Curriculum

Our Curriculum

At Didsbury Road our ambitious curriculum is carefully designed and sequenced to develop the knowledge and skills which will enable all our pupils to become effective and respectful citizens of the future. It has been designed in collaboration with staff and pupils. Our curriculum is underpinned by our vision of being kind, being respectful and being our best. We offer a broad and balanced curriculum which celebrates success and values the achievements of all of our pupils. We aspire to develop the whole child and this is reflected in the wide variety of opportunities we offer throughout school.

We have high aspirations for success in every subject and ensure effective progression across all subjects and across all year groups.

Our inclusive curriculum is literacy-rich and offers cross-curricular opportunities which engender a positive attitude to life-long learning in our pupils.

The 5 Es

Our creative curriculum is focused on being

• exciting
• engaging
• enjoyable
• enriching
• enhancing

Our curriculum is delivered through quality-first teaching which is rooted in our teaching and learning policy. We promote best practice and ensure there is a consistent approach to teaching and learning across school, which is informed by the latest research evidence.

Our curriculum is carefully sequenced and enables children to close gaps in existing knowledge and concepts and build a new understanding in a comprehensive, long-term way.

Learning Enrichment and Enhancement

We value external expertise and plan opportunities to enhance our curriculum such as visits from authors, artists, police officers, the mayor and engineers.

Parents are an important resource in our creative curriculum. We encourage their support and engagement to enrich our curriculum with events such as Diversity week and Science week.

We offer wider curriculum opportunities such as Forest School and a variety of after school activities such as multi-sports, STEM, art, choir, French, chess and lacrosse.

Residential visits and trips outside school give the pupils first-hand experience and enable interconnectivity between subjects.

We encourage creativity and confidence through regular class assemblies and year group performances.

We punctuate our timetable with enrichment days and weeks for specific curriculum subjects such as Art, DT, History and Geography.  The purpose of these enrichment opportunities is to develop a deeper understanding of specific skills and knowledge and build children’s cultural capital.

Every child has their own 'My Didsbury Road Journey' booklet. This is our parallel curriculum and enables the children to record and celebrate their wider learning and achievements both in and and out of school. Further information about My Didsbury Road Journey can be found in the 'Pupils' section.

We place great value in continual professional development as we know that research shows that this is the best way to improve teaching and learning. We have developed a culture that supports whole school and individual CPD for all staff.We encourage reflective practice and collaboration through our research lessons. Further information about our CPD activities, including examples of our research lessons, can be found in the Teaching and Learning section of the website.   

We very much value pupil voice and regularly encourage children to share their thoughts and feelings towards our curriculum with subject leaders and senior leaders. This enables us to reflect on and adapt our offer if necessary.

Our parents and carers have positive feedback and praise for our curriculum:

‘Instilling the love and passion for learning in children.’

‘Lots of varied learning opportunities and experiences for the children.’

‘Broad curriculum. High expectations.’

 Parents and Carers survey 2022

We ensure that our pupils are fully prepared for their next stage in their learning and they acquire the knowledge and skills they need to be successful both in and beyond the school context. 

Liza Ferdinand

Curriculum Lead