Curriculum Intent Statement

Inspiring Children through a Creative Curriculum

At William Byrd, we believe that providing our children with opportunities to unlock powerful knowledge is key to preparing them for the next stages in their education. The wide range of carefully considered knowledge, skills and experiences we want children at William Byrd to receive, practise and embed will allow them to discover more about their talents and passions.

We strive to empower children to be active global citizens who are able to take control of positive decision-making in their own lives, and support those around them. We see Reading as essential to this aim: through an ambitious reading curriculum, we develop a love of reading which immerses children in language and enables them to develop a rich vocabulary. 75% of our children do not have English as a first language and our primary focus is on language acquisition and communication. Our aim is that all children are able to express themselves and their ideas and that each and every child has the opportunity to access knowledge and ideas from the best that has been thought and said.

Educational research underpins our approach to curriculum and school improvement and our outward-looking focus supports the school to drive improvements in both the substance of education and the quality of teaching and learning across all subjects. We strive to provide a high quality curriculum which ensures equality of opportunity and equity of provision for all children.

William Byrd is a wonderfully diverse school with 14 out of 17 possible ethnic groups represented. We celebrate and value that diversity through the curriculum with our topic choices in foundation subjects and choice of texts for reading and writing as well as giving children the opportunity to learn first-hand about a wide range of religions, cultures, traditions and languages - all developing children’s cultural capital.

Our geographical location near a major airport means that we have high levels of transience across and within year groups. We have carefully designed our curriculum to allow for this by ensuring the curriculum is well sequenced, progressive and revisits and consolidates knowledge. We aim to raise all children’s aspirations and broaden their horizons through a curriculum which is exciting, challenging and enthuses children with a love of learning. By teaching discrete subjects, we aim to secure children’s disciplinary knowledge and language.

We aim to develop the whole child through an approach to personal development and wellbeing which is woven through the curriculum. Our 5 Guiding Powers epitomise our vision of a William Byrd learner as a kind, respectful, resilient, curious, cooperative and aspirational individual. A child who: will have the resilience to overcome setbacks; will be curious about what the world has to offer them; who knows they are capable of greatness and aspires to live that out; whose kindness and cooperative skillset benefit those around them and whose respectful approach changes the world around them for the better.