How do we organise learning?

At North Walsham Infant and Junior Schools, our curriculum is based upon the statutory requirements set out in the National Curriculum and Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum. However, it is not limited by this and staff work hard to provide a broader range of experiences and learning, tailored to meet the children's needs.

We have taken lessons from cognitive science to ensure that children commit their learning to their long-term memory. We know from research, that the more often we ask children to recall the information they have learned, the more likely it is that it will be stored in their long-term memories.

That's why our curriculum has the following features:

• Overarching 'Big Questions', which enable children to make links across all curriculum subjects and think deeply about their learning
• Visits, visitors and experiences which bring topics to life 
• Curriculum content presented on Knowledge Organisers and Knowledge Notes
• Regular, low-stakes quizzes and retrieval practice activities, encouraging regular recall of facts
• Strategies such as the Leitner System, which provide children with a revision and recall model

All staff ensure that, throughout the curriculum they teach, children are encouraged to ask questions to find out more and debate issues with others. By adding this dimension to the planned learning, we are able to provide opportunities for key skills to develop across the curriculum and to cultivate creative thinking in our pupils. We put great emphasis on pupils' oracy development- they need to be able to speak their mind, think things through aloud, hold an opinion and communicate effectively.