Curriculum
Our Curriculum and Teaching and Learning culture is the cornerstone to all teaching at Brooke.
At Brooke Primary School, we offer an exciting curriculum that ensures our children are enriched by a wide variety of opportunities and experiences. We have designed our curriculum to give our children frequent and logical opportunities to revisit and consolidate prior learning; integrate new knowledge and make logical links with their existing knowledge; ask questions and draw conclusions based on their discoveries; and challenge them to build resilience, and become creative, critical thinkers, who are well-equipped for life beyond primary school. We believe that childhood should be a happy, investigative and enquiring time, where there are no limits to curiosity and there is a thirst for new experiences and knowledge.
Our planning starts with the National Curriculum and the Norfolk RE Agreed Syllabus; our children’s studies will not be limited to these requirements alone, however.
We place a very high importance on the integration of our school values of Togetherness, Resilience, Wisdom, Love and Kindness, which encompass the Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural education aspects, into all subjects. Throughout the school year, our curriculum actively promotes the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect, and tolerance for those with different faiths and beliefs. All children follow a programme of Personal, Social, Relationships and Health Education, and Philosophy is used to develop children’s questioning skills. Teachers build links from all of these aspects into all areas of the curriculum.
Our curriculum is tailored to meet the needs and interests of the children in each class, and is therefore written by all staff yearly - this is intended to develop the children’s knowledge, experience, imagination and self-confidence, to ensure that they become empowered, passionate and lifelong learners. We plan to not only consider the children's skills and interests, but also those of the teachers. We carefully monitor the coverage of all subjects for each cohort as they move through the school, to ensure that, with split year groups and mixed age classes, all children receive the full Primary National Curriculum coverage during their time with us here at Brooke.
If you would like to discuss any element of our curriculum, please do not hesitate to contact office@brooke.norfolk.sch.uk and direct your enquiry for the class teacher.
Our Curriculum through the eyes of our children
At Brooke, the children are always happy, busy and helping each other. As you progress through the school, lots of different adults will teach you: they are kind and friendly, they help you when you are finding your work challenging, and they always encourage you to try your best!
Children at Brooke love to learn! A year 4 pupil recently described Brooke as being a ‘very creative school!’ This is because the lessons are inspiring, fun and challenging. The teachers plan activities that all the children enjoy.
We have exciting topics, and go on lots of interesting trips (like wading through rivers, dressing as Victorians and working with local artists!) to help us learn more about our topic! We do a lot of art, design, science, geography, history and music too, which helps us understand more about the World!
We also support our learning with some amazing technology! We use VR Headsets, and AR units, and we often use Chromebooks and Google Drive to complete our work!
Our staff work really hard to make sure our classrooms and other spaces are nice places to be! The classrooms have a fun, bubbly atmosphere, with lots of great equipment, and the library is always peaceful and relaxing.
English is taught using short films, images and books, which inspire some amazing story writing, as well as letters, instructions and much more. We make sure our writing has a purpose too – we posted letters to the Prime Minister and Parish Council recently regarding pollution, and made a poetry anthology which we gifted to the Village Café.
Maths can be very challenging, but it is always fun and the teachers help you by giving lots of examples and support – this can mean being taught in a small group, or using Base 10.
In the morning, before school, we have yoga, running and writing clubs! We really enjoy having the choice of these.
We can also be part of sports events: cross country, tag rugby, swimming, volleyball, gymnastics, and dance. We join these teams after improving our skills in our bi-weekly PE lessons!
We often visit Brooke church for celebration services throughout the year, and Revd. Lynn Chapman comes to school to run a weekly assembly too.
Lunchtimes bring a chance to relax and eat delicious food – cooked on site by our amazing cooks! The children enjoy playing with their friends, on the bikes, trikes and scooters, or on our other play equipment! Some of the children run lunchtime clubs, like cheer-leading club, performing arts, Christmas crafts, and Help the Hedgehogs.
You’ll never struggle to find friends at Brooke – the children are always kind, supportive and welcoming! We have a nurturing support group, where children who find things difficult or are struggling socially can go to talk and play!
Brooke is a brilliant school, and is home to lots of very happy children and adults!
