Our Curriculum:

At Bedford Primary School, we recognise that the curriculum we deliver is the toolkit we send our children out into the world with. It reflects our context, core values and the kind of citizens we want them to be. We have to be ambitious for them and prepare them for a rapidly changing digital world.

"A collection of learning materials is no more a curriculum than a pile of bricks is a house.  What our children need are carefully organised, sequenced and structured subjects."

Dylan William

Remote Learning

Remote & Blended Learning Policy

Our Curriculum: A Never-ending Story:

Curriculum design is a never-ending process - it is a continual process of reviewing and refining.  This is a process that we are committed to. See below for the list of external partners who work alongside us to shape the best possible Bedford curriculum.

Our Current Bedford Curriculum Priorities:

Continue to develop and implement an ambitious, relevant and connected curriculum which: 

• Reflects our unique local context and a city rich in culture
• Meets the needs of and is ambitious for our Team Bedford pupils
• Builds the cultural capital and broadens the horizons of our pupils
• Exposes children to a range of high quality texts and reading opportunities across a range of subjects (particular focus upon what constitutes quality first teaching of reading and the skilful use of texts in doing so)
• Incorporates the journey to become a Thinking School.  

        Click on the link to follow our journey:  Our Thinking School Journey

With post-lockdown/Covid recovery in mind: 

• Prioritise the absolutely key and crucial content, and skills in each subject and year group (particular focus upon reading and vocabulary/language development and acquisition);
• Know and address the gaps children have in skills and knowledge (particularly with subjects that rely on hierarchical content that deepens year upon year - avoid fundamental gaps)
• Use ongoing formative assessment alongside retrieval practice, low stakes quizzing and opportunities to practise to check and assess pupil grasp of this key curriculum content - ensuring transferral to long-term memory is the aim;

"checking and repairing prior knowledge is the first stage of learning."

• Ensure that any curriculum adjustments maintain high expectations and standards;
• Use the pre-teaching of carefully identified key vocabulary to ensure that all children have equal curriculum access;
• Carefully timetable interventions to ensure a broad and balanced curriculum for all.
• Identify opportunities for peer support from subject specialists

External partners, working alongside us to shape the best possible Bedford Curriculum:

• Ged & Mary Murphy - School Improvement & SEND consultancy
• Maddy Barnes - English
• Sarah Martin - Maths
• David Barclay - School improvement, staff development & Geography/History consultant
• Suzanne Payne - Early Years
• Pete Rafferty - Computing/Google Classroom & G-suite
• Rachael Webb - Science
• Steph O'Donnell - Design & Technology Consultant
• Chris Lennie, Cate Madden, Janice Hadwin - Sky Music Hub
• Voice 21 - The National Oracy Education Charity
• ROAR (response to mental health in primary schools)
• Leeds Beckett University  (Carnegie School Mental Health & Wellbeing Award

If you have any questions regarding the curriculum we teach please contact the School directly on 0151 922 1467.