SMALL SCHOOL, BIG QUESTIONS

At Milstead we are passionate about learning!

Our vision is that every child receives an exciting and varied curriculum where they can explore and build on their own strengths and interests in a supportive and nurturing environment while feeling valued for their individuality. We aim to lay a foundation of curiosity, tapping into children’s natural inquisitiveness about the world around them, and to inspire a lifelong love of learning, whilst understanding diversity and culture and accepting differences. 

We encourage everyone to be determined, resilient and to take pride in all they do. We work towards building a community in which everyone feels valued and valuable. The outside area and the wonderful rural setting is evident in everything that we do and the children are confident to find learning opportunities in their surroundings.

Intent

Our ‘Small School…Big Questions’ curriculum has been designed to encourage children to explore questions about the world around them, using previous knowledge and building upon it, whilst recognising that there is not always just one answer.

Each term we begin with a whole school ‘big question’ to ignite passion for learning within our school community and to stimulate our children’s desire to discover together. These well thought out and progressive questions bring deeper learning experiences in all subjects, and the knowledge and skills that are learnt through the exploration of these themes is enriched with inspiring experiences to further create a sense of awe and wonder about our world; in this awareness of our world, the children explore the impact on self and others.   These ‘big questions’ are developed further with a more specific ‘big question’ in each class for individual focussed learning.

Throughout a seasonal term children have the opportunity to ask ‘home’ and ‘away’ questions within the same theme to explore how this learning affects them and their community and how this could be different within another area in the world in order to compare and understand differences.

Our intent through the curriculum that we deliver is to stimulate curiosity, expand creativity, make connections to things bigger than ourselves and motivate a caring for others and the collective good. We aim to create an environment where children are excited to learn and participate.

Our termly curriculum overview produced for each ‘big question’ outlines the breadth and balance of learning experiences that will be covered as we explore these questions. The themes within them cover statutory aspects of the National Curriculum and may be influenced by wider society, covering local and national issues as well as offering numerous enrichment and life skill opportunities.

Here is an overview of our Small School...Big Questions curriculum two year cycle.