Bottesford Schools Federation’s curriculum is a coherent, ambitious and carefully sequenced self-designed curriculum that equips every pupil with the knowledge, skills and cultural capital they need to flourish academically, socially, emotionally and physically. Grounded in our federation vision — "We RISE together" (do what’s right, help others, reach your best). Our curriculum is designed around three interlocking principles:

• Ambition for all: high expectations for every pupil, including disadvantaged and SEND pupils, with bespoke scaffolds and stretch so that pupils achieve aspirational outcomes.
• Evidence-informed design: curriculum sequencing and pedagogical approaches are underpinned by cognitive science (spaced repetition, interleaving, frequent retrieval practice) to support long-term memory and mastery.
• Real-life, active learning: purposeful, challenge- and immersion-based learning connects classroom knowledge with contextual experiences, so pupils see relevance, develop independence and become life-long learners.
• Active engagement: Lessons prioritise participation—practical tasks, investigations, performances and collaborative projects—so pupils learn by doing as well as by being taught.

How the curriculum meets National Curriculum requirements

• Coverage and compliance: Our curriculum maps explicitly cover the statutory programmes of study for Key Stages 1 and 2. Subject progression documents show how national expectations are broken down into coherent knowledge and skills milestones across year groups.
• Balance and breadth: Each subject receives planned time within bespoke termly plans so statutory entitlement (including RE/collective worship expectations where applicable) is secured alongside reading, physical development and the wider foundation curriculum.
• Assessment and reporting: Our systems translate National Curriculum outcomes into clear assessment milestones and use retrieval-rich formative checks to monitor secure progress towards national standards.

Why this curriculum is appropriate for Bottesford pupils

• Developmentally sequenced: Early years and KS1 provision emphasises language-rich, play-based learning to build communication and early number skills; KS2 consolidates foundational fluency (including number bonds and multiplication facts) and progressively develops writing proficiency and subject-specific vocabulary.
• Cultural and emotional development: The curriculum intentionally widens cultural and religious experiences and incorporates personal development sessions that foster resilience, respect and integrity, supporting our improvement priority to broaden pupils’ cultural awareness.

Aspirational nature of the curriculum

• High expectations: Curriculum targets and success criteria are aligned to aspirational end-of-key-stage expectations. Greater depth and mastery tasks are integrated within year groups and through an expanded range of curricular choices and extracurricular opportunities (clubs, exhibitions, performances).
• Stretch and challenge: Planned higher-order challenge, targeted mastery tasks and extension projects ensure pupils, including the most able, experience depth, creativity and critical thinking.
• Future ready: The curriculum builds knowledge and transferable skills (metacognition, self-regulation, collaboration, communication and digital literacy) so pupils leave equipped for secondary education and lifelong learning.

Whole School Aims

How the curriculum links to our vision and values

• Vision alignment: “We RISE together” is central to curriculum intent. Every unit and learning sequence explicitly references RISE behaviours: doing what’s right (integrity and respect), helping others (collaboration and empathy), and reaching your best (strive and empowered learning).
• Values in practice:
  • Respect — curriculum themes include intentional opportunities to learn about diversity, community and faith, through assemblies, themed project weeks and cross-curricular links.
  • Integrity — restorative approaches and curriculum-based debate and ethics discussions encourage honesty and responsibility.
  • Strive — carefully scaffolded challenges and visible progress steps cultivate resilience and celebrate incremental achievement.
  • Empowered — pupil voice in projects, challenge-based learning and showcases develop independence and agency.

Whole-school aims delivered through the curriculum

• Academic excellence: deliver knowledge-rich, progressive subject curricula that lead to strong outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics and confident performance across the foundation subjects.
• Personal development: develop confident, resilient pupils who demonstrate RISE values, social skills and wellbeing strategies.
• Inclusion and equity: ensure pupils with SEND and disadvantaged backgrounds access the full curriculum through high-quality adaptive teaching, targeted interventions and proportionate support.
• Community engagement: connect learning to family and the local community through exhibitions, trips and shared projects that make learning authentic.