Teaching & Learning at Madginford Primary School

 Intent

Vision and Aims

At Madginford Primary School, our curriculum is underpinned by our vision:
“Where Magical Experiences Create Endless Opportunities!”

Our school aims to develop pupils who are:

• Ambitious and aspirational, striving for excellence in all they do
• Confident, resilient and independent learners
• Respectful, responsible and caring members of their community
• Curious thinkers who embrace challenge and enjoy learning

We aim to ensure that all pupils leave us with the knowledge, skills and character to succeed and thrive, including the ability to retain and recall learning over time.

Curriculum Intent

Our curriculum is ambitious, coherent and knowledge-rich, ensuring that all pupils—regardless of starting point—access a broad and challenging curriculum that enables them to achieve highly and retain and apply knowledge over time.

We have high expectations for all pupils. The curriculum is designed to:

• Secure the systematic acquisition and long-term retention of knowledge and skills
• Ensure pupils are appropriately challenged to think deeply and achieve their full potential
• Enable pupils to remember more and do more over time.
• Develop pupils as confident, resilient and independent learners
• Promote respect, responsibility and positive contributions to the wider world
• Secure equality of opportunity, ensuring all pupils can succeed and excel

Our core values—perseverance, respect, working together, independence, challenge, equality and curiosity—are embedded throughout the curriculum. In particular, challenge, perseverance and curiosity drive deep learning, ensuring pupils build secure, connected and durable knowledge in long-term memory.

All pupils, including those with SEND and those who are disadvantaged, access the same ambitious curriculum. Adaptive teaching and scaffolding remove barriers, ensuring that all pupils can engage with challenge and retain and build upon their learning over time.

️ Implementation

The curriculum is consistently and effectively implemented through high-quality teaching, underpinned by strong relationships, high expectations and an inclusive ethos.

Teachers:

• Demonstrate strong subject knowledge and deliver well-sequenced learning that supports progression and retention
• Use adaptive teaching effectively to meet individual needs while maintaining high expectations for all pupils
• Ensure that support enables access without reducing challenge, so all pupils engage in deep learning
• Foster a culture where productive struggle is expected and valued, supporting long-term retention

Learning is carefully sequenced to:

• Secure and embed core knowledge and skills in long-term memory
• Build on prior knowledge so pupils can make connections and deepen understanding over time
• Reduce cognitive overload, enabling pupils to commit key knowledge to long-term memory
• Provide opportunities for pupils to reason, justify, explain and apply their learning in increasingly complex contexts

Retrieval Practice and Retention

Retention of knowledge is strengthened through:

• Frequent retrieval practice, enabling pupils to recall prior learning from long-term memory
• Spaced practice, revisiting key knowledge over time to strengthen retention
• Interleaving, where concepts are revisited and mixed to deepen understanding and application
• Low-stakes quizzing and regular recall activities, supporting pupils to retrieve and strengthen knowledge
• Explicit opportunities to connect new learning to prior knowledge, reinforcing schemas

Challenge is deliberately planned and evident through:

• High-quality questioning that probes understanding and strengthens recall and retention
• Tasks that require pupils to engage in analysis, evaluation and problem-solving
• Opportunities for pupils to grapple with complex concepts before receiving support
• Regular retrieval opportunities that require pupils to apply previously learned knowledge in new contexts

Adaptive teaching is a key strength:

• Teachers identify and respond to pupils’ needs effectively and in a timely manner
• Scaffolds are used to support access while maintaining ambitious expectations
• Pupils with SEND and those who are disadvantaged are fully included and supported to achieve and retain knowledge
• Misconceptions are addressed promptly to ensure secure, long-term understanding

Assessment is used effectively to:

• Check understanding and support retrieval and long-term retention
• Inform responsive teaching and identify gaps in learning
• Ensure all pupils are appropriately challenged and supported
• Provide feedback that enables pupils to improve, deepen and consolidate their learning

Enrichment opportunities—including trips, visitors and wider experiences—are carefully planned to enhance understanding, support retention through meaningful context, and broaden pupils’ knowledge and experiences.

 Impact

As a result of this curriculum, pupils at Madginford Primary School:

• Achieve well and demonstrate secure, embedded and retained knowledge across the curriculum
• Develop deep conceptual understanding and can recall and apply knowledge confidently over time
• Are confident in engaging with challenge and demonstrate resilience when learning is demanding
• Think critically, ask perceptive questions and engage in higher-order thinking
• Explain, justify and evaluate their learning with increasing precision and independence
• Show respect, empathy and a strong sense of social responsibility
• Take ownership of their learning and demonstrate increasing independence

Pupils:

• Show a positive attitude towards challenge and productive struggle
• Apply knowledge fluently, flexibly and from long-term memory
• Produce work that reflects depth, accuracy and increasing sophistication

All pupils, including those with SEND and those who are disadvantaged, benefit from consistently high expectations and effective adaptive teaching, ensuring they access, retain and apply knowledge successfully over time.

Pupils leave Madginford Primary School as confident, resilient and aspirational learners—equipped with secure, retained knowledge, the ability to think deeply, and the capacity to embrace challenge and succeed in the next stage of their education and beyond.