Curriculum Introduction
At Kells Lane, we believe that every child deserves a curriculum that is ambitious, broad, rich and deeply relevant to their lives. Our curriculum is not simply a list of subjects — it is a carefully crafted journey, designed to give every child the knowledge, skills, values and experiences they need to understand the world, contribute to it and thrive within it. From the moment children join us in Nursery to the day they leave us at the end of Year 6, every lesson, every topic and every experience is planned with one goal in mind: to help every child Find Their Remarkable.
Our curriculum aims to inspire curiosity, ambition and a love of learning, encouraging children to explore a wide range of cultures and communities and to develop a deeper understanding of the world around them.
For our staff, the curriculum provides clarity and consistency, ensuring a shared understanding of expectations and progression across the whole school. This collaborative approach supports high-quality teaching and learning for all.
What Inspires and Shapes Our Curriculum?
Our curriculum — the Learning Means the World curriculum, developed in partnership with Dimensions — is rooted in evidence-informed practice and shaped through collaboration with trusted educational partners, research schools and local experts. We are grateful to Benton Park Primary School for their partnership work with us on Task Design, which has helped ensure our curriculum is purposeful, sequenced and ambitious. We have drawn on the work of Schools North East — particularly through their Curriculum Conference — and have benefited from the expertise of local historian Peter Sagar, who has enriched our local history offer. In Science, our approach to assessment has been developed in collaboration with the Primary Science Teaching Trust (PSTT) through their Teacher Assessment in Primary Science (TAPS) programme.
To quality assure our curriculum more widely, staff have been trained in Pupil Book Study, led by Alex Bedford (Unity Research School – Unity Schools Partnership) Pupil Book Study | CUSP, providing an evidence-informed framework to evaluate the impact and coherence of our curriculum. Our pedagogical approach has also been influenced by the work of Tom Sherrington and WALKTHRUs particularly in relation to clarity, communication, and effective classroom practice.
How We Teach
At Kells Lane, how we teach is as important as what we teach. Our curriculum is carefully structured to ensure seamless progression from Nursery through to Year 6, with subjects thoughtfully connected to strengthen links in learning. Children continually build on prior knowledge and skills, applying them meaningfully both within and across subjects. Our approach to adaptive teaching ensures that every child — whatever their starting point — can access the full richness of our curriculum. This includes scaffolding to build independence, flexible grouping for targeted support, regular checks for understanding and small, responsive adjustments that keep every learner moving forward. You can find out more about our teaching and learning approach using the links below.
Kells Lane Teaching & Learning Routines
Adaptive Teaching at Kells Lane
- Scaffolding: Providing temporary support—like writing frames, word banks, or worked examples—that is gradually removed as students become more independent.
- Flexible Grouping: Using temporary, targeted groups for specific tasks rather than static "low" or "high" ability tables.
- Checking for Understanding: Frequently using tools like mini-whiteboards or "hinge questions" to get instant feedback from every student at once.
- Micro-adaptations: Small shifts such as rephrasing a question, providing an extra visual aid, or giving a "just a minute" challenge to a quick-grasper.
Communication at the Heart of Our Curriculum
Communication is a defining feature of our curriculum and ethos. We want our pupils to communicate their learning and understanding confidently and effectively in a variety of ways, including speaking, writing, drawing, and practical work. We also emphasise that learning is not only demonstrated through a final outcome; the processes, thinking, and steps along the learning journey are equally important.
Pupils are given frequent opportunities to develop their communication skills through School Council debates, council sessions, our Rights Respecting Schools work, oracy sessions with Voice 21 and the effective use of the Pupil Books Study sessions to gather pupil voice and feedback. Through these experiences, pupils learn the importance of listening as well as being heard and understand how unclear communication can lead to misunderstanding or conflict.
Learning About Conflict, Culture and Conservation
Our curriculum recognises that conflict is a natural part of everyday life, from small disagreements to global challenges. We teach children that strong communication skills can help resolve conflict constructively and that respectful debate, active listening, and understanding different viewpoints are essential life skills. Children are encouraged to discuss and disagree in a balanced and open-minded way, recognising that some conflict can be healthy when managed appropriately.
As a culturally rich and diverse borough, Gateshead provides an important context for our work on Culture. Our curriculum celebrates diversity and actively challenges stereotypes, helping children to develop tolerance, acceptance, and respect for others. Through our curriculum, children learn to use appropriate language when discussing culture and to understand why context matters. We aim to build meaningful connections with the wide range of cultural and ethnic groups within our community.
Our commitment to Conservation extends beyond environmental issues to include culture, history, and community. Although our children may not have the same access to natural spaces as those in rural areas, we make the most of our environment through activities such as building bird feeders, planting wildflowers, litter picking. These experiences help children develop teamwork, communication, and problem-solving skills while fostering a sense of responsibility for the world around them.
We want children to understand that even small actions can have a significant impact and that moving away from a ‘throw-away’ culture is essential for the future of our planet and communities. Conservation within our curriculum also includes protecting culture and history. As a school with over 100 years of history, we teach children the importance of caring for our school and community so it can be enjoyed by future generations.
Our Curriculum Narrative
Our curriculum narrative begins with Communication, as this underpins all other learning. This leads naturally to Conflict, Culture, and Conservation, helping children understand how these global issues are interconnected. Alongside this, we raise aspirations through additional Competency Units which enable children to learn about remarkable people from the past, looking at their stories and how they have shaped our world today. People such as Elizabeth Blackwell, the first female doctor or Walter Tull, known for his dedication to the British Army. The curriculum gives all children the opportunity to explore themes of Creativity, Commitment, Courage, and Community through the lives of significant individuals and groups.
Through our curriculum, we aim to develop thoughtful, articulate, and compassionate learners who understand the world they live in and recognise the positive role they can play within it.
Curriculum Roadmap Examples: –
Learning Card Example: –
Y5 Science Learning Card Circulatory System
Our Curriculum in Action
Every subject at Kells Lane is taught with purpose, depth and ambition. Our curriculum is supported by carefully chosen programmes and schemes that bring the best of research and expertise into every classroom:
Music:
Sing Up and Mr Dunn from the Music Service
French: Rachel Hawkes
PE:Complete PE
RE:Local agreed syllabus Gateshead
PSHE/RHE:Pol-Ed
Online safety:Project Evolve
Handwriting:Letter-join
Oracy:Voice 21
Phonics:Read, Write, Inc
Access Art:
Access ArtTeach Computing