Wider Curriculum and Use of the Local Area

As a school we endeavour to give all our children access to a broad and balanced curriculum that is personalised to our context and local area. We have high expectations of all our pupils within the classroom, but recognise that this is only part of the learning experience that we offer. We believe in providing a breadth of opportunities for our pupils that will give them the best possible foundations to carry forward into the next stage of their education and the real world.

A balanced and broad curriculum is delivered in all classrooms. This meets the needs of learners through the use of adaptive teaching strategies. This consists of the core subjects – English, Maths and Science, and other subjects – Religious Education, Art and Design, Computing, Design and Technology, Geography, History, Music, Physical Education and Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) and Modern Foreign Languages – French (Key Stage 2). The whole school curriculum is mapped out to ensure clear progression, a wide range of skills and no repetition of learning.

All children are given the opportunity to participate in a range of school trips every year, which support and enhance the learning in the classroom. Whenever possible, these are to places of interest in the local area – for instance Year 3 learn about the Romans at the museum in Canterbury; Year 1 visit Wildwood as part of their science learning; Year 6 visit various Kent locations when learning about World War II; Year 2 visit Leeds Castle; Year 5 take part in team building activities at Creed in Teynham; Reception complete a local walk to Mount Ephraim and Year 4 visit Kent Life as part of their topic on the Victorians.  However, we also like to go further afield too. For instance, Years 5 and 6 have the opportunity to take part in Young Voices at the O2 in London.

Enrichment days are another valued part of the learning experience at Boughton. These are an opportunity for children to completely immerse themselves in their learning through themed days or weeks in their classroom. Children have previously enjoyed a science week, Dahl day, Design and Technology, music, reading for enjoyment and maths days. For the academic year 2023-24 we have planned a multi-cultural day, anti-bullying week, wellbeing week, science day, British values day and an outdoor learning week all providing children with opportunities to take part in leraning beyond those listed in the National Curriculum.

We are very lucky to have such wonderful school grounds and we try to use these as much as possible. The children enjoy exploring our wooded areas during drier months. We are fortunate to have a fire pit for campfires. We have worked hard to develop our outdoor learning opportunities for the children and to teach them valuable skills such as shelter building, teamwork, problem-solving and resilience.

In Year 6 the children have the chance to take part in a residential trip: They spend four nights at Hindleap. Outdoor-based activities such as orienteering, bushcraft, abseiling, archery and team building form the main part of the week, as well as giving the children to build their confidence away from home.

A wide range of extra-curricular activities are offered, both during the school day and after, including a range of sports such as football, netball and cross-country, and other activities such as choir, gardening club, art club, coding club and 'Creepy Claws'. Music lessons for the piano, guitar, drums, woodwind, brass and stringed instruments are taught by visiting peripatetic teachers.

As well as celebrating learning in classes, we value learning outside of school. Pupils are invited to share their successes and achievements with their class teachers and in Celebration Assemblies.