Wider Curriculum
At Langdon Academy we have a fun, engaging, all-inclusive curriculum that meets and exceeds the expectations set out by the national curriculum.
We ensure that all of our children experience and participate in a broad, balanced and ambitious curriculum and we have judiciously chosen a number of schemes/programs to support our teaching team with this endeavour. We have systematically introduced carefully selected schemes that complement our children’s needs and this has ensured our non-core subjects are taught to the highest standard.
We strive to provide our children with lessons that will be memorable, exciting and enriching. Langdon Academy is based in a deprived area so providing our children with knowledge rich experiences and hands on practical activities is crucial in developing their understanding of the world and preparing them for life’s challenges. We want all of our children, regardless of their background or history, to grow into accomplished, knowledgeable and confident young people.
How does it work?
Where appropriate, we teach our wider curriculum subjects together. We do not force links but find connections between subjects that supplement and support their delivery. We teach these through projects that span a full term and enable our children to fully immerse themselves in their learning. Children focus on developing skills and knowledge across a term, building on their foundations from previous topics every step of the way. We believe it is imperative that all staff know what has been taught previously so that new learning can build from this in a purposeful way.
We assess the children as lessons are taught and at the end of each term we make a formal assessment of the children’s progress to ensure we have a clear picture of their attainment. This then supports us to build on from their achievements as new projects begin.
We ensure our projects are child centred, wide-ranging and practical where possible as it has been proven that when children are physically engaged and excited about their learning, they become more effective learners. We also plan a range of trips, guest visits, virtual activities and special events to enrich and provide opportunities for our children to learn in a variety of different ways. Last year we participated in excess of 100 educational enrichment opportunities and these trips and visitors really helped our children consolidate and build on their learning. This is in addition to the weekly music lessons that more than 160 children participated in each week and the numerous sporting fixtures that we compete in with local schools.
We believe that this cultural capital is crucial for the children to succeed in life hence why this is central to our curriculum design. Our school values and British core values also underpin everything that we do, helping us grow our children into well educated global citizens.
Being an all-through school also provides us with fantastic opportunities. Where possible, we share facilities, resources and expertise. Specialist secondary teaching takes place regularly which ensures our children in KS2 receive the best education possible from the most qualified teachers. This also supports our oldest children with their transition to the secondary site and making this as seamless and stress free as possible.
At Langdon Academy we are proud of the engaging, dynamic and successful curriculum we have created and we continuously strive towards further excellence.
Our individual curriculum maps for each year group can be found here:
Our Schemes/Programs:
Cornerstones – Science, History, Geography, Art and DT
What is the Cornerstones Curriculum? 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. It is based on a child-centred pedagogy called The Four Cornerstones and is delivered through Imaginative Learning Projects (ILPs) and Knowledge Rich Projects (KRPs), which provide a rich menu of exciting and motivating learning activities that make creative links between all aspects of children’s learning. We believe children learn better when they are encouraged to use their imagination and apply their learning to engaging contexts. Our curriculum provides many learning challenges throughout the academic year that require children to solve problems, apply themselves creatively and express their knowledge and understanding effectively. Cornerstones also provide a rigorous skills and knowledge framework that outlines the end of year expectations in all subjects. These skills and knowledge are tied to activities and are age-related so that staff can track children’s progress and identify their individual learning needs. Cornerstones is a fluid curriculum which means that the projects that we teach are constantly updated following the latest research, government and Ofsted updates.
Newham Agreed RE Syllabus - RE
The title of the Newham local agreed syllabus is ‘Exploring Beliefs, Celebrating Diversity’. It is called this because RE gives children and young people the opportunity to:
- learn about religion and worldviews;
- express and communicate ideas about religion and worldviews;
- gain and deploy skills needed for the study of religion and worldviews.
RE also provides an opportunity for children and young people to understand each other’s beliefs, practices and ways of life. RE makes a valuable contribution to the personal development of children and young people, particularly their spiritual, moral, social, cultural and intellectual development.
Following the agreed syllabus ensures that our children receive a full, rich, fully inclusive RE education during their primary school years.
Religious education and SACRE – School curriculum – Newham Council
Language Angels – MFL: French
Language Angels is a fully resourced scheme that empowers our teachers to teach effective French lessons. The program is linked to the 12 attainment targets set out in the DfE Languages Programme of Study for KS2 and it gives a comprehensive focus on the main language learning skills – speaking, listening, reading and writing. Language Angels utilises a full range of fun and exciting videos and interactive games that children love and it helps them consolidate their understanding, preparing them for the next piece of the language puzzle.
Charanga - Music
Charanga is a music education and technology company based in Brighton in the UK. They have developed an online platform that provides teachers and students with the help and resources they need to achieve their musical ambitions.
Charanga believes that everyone who uses their platform should enjoy every minute of their music education. It promotes the potential for music to help children grow up as kind, curious, and open-minded young people, who are sensitive and knowledgeable about music and the arts.
This program supports our teachers with teaching music confidently, professionally and with enjoyment and enthusiasm.
The program combines world-class educational technology, solid pedagogy, and great resources to ensure the children receive outstanding music tuition.
Charanga: Primary music curriculum, Secondary, Instrumental music
Teach Computing - Computing
The National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE) is funded by the Department for Education and supporting partners, and marks a significant investment in improving the provision of computing education in England. The NCCE is run by a consortium made up of STEM Learning, the Raspberry Pi Foundation and BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT.
Teach Computing enables young people to study all of the key components of the Computing curriculum, developing and strengthening their skills and furthering their career opportunities.
The program thoroughly covers all areas of online safety which also ensures that our children know how to keep themselves safe in our ever changing, technology driven world.
PE PRO – PE
The aim of our PE programme is to develop children's basic physical competencies, build confidence in their ability and build the foundations for a lifelong love of sport, physical activity and a healthy lifestyle. PE PRO is a broad and ambitious, fully mapped curriculum the develops skills from EYFS up to Year 6. The lessons follow a learning objective with success criteria that breaks down the objectives to ensure that all children can be successful in each lesson. All plans are engaging, active and fun but these do not compromise the focus on the National Curriculum. The built in assessment features enable our teachers to track children's progress throughout their time in primary and ensure that all children reach their sporting potential.
For more information about our Curriculum, please look here: Curriculum
To See what we have been up to recently, please look here: Our Learning