Curriculum
Northside's Curriculum Statement
Northside Primary School is a small, diverse school where the highly-skilled, established, cohesive staff are committed to creating the positive family-feel of a village school in North Finchley. The children benefit from a larger than average building which is very well-resourced.
Northside’s children come from wide-ranging cultural, national and educational starting points. The school has a very diverse mixture of socio-economic lifestyles which reflect the children’s learning needs.
Even though the Northside children are very individual coming from many different cultures and backgrounds, speaking over 40 different languages, the culture of joint ownership from all stakeholders creates a happy community. Differences are celebrated and used to build a strong school culture, behaviour is excellent, Northside children are Happy to Learn and Inspired to Flourish.
Intent
The Northside Curriculum reflects the multi-cultural aspect of the school whilst opening the children’s eyes to British culture by exposing them to memorable, fun experiences. All subjects are equally valued and develop the children’s knowledge of local, national, global and current events/issues. The curriculum allows children to take risks in a safe environment and builds on key academic and life skills in a progressive way. Through the curriculum the children develop confidence, excellent learning behaviours which will lead to academic success and as well build independent learning skills which will prepare them for future lives.
Implementation
We implement our creative, topic-based, cross-curricular curriculum through a balance of visual, auditory and kinaesthetic activities. Topics include a Brilliant Beginning, a Marvellous Middle and an Excellent Ending to instil excitement and engagement. Activities are planned so that teachers facilitate explorative learning and develop the children's growth mindset. Learning partners are key in developing collaborative learning. Children are organised in mixed-ability groups and teaching is adapted to ensure that all children achieve. The Northside Values (Respect, Pride, Inclusion, Challenge, Creativity, Resilience) RSHE and SMSC permeate across all subjects. High-quality books are the centre of all learning and IT is used to enhance the learning experience. Subject/cultural days are a key feature of the Northside curriculum, leading to an enhanced knowledge of all subjects and our community. Links with all stakeholders (parents, the local community, other schools etc.) are used to deepen knowledge and improve skills. We use pre-teaching and reinforcing for some children to secure learning.
Impact
Northside children will achieve academic success becoming confident independent learners ready for their next stage of education. This will be assessed through day to day monitoring and end of key stage summative assessments. Children will leave Northside as respectful, inclusive, creative members of their community who are proud of their achievements and resilient to challenge.
At Northside, we ensure that all aspects of our curriculum are accessible to all children, irrespective of their ethnic background, gender, disability, religious or linguistic background. We strive hard to meet the needs of those pupils with special educational needs, those with disabilities, those who are higher achievers, those with special gifts and talents and the children who are learning English as an additional language. To find out more follow this link. We provide a rich, challenging curriculum, so that our children are Northside children who are Happy to Learn and Inspired to Flourish.