Bethersden Primary School are really excited to be moving to the Cornerstones Curriculum from September 2022.

What is the Cornerstones Curriculum?

At Bethersden Primary School it is our underlying belief that every child should feel uniquely valued and develop a thirst for learning across a wide range of curriculum subjects and rich experiences. We believe that our curriculum enables every child to develop their own personal excellences and have exciting dreams and hopes for the future through being confident, ready to tackle any challenge they may face and come up with solutions when faced with obstacles.

We have chosen Cornerstones which is a coherent, sequenced curriculum to ensure every child receives a full, rich and balanced education with an appropriate mix of academic and personal development opportunities. It is based on a child-centred pedagogy called ‘The Four Cornerstones’, and is delivered through Imaginative and Knowledge Rich Projects. These projects provide exciting and motivating learning activities that make creative and meaningful links between the children’s learning.

At Bethersden we place high priority on ensuring children’s mental and physical wellbeing are met so that they are successful. We understand that children need to feel valued as individuals and have strong emotional attachments to thrive. Therefore, every member of our school community understands and plans opportunities to support children in overcoming barriers to learning. We believe children learn more effectively when they are encouraged to use their imagination and apply their learning to engaging contexts.

Our balanced approach to the curriculum is not at the expense of high standards in core subject areas. High standards and enabling children to reach their full potential is of vital importance if they are to succeed in the next stage of their education and go on to use their gifts make a difference.

Our exciting curriculum encourages children to develop both knowledge and skills in a broad range of disciplines so that every child progresses both academically and personally. We use skills and knowledge frameworks that outline the end of year expectations in all subjects. These skills and knowledge are tied to activities and are age-related so that staff can track children’s progress and identify their individual learning needs. Our approaches to teaching (pedagogy) mean that our curriculum is taught in ways that excite and challenge each class and every child.

Four Cornerstones of learning

The four cornerstones are a structure and basis for teaching and learning in our foundation subjects.  By planning the learning with these four stages in mind, we aim to ensure our children are inquisitive, engaged and have sound knowledge and understanding across a broad and balanced curriculum.

The Four Cornerstones are: Engage – Develop – Innovate – Express

Engage is where children take part in a memorable experience to stimulate their curiosity, ask questions and talk about their prior learning. They are introduced to the required baseline knowledge to support future learning.

• What do you know about…?
• What do you want to find out more about…?
• What interests you about…?
• What do you think we should do next?
• What would happen if…?
• Why do you think that…?
• Can you explain why…?

Develop is where children delve more deeply into the theme, explore and acquire new skills and knowledge, revisit previously acquired skills and knowledge, make links between subjects, explore, make, read and write for a variety of purposes across the curriculum.

• Can you explain how…?
• What is your plan?
• Why is that information important?
• What do you need help with?
• What resources will you need?
• What do you think, so far, about…?
• What have you found out about…?
• Why did that happen?

Innovate is a crucial opportunity for children to return to previous skills and knowledge and apply them in new contexts. The Innovate stage poses a thematic problem, challenge, provocation or scenario that requires children to think creatively whilst applying, reflecting and revisiting what they have learnt in previous stages, in a real-life or imaginary context.

• What is the problem with…?
• What do you know about…?
• What do you need to think about?
• What do you need to do first?
• Can you think of ways to solve this problem?
• How many ideas can you think of?
• Which is your best idea?
• What resources will you need?
• What is your plan?
• Why do you think that?
• How can you improve…?

Express gives children a structured opportunity to reflect on their learning, test their knowledge and celebrate their achievements.
 

• What have you learned?
• What else would you like to find out about…?
• Which part of the project did you find most challenging?
• Which part of the project did you enjoy the most?
• What progress have you made during this project?
• Which skills have you mastered?
• How would you like to share what you have learned?
• How can you celebrate your learning?
• What do you think you need to revisit?