Curriculum Overview
Overview
At Rutherford House School, we believe that a high-quality education should equip every child with the knowledge, skills and understanding they need to succeed, both now and in the future. Through the explicit teaching of knowledge and skills, we aim to develop confident, curious and independent learners who have a strong sense of the world around them and an appreciation of different cultures and perspectives.
Our curriculum is carefully sequenced to build knowledge progressively, providing opportunities for pupils to revisit, practise and deepen their understanding over time. Through effective teaching and deliberate practice, pupils develop secure factual knowledge alongside the procedural knowledge and skills needed to apply what they have learned.
We want our pupils to be both interesting and interested: to leave Rutherford House School with a genuine curiosity about the world, a broad range of knowledge and the confidence to engage with new ideas and experiences. Above all, our curriculum aims to prepare every child for the next stage of their education and to give them the foundations to thrive beyond the classroom.
How We Teach Our Curriculum
Our teachers carefully plan learning experiences to ensure that knowledge and skills are taught progressively, revisited regularly and embedded over time. This includes:
- Knowledge organisers: Each unit is supported by a knowledge organiser, outlining the key knowledge, facts and vocabulary that all pupils are expected to learn and remember.
- Carefully sequenced lessons: A planned sequence of lessons in each subject, designed to build on prior learning, develop understanding and provide opportunities for progression and depth.
- Low-stakes quizzes: Regular opportunities for pupils to retrieve and revisit previously taught knowledge. Quizzing at the end of each unit helps to strengthen long-term memory, secure learning and make space for new knowledge.
- Enrichment opportunities: Educational visits, trips and visiting experts that bring learning to life, broaden pupils' experiences and deepen their understanding of the subjects they study.
The Outcomes of Our Curriculum
We evaluate the impact of our curriculum through a range of approaches to ensure that pupils are developing the knowledge, skills and understanding set out in our curriculum plans. This includes:
- Reviewing standards: Evaluating pupils' achievements against the intended learning outcomes to assess the extent to which knowledge and skills have been secured.
- Formal assessments: Using formal assessments in reading, grammar and mathematics to monitor pupils' attainment, measure progress and identify areas where further teaching and support may be needed. In writing, we use teacher assessment alongside No More Marking (NMM) comparative judgement to evaluate the quality of pupils' writing and monitor progress.
- Pupil discussions: Talking to pupils about their learning to explore what they know, remember and understand, and how they can make connections to previous learning.
- Reviewing pupils' work: Looking at a range of pupils' work across the school to evaluate progression, the application of knowledge and skills, and evidence of secure understanding and greater depth.
Curriculum maps by year group
Our subject specific pages outline what is taught in each subject across each year group in the various curriculum maps.
