Challenge at Springfield is achieving more than we thought we were able to.

Where the curious learner takes responsibility for moving their own learning forward.

We have designed an interesting, engaging and relevant curriculum using a topic approach. Each topic has a main subject focus, but covers other different subject areas within it. For example, our Year 6 topic ‘What would happen if I got ill in the past?’ has a History focus, but includes Science, Art, Music, Geography and D&T.

Classes work in paired teams on the same topics, which are changed every half term. We have a two year cycle to ensure that the children do not repeat the same topics as they progress through the school. 

As one of our school values is Aspiration, we want our children to know as much as possible about the world around them both here in Bulwell and Nottingham and beyond, so that they can make more informed choices about their own future. We plan practical 'engagement experiences' with the intent of opening up the world beyond Bulwell, deepening the children's knowledge and enriching their language. We believe that our children learn about their topics best by 'experiencing' in the classroom what we want them to learn before asking them to record and write about their learning. Our children's Learning Journeys reflect the learning which follows these practical 

engagement experiences. Please look through our Class Pages to see the wide variety of practical engagement opportunities our children experience throughout their topics. Class letters and Knowledge Organisers are sent out very half term which introduce the new topic, the knowledge we want the children to learn and to also celebrate the children’s success from the previous half-term. 

In addition to this, we plan regular trips to further engage the children in their topics, as well as sports festivals and three different residential camping experiences. We also invite visitors into school, for example, opticians as part of the 'How do we see, how do we hear?' topic in Year 3 and 4 a bee keeper to help teach the Year 1 and 2 children about the life cycle of bees. Whole school workshops have included African drumming and Skipping to broaden the children's minds and teach them about Resilience. We remind the children regularly where different aspects of learning could take them; we believe in providing equal opportunities and work hard to ensure access for all.

We teach Respect for others by ensuring every child understands British Values and have timetabled lessons and assemblies on this in addition to learning our topics.

If you would like to know more about the curriculum at Springfield, please speak to the children or any of the staff in school. We are always happy to talk about the learning taking place here and would be delighted to show you our displays around school and the children’s Learning Journeys .

We are proud of the changes we have made to our curriculum and of the achievements and progress our children make during their time with us.