The Curriculum at OJS

Resilience, Empathy, Self-Aware, Positivity, Empathy, Communication, Teamwork

At the heart of the Overchurch Junior School curriculum, we want our children to be confident, considerate learners. Our outstanding curriculum, which is built around knowledge and skills, is designed to go beyond the academic and break down barriers. Through our new approach, where we block-teach subjects, we build on what has been taught before and towards agreed end points, showcasing children’s achievements. The curriculum is carefully designed, planned and sequenced to meet the need of our pupils. The development of literacy skills, particularly reading is fundamental to our curriculum. The key characteristics of RESPECT run throughout our curriculum.

In planning the curriculum, we asked ourselves how can we empower our children to be the best versions of themselves.

At Overchurch Junior School, we are resolute on three things:

Every child deserves a curriculum that will inspire, motivate and enable them to achieve their full potential;
All learning is underpinned by experiential learning opportunities that should bring alive the curriculum;
Every lesson we teach or concept we deliver must be founded in skill or knowledge acquisition, delivered sequentially and connected to prior knowledge to help build pupils’ understanding.

Our curriculum does not:

Teach random or disconnected facts that lead to cumulative dysfluency.
Favour or focus teaching on skill development over knowledge acquisition.
Attempt to compartmentalise concepts into standalone components of learning – we connect the curriculum through subjects.

We ensure that:

Through using the curriculum as a driver – we are able to connect pupils’ learning to Merseyside and their immediate surroundings.
The curriculum builds schema over time and through different subject areas to help pupils commit knowledge to long-term memory. This is evidenced through our year group curriculum maps. For example: In Autumn Term, Year 6 learn about Healthy Bodies in Science, and also study ‘How can we keep healthy as we grow?’ in PSHE.