Our Curriculum

Our Curriculum Intent

Our curriculum is designed to fulfil our school vision:

Limitless opportunities for every child to aspire and succeed.

Our curriculum is built around two key words – opportunity and purpose. We recognise that children get one chance at primary education – our curriculum is designed to ensure this provides limitless opportunities for our pupils. We intend for all our children to leave our school with the key building blocks of knowledge that they will need to succeed in secondary school and beyond. We also believe in the importance of children understanding the relevance and context of their learning. This approach sits at heart of everything we do, informing our curriculum planning and measuring the success of its impact.

Our curriculum is underpinned by our school values: Respect, Responsibility and Resolve. We teach children to work respectfully with others, take responsibility for their own learning and build their resolve in the face of challenge.

For a visual representation of our curriculum intent and model of delivery please click on the button below.

Hotham Projects

A key element of our curriculum is our termly Hotham Projects.

These projects teach children key knowledge while enabling them to draw upon things they have learnt already, and make links between subject disciplines. Each project is purposeful, and children have opportunities to showcase their learning to a range of audiences. We teach English, history, geography, art and design and design technology discretely, however they are linked through Hotham Projects.

Each project is centred around an essential question — the learning which follows enables the children to answer this with increasing detail and depth. We make the most of our location in the incredible city of London, with meaningful visits within our city and beyond. As part of this learning process, children are able to produce outstanding final outcomes which encapsulate what they have learnt.

Excellence in Maths, Science and Computing

Maths, science and computing are vital subjects at Hotham as we know that we are developing the mathematicians and scientists of the future.

Our maths curriculum is thorough, with children mastering individual steps in a carefully sequenced order. We use structures from the National Centre of Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM) to guide how we plan our teaching. We prioritise fluency and recall, and expect our children to master mental and written arithmetic skills before applying these to more complex problems.

In science, we know that the world around us is inspirational. We teach children key knowledge and information about our amazing universe, and children then apply these in real life investigations. We know the importance of vocabulary and ensure that we teach children words to explain concepts and processes.

We recognise that computing is becoming increasingly more important as the world develops. Therefore we teach computer science skills discretely, with children building a secure understanding of coding and algorithms. The curriculum is structured to ensure pupils are able to regularly practice their skills, putting knowledge to the test.

An International Outlook

For many years, Hotham has championed the power of a truly international outlook, and this is reflected in our approach to languages. All pupils in Hotham learn French from the minute they start our school. The school has a long legacy of rich language teaching, and we have high levels of French knowledge in our staff team.

In Early Years, we use an integrated approach to French, with pupils learning the language through real-life situations, listening to stories and singing songs. From KS1, we use key French texts and teach certain skills and knowledge discretely. This early introduction to a foreign language gives children a sound grasp of the language, and an advanced cultural understanding.

A Commitment to Creativity and Physical Development

Alongside a knowledge-rich curriculum which equips children with the skills they need to succeed, we encourage creativity in all its forms. Art and design are central to our projects, and pupils work together using a multiple drafting process to create stunning outcomes.

Music has long been a strength of the school. All children have the opportunity to learn at least one orchestral instrument during their school career taught by specialist teachers and many sing in the school choirs. We perform as much of music as possible both in school and out in the local community.

Drama is important to us, with children participating in stage productions at key times during their journey with us. We always build in opportunities for public speaking, presentation and articulacy in our project outcomes.

Children’s physical development is prioritised when they arrive in our Early Years. Our specialist sports and PE coach works with all children across the school, developing their skills before applying these to games and sports. We have numerous sports teams and have recently won local trophies in athletics, football and panathlon.