At Combs Ford Primary School, we provide a curriculum that offers exciting and meaningful learning opportunities, inspiring pupils to be the best they can be. Our holistic approach, underpinned by our core values (The Combs Code), supports the intellectual, emotional, social, physical, creative and spiritual development of every child.

We have high expectations for all pupils and promote a culture where hard work and effort lead to success. We aim to develop articulate, caring and resilient learners who are willing to take risks, value knowledge, lead healthy lives and celebrate the diversity of the world around them. By the time they leave our school, we want our children to be confident, successful and positive role models.

Our curriculum extends beyond classroom lessons, recognising the importance of school routines, enrichment opportunities and wider experiences in shaping well-rounded individuals.

Intent

Our local community lies at the heart of our teaching and learning. Our curriculum has been carefully designed to reflect and celebrate the community in which we live, ensuring that pupils develop a strong sense of belonging and identity. We make purposeful use of our immediate environment, enabling children to see meaningful connections between their learning and the world around them.

Our curriculum is enquiry-led, encouraging children to ask questions, explore ideas and develop a natural curiosity about the world around them. Learning is built around purposeful questions that help make links across different areas of the curriculum and give children a clear reason for learning. At the same time, we place strong importance on each individual subject. Children are taught the key knowledge, skills and vocabulary that belong to subjects such as history, geography, science and art, so they understand what makes each one unique. While our enquiries help create meaningful connections, we ensure that subject content is carefully planned and sequenced so that learning remains clear, structured and progressive.

Running throughout our curriculum are carefully considered ‘Combs Connections’ that provide coherence, consistency and shared purpose across the school. These connections reflect our core values and key priorities, ensuring that important themes are revisited and strengthened in every year group. Whether through developing rich vocabulary, promoting resilience and independence, fostering respect and responsibility, or encouraging curiosity about the wider world, these threads connect learning across subjects and phases. They ensure that, while topics may change, the underlying ambitions for our pupils remain constant and clearly visible throughout their journey at Combs Ford Primary School.

Through this carefully structured and community focused approach, we ensure that learning is engaging, ambitious and memorable, enabling every child to thrive both within their local environment and beyond.

Implementation

The Combs Ford Curriculum (which breaks down the National Curriculum objectives using both bespoke and published schemes) is used as the expectations for all children. Our Curriculum has been designed to be broad and balanced and is designed to build knowledge and skills in a clear, structured way that supports all learners. Lessons are carefully sequenced to introduce new concepts gradually, with plenty of opportunities to revisit and reinforce previous key facts, skills and relevant vocabulary. Our curriculum is supported by Rosenshine’s 10 Principals of Instruction (see below), which promotes clear instruction, regular review, and guided practice, helping pupils build strong foundations and learn more effectively.

Our curriculum recognises that learning takes place far beyond the classroom. Alongside the statutory requirements of the EYFS and National Curriculum, pupils develop through our school routines, assemblies, educational visits, visitors and extra-curricular activities. Our rich enrichment offer broadens experiences, deepens learning and helps children discover new interests and talents, supporting both their personal development and academic success. Together, these opportunities contribute to the development of confident, well-rounded learners who are prepared for life beyond primary school. See our enrichment page for further information.

You can also see how subjects are organised over a school week on the Timetables page.

Impact

Learning is a change in long term memory. We know that children have made progress because they know more, remember more and are able to do more of our aims.

To determine how well we are achieving our aims, we use a wide range of methods of capturing success so we can measure:

• Progress, attainment and improved standards.
• Behaviour and attendance.
• Healthy lifestyle choices.
• Community involvement.
• Readiness for Secondary Education.