Irresistible Learning

At Ferndale, we believe that the Curriculum is a whole learning experience offered and celebrated by the school.  It is not just the lessons and activities which are planned and taught, it also includes the ethos for learning i.e. our four values we expect implicitly in all lessons through our learning 9 behaviours. At Ferndale Primary School, we aim to teach our children how to grow into independent learners, who can also work and co-operate with others while developing their knowledge and skills, so they can achieve their full potential. Since April 2016, we have developed our learning behaviours with the Foundation Stage encompassing the learning 3 and this then developing into embedding our learning 9 in Key Stage 1 with story book characters children can relate to. Key Stage 2 have developed layers of learning 9 through use of our metal system and children use these layers throughout their Irresistible Learning activities.

We believe that the curriculum should be seen as much in terms of experience as of the knowledge and skills that children should acquire. It should also be equally concerned with personal development, positive behaviour and relationships.

The curriculum is designed to be creative, challenging and inspiring; the children are inspired through a range of key texts, topics and independent learning activities.  The school utilises the appropriate documentation, including the National Curriculum and the Early Years Foundation Stage documentation to ensure learning matches national requirements, whilst children enjoy learning which is irresistible and based on their interests. The school’s creative curriculum makes meaningful links between different subjects and encourages the practice of basic skills in English and Maths.  We follow ‘Irresistible Learning’ as a journey through which to develop our curriculum. Recently, we have adapted a text led learning approach with our children to enliven English so that children can understand the world in which books are set in. This approach provides children with opportunities to develop deeper understanding of historical contexts and the texts explored allow children to see the world through the eyes of different characters.