenging prejudicial views, stereotyping and derogatory language and promoting positive attitudes towards diversity and equality.

Lessons are well-planned and appropriately sequenced with a mixture of different teaching styles from high quality direct instruction to pupil-led inquiry based learning.
Units of inquiry are planned by the class teacher in collaboration with pupils.
Knowledge, skills, understanding and inquiry are embedded. Teachers ensure challenge for all and support those pupils who may be falling behind enabling them to catch up. Teachers regularly assess pupils’ understanding and progress in lessons and reshape activities accordingly. For example, they push some pupils quickly on to more challenging tasks and, for others, revisit earlier learning points. Consequently, pupils make rapid progress in their learning.
Teachers use questioning very effectively to make pupils think hard and explain their answers. They quickly identify common misconceptions and correct these to avoid valuable learning time being wasted. Pupils whose work shows they have not understood the learning objective well enough are identified by teachers each day. Teachers then tailor activities in the morning the following day to address pupils’ misconceptions and to provide additional challenge.
Teachers have high expectations for all pupils and are ambitious that all achieve as well as they are able.
Teachers mark pupils’ written work regularly and give them feedback on their progress, often including the ‘next steps’ needed to progress.
Pupils’ books demonstrate their progress and responsiveness to feedback.
Assessment for learning includes well directed questioning, pupil conferencing, manageable marking and feedback in books, low-stakes testing and appropriate formal testing. Assessment informs planning.
At the end of each IB theme, teachers will plan a short task (practical/collaborative) to assess their children’s understanding of the wider curriculum which has been taught that term.
Teachers are held to account for their work and how well pupils are doing regularly through pupil progress meetings, monitoring and appraisal.
Teachers keep their knowledge up to date, for example through CPD in staff meetings.

Children leave Eastcote for secondary school ready to embrace life confidently, and flourish in our diverse world as caring internationally minded citizens.
Pupils are independent inquirers, who are curious and excited about learning.
Eastcote learners are able to make real connections in their learning and go beyond the confines of learning within subject areas
All pupils can access our curriculum and are challenged to achieve their full potential.
PYP books demonstrate learning across a transdisciplinary curriculum and evidences progress made in skills, knowledge and inquiry over time.
Results at the end of Key Stage are above national figures and government expectations.

Subject Specific Curriculum Statements

International Mindedness

International-mindedness is central to the IB mission and is a foundational principle to its educational philosophy; it is at the heart of the continuum of international education.

International-mindedness is a view of the world in which people see themselves connected to the global community and assume a sense of responsibility towards its members. It is an awareness of the interrelatedness of all nations and peoples, and is a recognition of the complexity of these. Internationally minded people appreciate and value the diversity of peoples, cultures and societies in the world. They make efforts to learn more about others and to develop empathy and solidarity towards them to achieve mutual understanding and respect (Oxfam 2105; UNESCO 2015).

Primary Years Programme (PYP) learners and their learning communities have a range of perspectives, values and traditions. The concept of international-mindedness builds on these diverse perspectives to generate a sense of common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet.

At Eastcote pupils appreciate and celebrate the diversity of cultures in our school, and the world as a whole. They are interested and curious to learn more about them. Eastcote welcomes the local community into the school to share their culture. For example: families have brought in religious artefacts to discuss, parents have taught children how to cook their traditional foods, grandparents have painted Mehndi designs on pupils’ hands, and members of a local church organised a world reflection morning. Pupils are very proud of their heritage and are keen to share. Regular assemblies are led by pupils sharing their culture and beliefs. Last year these ranged from assemblies about Israel, to Poland to Pakistan. It is evident that pupils have a real pride in not only their backgrounds, but also their peers.

Pupils at Eastcote are aware of the long-term consequences of human behaviour on the environment and on global society. They feel they can make a difference and are empowered to act. Pupils believe they can influence the world around them. After inspiration from assemblies and units of inquiry pupils have used their initiative to try and make a difference to the world. Examples include: pupils independently organising their own environmental group who encourage pupils to be responsible with their waste, a pupil delivering a whole school assembly on how she is developing her own invention for her disabled grandad to enable him to communicate with others, and a group of pupils adopting an animal. Teaching pupils through units of inquiry has strengthened their ability to understand issues on a personal, local, national and world level. For example: the pupils after their inquiry into ‘The efforts to maintain peace and resolve conflict can help humans live harmoniously’ could discuss peace on all four levels. They could talk about their own inner peace and how they enjoyed meditation. They then made links to Remembrance Day and the Christmas Truce, the Peace Wall in Northern Ireland, and Buddhist beliefs around the world.

At Eastcote we believe that language learning is a tool to overcome cultural barriers. We are beginning to expose pupils to multiple languages. With over 25 languages being spoken by our families, we encourage children to share their languages with the class. Every pupil enjoys their weekly Spanish lessons. These build their confidence in communicating in different languages and learning about different cultures.

Co-curricular Eastcote Primary Academy

Part of the curriculum that particularly distinguishes Eastcote is its Co-Curriculum which promotes pupil voice and social responsibility. Every year we review and adapt it. Key to our curriculum is our focus on developing the whole person. One way we facilitate this is through our enrichment activities, such as enterprise week, book days, school trips, visitors, moral debate assemblies and reflection days which we evaluate yearly.

Pupil responsibility through for example our house system; peer mentoring and playground buddies develops principled, caring children who can share their opinions confidently and articulately.

Our Co-Curriculum includes:

Drama productions,
Before school, lunchtime and afterschool clubs,
Sports teams such as football and netball,
Competitions-such as talent, art, spelling, maths, football, poetry,
Visits for example to the Toy Museum, Oxleas Woods, Cardwell Gurdwara, St Mary’s Church,

Experience Days such as Ancient Civilisations, Seaside, African drumming,
Bee keeping,
Visitors such as Batafon arts, Wildlife photographer Roger Hooper, charity workers, religious leaders and local business people,
Shows- Virtual space show, Alice in Wonderland and Jungle Book,
Pupil-led assemblies