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.

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.

International Baccalaureate World School logo
Leigh Academy Paddock Wood is an IB World School, authorised to deliver the International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme.
The  International Baccalaureate® aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.
To this end the organization works with schools, governments and international organizations to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment.
These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.
Overview of the PYP framework

At LAPW, our intent is to provide a highly ambitious, well structured and broad curriculum that enables pupils to acquire the knowledge and skills they need to be successful at  secondary school.  

At Leigh Academy Paddock Wood our curriculum uses the philosophy of the IB PYP framework to ensure it: 

  • enable pupils to develop learner attributes so that they become knowledgeable, active inquirers, communicators, are open-minded, reflective and able to act with agency 
  • encourages pupils to be internationally minded with an appreciation and sense of responsibility for the world around them 
  • exceeds the requirements of the National Curriculum to enhance pupil knowledge and enable deeper connections across subjects within a transdisciplinary framework 
  • supports the development of the whole pupil, physically, emotionally and intellectually 
 

‘Our highly ambitious community builds thinking learners, who act with agency and create lasting memories’.

To achieve our mission statement, our children study the International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme (PYP), with an emphasis on inquiry and teaching children how to learn at its heart.  The PYP encourages the holistic development of the child through inquiry, both in the classroom and the wider world; it encourages students to take action on their learning and new-found understanding. Our children have agency (voice, choice and ownership) over their practice, enabling them to be responsible for their own learning. This is the framework which will be underpinned by the National Curriculum.

The most significant and distinctive feature of the PYP, is the six transdisciplinary themes of global significance:

  • Who we are
  • Where we are in place and time
  • How we express ourselves
  • How the world works
  • How we organize ourselves
  • Sharing the planet
  • Pupils investigate these themes through a series of central ideas within ‘Units of Inquiry’, which change every module. Within these Units of Inquiry, children learn (are taught) the full breadth of curriculum, including the core subjects of English, maths and science.

Our academy works hard to nurture each of our classes as a community in its own right. This provides learners with continuity and confidence. However, at the whole-academy level, we also believe that some subjects are best delivered by specialist teachers, in order to develop pupils to their maximum potential. In our academy these subjects are sports/outdoor learning and languages.

As an internationally-minded academy, a key aspect of our curriculum will be to develop their role as global citizens through the inclusion of the UN Sustainability Development Goals to understand how they can contribute to their community and the wider world in a positive way. Pupils, with teachers and parents, will work on these characteristics throughout their time in our academy as part of their holistic development, to prepare them to succeed in an ever-changing world. A key component of this is to ensure our pupils are Digitally literate and so our approach is blended and digital learning is embedded within Teaching and Learning across the academy. LAPW Digital Learning Expectations 2021-2022

In order to ensure this happens consistently at LAPW we will ensure:

  • Lessons are well sequenced across the curriculum to allow pupils to; be challenged, to make links, work independently, share their knowledge and skills and problem solve.
  • Questioning is used effectively and includes higher order thinking for all pupils, allowing them to explore their own and others’ ideas of both prior knowledge and new concepts.
  • Feedback and marking is relevant to the learner, with a balance of written feedback and conferencing to support pupils to make progress, take ownership of their work and reflect on their learning.
  • Regular and sustained writing opportunities are built and planned into all areas of the curriculum to ensure English skills are applied fluently.
  • Teachers to regularly review prior learning alongside new concepts, so that pupils are able to retrieve information quickly and build on this knowledge so it becomes embedded in their long term memory.
  • Reading skills are taught daily.
  • Digital technology is part of our Teaching and Learning strategy – embedded into all areas of the curriculum, where relevant.
  • RSE is part of our everyday learning, referenced when appropriate and pupil’s health and well-being as a priority.

The progress our pupils make, across the whole curriculum is carefully monitored and tracked to ensure progression of skills is evident and opportunities are wide reaching. Our pupils are involved in the evaluation of their learning, through conferencing and self-evaluation. Our assessment is on-going, a balance between summative and formative assessment – with our Feedback and Marking Policy ensuring that this is the start of all planning, building on prior learning and taking into account the progress pupils have made within a lesson, through discussion, evidence in books and conferencing. Accessibility will be supported through the use of the Read and Write Toolbar for all children with 1:1 devices and through careful planning to ensure all children have the support necessary to make progress (this may include a variance in resource, activity or with adult support – dependent on the area of need or focus). Home learning supports pupils to extend or review concepts from class through the virtual classroom and regular practice of key skills.

Solo Taxonomy will be used to help assess pupils across the curriculum – this will ensure that staff are able to use this information to build the next Unit of Inquiry and opportunities for pupils to demonstrate their understanding. Regular formative assessments are used across the academy for all year groups and pupil progress meetings are held termly to track progress and ensure interventions are appropriate. Moderation will be a feature of our Continuous Professional Development meetings and will ensure that assessment criteria are used consistently across all year groups. Where external assessments are used e.g. Phonics screening, we will use past papers to track progress in the relevant year groups and ensure pupils have experience of these throughout their academic journey in the Primary Phase.

  • Give positive feedback about pupil’s learner profile attitudes, behaviour and
  • Monitor learning regularly and provide support where needed in a short time frame.
  • Listen to the views of children, parents and teachers and make changes where necessary in response.
  • Ensure that all staff are up-to-date with current practice through a clear curriculum development programme.
  • Confidently deliver all areas of the National Curriculum through the framework of the PYP.
  • Ensure they knowledgeably deliver concepts which extend all learners, regardless of their starting points or additional needs.
  • Communicate regularly with Leadership to question what is working well and what can be improved.
  • Plan and follow the IB Programme of Inquiry, ensuring children have opportunities to make connections across their lines of inquiry.
  • Teach consistently well.
  • Talk with confidence about what they are learning and why they are learning it at that point.
  • Talk with confidence about the Central Idea, Key concepts , Approaches to Learning being studied.
  • Talk with confidence about connections in their learning across their lines of inquiry and in subject specific skills.
  • Work with enthusiasm, interest and focus in every lesson.
  • Demonstrate improvement throughout their books, building on each piece of work.
  • Demonstrate pride in the presentation of their work, following handwriting guidance when writing.
  • Show understanding in their explanations and other forms of writing, of the concepts and national curriculum skills.
  • Use subject-specific vocabulary in their writing.
  • Support their children in attending school, arriving on-time.
  • Ensure School uniform policies are followed and that children arrive at school presentable and ready for learning.
  • Communicate with the school in a positive way, to give feedback about their children’s engagement with their learning in school.
  • Support home learning, completing daily activities (reading and maths skills) and weekly homework set.
  • Expect the same standard of work from their children at home, to match expectations set in school.
  • Engage with their child’s current learning through discussion, outings and resources.

Please view our dedicated Curriculum Map website for more information on the Leigh Academy Paddock Wood Curriculum and its various components.

Curriculum Map Website

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).

International Mindedness graphic image.

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 LAPW we fully embrace international mindedness. We celebrate the diversity of our children and families, engaging all of our children in the rich cultures which we have here at Paddock Wood. We explore different languages in many ways, from asking our own children to teach us words and phrases in their mother tongue to investigating cultures of the world, through literature, songs, cookery, dance, and understanding and appreciating different faiths. This is achieved through a wide range of activities including clubs, assemblies and within our everyday classroom practice.

French is the main language taught at LAPW. This is taught initially by our specialist French teacher each week, but then filters through all our inquiries and into our everyday classroom routines. Alongside this, through our inquiry, we explore French culture from the past and present, helping our children to understand the similarities and differences in one of our closest global neighbours. The children explore this through a range of engaging experiences that link closely to each inquiry, building a picture of the important elements that have shaped France over time.

We invest time in looking at global issues, helping our children to identify and understand how other cultures live, developing a balanced view of what shapes the lives of different communities. Understanding different perspectives is a key skill we want to develop in our children.

Part of international mindedness at LAPW is understanding the 17 UN Sustainable Development goals. We carefully weave these goals through all of our inquiries, ensuring that our children develop a broad worldview and a deep understanding of the needs in communities across the world. We actively encourage our children to take an interest in global issues and take time to link them to real life events across the world . By linking these goals to the world around us, it ensures the children’s understanding of them is relevant and meaningful.

Co-curricular at Leigh Academy Paddock Wood

Our clubs change termly and include a range of opportunities for children in EYFS through to Year 6. We continue to offer our children links with future careers and allow them to take their learning in the classroom and extend this further. Typically, co-curricular activities are carried out outside the normal classrooms but they supplement academic curriculum and help in learning by doing. These activities help students to develop problem-solving, reasoning, critical thinking, creative thinking, communication, and collaborative abilities.

  • Outdoor learning
  • Forest School
  • Student council
  • School sports teams
  • Debating clubs
  • Choir
  • Music
  • Creative clubs
  • French club
  • Coding
  • Science clubs

Supporting the curriculum

Outdoor Learning

We believe in encouraging all children to engage with outdoor learning. This includes:

  • Utilising our extensive grounds for team building activities, orienteering, pond dipping
  • Mountain Biking off-site
  • Wales Residential for Y5 which includes: caving, trekking, orienteering, kayaking
  • A Residential Trip for Y6 linking in with languages and outdoor learning

Forest Schools is a child-centred approach that takes place during regular visits to the wooded areas of the school. A small group of children work with the Forest School Leader, and supporting adults, in weekly sessions to play in and explore the natural environment. Basic resources, such as string, rope and tarpaulins, are provided and the skills to use them are taught as and when they are needed by the participants. As their skills grow, and when it is developmentally appropriate, more challenging skills may be taught.

Essential to Forest School Practice is a mutual relationship between the participants and the woodland itself. The Forest School Leader assumes responsibility for monitoring the ecological impact of activities and promotes an understanding of sustainability with all participants and the wider school community.

Our children are introduced to the idea of democracy from Y1 by having the opportunity to stand for Academy Student Council. Representatives from each class will join the council to discuss concerns, issues, ideas – using the UN Sustainable Development Goals as a focus.

Leigh Academy Paddock Wood has a good track record for taking part in many different sports. These include: Kwick Cricket, Football (Boys/Girls/Mixed Teams), Hockey, Athletics, Netball, Tag Rugby and anything else we can find time to offer! We encourage our children and teams to work together, demonstrating sporting integrity and attitude, whilst still having a healthy sense of competition.

Our Y5/6 children are able to sign up to Debate Club – learning how to deliver an opinion, using information and evidence to support their view. We also take them to the Houses of Parliament and Royal Courts of Justice to show them why we debate ideas and which careers these might lead to.

Our choir is regularly booked for local events, such as supporting Demelza House and national events such as Young Voices. We teach children to sing as a group, listen to one another and develop harmonies.

We offer a chance to learn a range of musical instruments with peripatetic teachers (for a small cost) including: guitar, piano, violin, drums. In Y3 we have a Musician in Residence to teach Ukulele, which is then further developed (through Kent Music School) into Y4 and onwards.

This year we have two clubs on offer; Art and Pottery. Both allow the children to explore new techniques and ideas – developing a love of creativity and expression.

Our school is proud to employ a French Language teacher – who delivers weekly French lessons from Y2 to all classes. This knowledge is then extended through French club – where children can continue to practise their conversational French with pupils across the school.

Understanding computers and learning the basics of coding helps children to develop an appreciation of how things work. It also teaches them how software engineers use math in order to solve problems in a logical and creative way. This is one of the big reasons coding is important to learn.

Our Science clubs include; Gardening, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) Projects, Pond dipping and Nature Detectives. We want children to learn to look after our environment and explore and develop their interest and love of the natural world.