Curriculum to Inspire

 

At Djanogly Sherwood Academy, we are an ambitious place that creates world-changers. We cultivate a lifelong love of learning, helping children discover their unique voices, empowering them to approach their future with the confidence to dream big. We are a place where everyone belongs; that prepares children to succeed.

 

 

At Djanogly Sherwood Academy, our curriculum is engineered to ensure that everyone belongs and every child excels. We provide a rigorous, knowledge-rich, and broad curriculum that removes barriers, fosters curiosity, and equips every child with the core knowledge, academic vocabulary, and cultural capital needed for lifelong success.

 

Curriculum Intent: High Ambition & Equal Entitlement

We believe that high academic ambition is the right of every child, regardless of starting point, background, or learning needs.

• Cumulative Knowledge Architecture: Learning is carefully sequenced step-by-step from EYFS to Year 6. Concepts, vocabulary, and skills are built logically over time, ensuring pupils store knowledge in their long-term memory and make connections across subjects.

• Inclusion Without Compromise: We do not narrow the curriculum for pupils with SEND or those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Instead, we adapt delivery through scaffolding, vocabulary pre-teaching, and concrete representations to ensure equal access to high-level content.

• Language-Rich Foundations: Spoken language, reading, and explicit vocabulary instruction are prioritised across all subjects. Expanding children’s vocabulary is our key lever for unlocking deep comprehension and academic confidence.

 

Our Conceptual Strands: Building Cultural Capital

To ensure our children develop into informed, compassionate global citizens, our curriculum is woven together by 5 Conceptual Strands. These strands drive our assemblies, curriculum connections, and half-termly Value Days:

Our 5 Conceptual Strands

• Power
• Innovators
• Women in History
• Environmental Concerns
• Nottingham

 

• Women in History & Diverse Role Models: Promoting equity, challenging stereotypes, and celebrating diverse historical and contemporary achievements.

• Innovators & Creative Thinking: Fostering problem-solving, resilience through failure, and critical thinking to tackle real-world challenges.

• Nottingham & Local Community: Connecting learning to our local heritage, civic pride, and active contribution to our Nottingham community.

• Environmental Concerns & Sustainability: Instilling eco-conscious behaviours, understanding global impact, and taking action for the planet.

• Power, Governance & Active Citizenship: Exploring how leadership, democracy, laws, and shared responsibilities shape society.

 

Curriculum Implementation: Evidence-Based Pedagogy

Our teaching framework is rooted in cognitive science and evidence-based instructional practice, ensuring consistency across every classroom.

Explicit Instruction ("I Do, We Do, You Do")

• I Do: Teachers clearly model new concepts, demonstrate metacognitive thinking, and break down complex ideas into manageable steps.

• We Do: Teachers and pupils practice together through guided questioning, shared retrieval, and immediate feedback to build mastery.

• You Do: Pupils transition to independent practice with appropriate scaffolds, demonstrating confidence and fluency.

 

Curriculum Impact: Evaluating Excellence

We measure the impact of our curriculum not merely through short-term recall, but through long-term mastery, child confidence, and equity of outcomes.

• Knowledge Retention: Low-stakes retrieval practice and cumulative assessments demonstrate that pupils retain core knowledge across terms and years.

• Articulate Learners: Pupils speak with rich academic vocabulary, explain their thinking clearly

• Prepared for Next Steps: Every Sherwood pupil leaves Key Stage 2 with strong reading fluency, mathematical confidence, rich cultural capital, and self-belief - fully prepared to excel in secondary education and beyond.